Description
Easy to Grow Inside or Outdoors
E. pinnatum is extremely tolerant of a range of growing conditions, which makes it perfect for the novice or as a houseplant. When a plant matches the “beginner” description, it is not usually desired by expert growers, but that is NOT the case here. At EdenCPs, this is one of our favorites because of the way it grows.
Keep it inside of your house near a window or under growing lights. Alternatively, you can grow it outdoors in heavy shade. However, it is important not to expose the plant to frost temperatures.
Anything 35°F or below can severely stunt growth or even cause death. If you live somewhere like South Florida where it rarely goes below those temperatures, you may be able to grow it outside all year in the USA. Outdoors, you can plant it in the ground in amended soil and allow it to grow up the side of a tree. For everywhere else that gets colder, use a container and a totem.
Vine Growth Habit
In nature, this plant will start on the ground in a forest that has heavy shade from the canopy. The first leaves will grow in a rosetted pattern without a lot of space between nodes. Then the vining phase will begin, drastically increasing the distance between each new node and leaf. This growth habit has a practical purpose. The plant wants to find more light. Even though it prefers lower light conditions, it needs better light to flower and produce seeds.
In a tropical and subtropical forest, the higher light conditions are found in the canopy. This plant cannot support it’s own weight. It needs help to grow to the canopy. The only way to get there is to go up the side of a tree. Since a plant cannot see, it scrambles a vine along the ground to search for a tree.
Once it finds the tree, it will latch onto it and begin to climb. This is when the magic really begins to happen for the variegated pinnatum. The juvenile leaves are solid and small, but this changes as the plant starts to climb.
Aerial roots at each node are dual-purpose. When they touch soil or moisture, they begin to turn into normal roots. When they touch solid objects, they grab on and will even attempt to wrap around to get a solid grasp. With this connection made to a solid object, E. pinnatum can sense it. This causes the leaves and the stem to grow larger.
As the leaves get bigger and the plant climbs higher, fenestrations (slits and holes) will begin to appear in each leaf. The white variegation stays with the plant as it gets bigger too! This results in an extremely attractive specimen that is rarely seen from a plant that is so affordable and easy to grow.
Mature Epipremnum Pinnatum
At our nursery, we grow this plant in the yard next to trees with amended soil. Our soil is mostly sand, so it is necessary to add something to it to retain moisture and provide nutrients. This particular plant took less than two years to grow to this size from an unrooted cutting that was simply planted next to the tree.
This plant STILL hasn’t attained full size, but it’s a great example of what you can see in a relatively short period of time. Over 10 or 20 years, the variegated Epipremnum pinnatum will grow up the entire 40-50 feet tall tree, surrounding the trunk in these amazing leaves. It is quite a spectacular sight to see if you have never had the opportunity to see the plants growing how nature intended.
PLEASE NOTE: These variegated pinnatums for sale are healthy and have been grown in our shade house, but some existing leaves on them will have imperfections like small holes or tears.
Provide good humidity and bright indirect light and these plants will grow beautiful leaves for you in the future.
Plants being sold are similar in size to the one pictured at the top of this page, but the actual plants you receive can vary slightly (some are slightly bigger or smaller, some have more leaves, etc).
