The Epipremnum is a popular hanging and climbing plant. This attractive, docile plant is particularly prized by plant lovers due to its easy care. Easy care in combination with this plant’s beautiful green, yellow or white-marbled leaves and its air-purifying properties make this plant the perfect housemate for many, many plant lovers. The plant produces no flowers.
This plant’s official name is Epipremnum pinnatum, and it is a member of the Araceae family. The Epipremnum originally comes from Australia, southeast Asia as well as several islands in the Pacific ocean. There, the leaves can continue growing up to a size exceeding 90 cm. In the tropical forests of these regions, the plant grows upwards along the trunks of trees. It goes without saying that this is a spectacular plant.
Caring for this plant is no trouble. It likes humid, warm and well-lit surroundings. However, you should avoid placing the Epipremnum in the vicinity of a heater or radiator, or in direct sunlight. Here, the air becomes too dry and the plant won't appreciate this. The Epipremnum likes light, but it doesn’t like direct sunlight. If the leaves become discoloured and go dark green, this means that the plant is not getting enough light. If this happens, put the plant closer to the window. But if the leaves develop yellow or brown spots, this means that the plant is getting too much sunlight. In this case, put it somewhere without glaring sunlight, but where the plant will have enough light to grow. Give it some lukewarm water just once a week, make sure the soil doesn’t dry out, and keep an eye on the water and don’t let any remain on the bottom. During the winter, the quantity of water required by this plant is reduced by half.
The Epipremnum prefers mild sitting room temperatures between 18 and 24 degrees. You can place this plant outdoors during the summer, but take it back inside immediately should the temperature outside fall below 15 degrees. The Epipremnum comes from a family of plants with some moderately toxic relatives. This is due to the insoluble calcium oxalate which the plant secretes as a result of its air-purifying properties. This poses no problem whatsoever to humans, and is entirely compensated by the plant’s air-purifying properties, to which we have already referred. The plant is not sensitive to maladies. Its sore points are too much water, low temperatures and draughts. The plant scarcely attracts pests, though this cannot be ruled out 100%. Should your Epipremnum suffer from pests, tackle this immediately.
There are no hard and fast rules for trimming this plant. However, you can go ahead and snip off any leaf garlands that have grown too long. We recommend that you pot this plant following purchase. Once you’ve arrived home, take the plant out of the cultivation pot and put it in a larger pot with a diameter about 20% larger than that of the cultivation pot. We recommend re-potting the Epipremnum every spring for 2 to 3 years to allow any damaged roots to recover.
