Black Gold - Philodendron melanochrysum - 1L / 14cm / Small
$20.00Big black velvety leaves that reach over 70cm long when mature? Yes, please. Philodendron melanochrysum is a must-have plant in any collection and it only gets better as it gets bigger, but how to get those big mature adult leaves? Trick your Black Gold Philodendron into thinking it's a grown-up. Provide a bright room with plenty of humidity and let it climb up a support pole. Once the melanochrysum gets to the top, take a single chunky cutting of the top few nodes and tip then re-root that segment with the tip facing up. The philodendron Black Gold will get thicker and produce bigger and bigger leaves. Rinse & Repeat across the growing seasons until you've got a big black monster in the living room. This process is best achieved Dec-March when the plant is growing fastest.
Light Requirements: Bright Indirect Light is ideal, tolerant of medium light.
Moisture & Soil Requirements: Prefers evenly moist soil with good drainage in warm seasons - never soggy soil. Grows well in bark or sphagnum. Can handle short dry spells.
Growth & Nutrients: Climbing philodendron vine, great for training up a support such as a coir pole. Suits apartments or homes of any size. Feed with a general-purpose fertiliser for containers from the start of spring each year to autumn when growth slows down.
Temperature, Humidity & Ambient requirements: Prefers warm, humid environments inside. Mist new leaves during winter, keep away from heaters and air conditioning. Loves a terrarium or greenhouse so try to replicate that humidity with a bag over top, humidity tray and/or by clustering around other plants if your home has dry winter air. Leaves can stick to itself if humidity is low so provide enough moisture in the soil and air to avoid this or stick it out and wait for spring to start your tip propagation again, once the mature leaves emerge, this no longer becomes an issue.
Toxicity: Toxic to pets and people. Don't chomp down on this ever.
Plant Size Guide
The plant in the photos is an example and an approximate guide only however we try to show an average sized example. Sizes, flowering state and colours change throughout the seasons and variation will occur. In summer & autumn, plants are often larger or the same size as than the example picture but around winter and spring, they can be a little smaller but still at a size similar to the example. We aim to update the pictures to reflect significant differences.
Plant Heights - because the plant's foliage must fit inside our Plant Cartons, the actual height of a plant's central trunk (meristem) will be shorter than the box it fits in.
Small Plants - 14cm wide nursery pot - 1 Litre volume - Plants fit in a 50cm tall box.
Medium Plants - 17cm wide pots either 2L hanging pot or 2.5L nursery pot - Plants fit in a 75cm tall box.
Large Plants - 25cm wide pot, 10L volume. Plants fit in a 100cm tall box.
XL Plants - Plants over 100cm tall in pot sizes specified, 25cm/10L or greater and are hand delivered within Auckland/Northland only.
Dispatch Times
Plant courier orders are processed Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.
North Island orders are targeted overnight delivery, South Island orders are sent on a 2-day target but these are not a guaranteed delivery timeframe.
Add 1 extra day after a public holiday as well as for rural addresses or remote towns.
Monday - We send orders placed on previous Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.
Tuesday - We send Weekend orders from previous Saturday & Sunday.
Wednesday - We send orders placed from Monday & Tuesday.
XL Plants are delivered only within urban Auckland & Whangarei and this service is for non-urgent orders. This excludes satellite destinations such as Beachlands, Pukekohe, Piha, Helensville etc and Whangarei Heads. We may deliver at any time Sunday, Monday, Wednesday or Thursday in Auckland and you need to have a sheltered accessible position for us to deliver to.
Plants in Transit
Each Small, Medium & Large plant is individually contained within its own protective cardboard Plant Carton which may be joined to other cartons in your order.
Plants typically take just a day or two to arrive, however they are usually fine in their cartons for 1-2 weeks, and many can go longer, so a few extra days are not usually cause for concern.
Whether it takes 1 or 7 days, let your plant recover from its journey by placing in gentle light and adding a little water and it will be back to its best within a couple of days. Let us know if there are any major issues via the contact page.
