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Hello fellow Philodendron Fam. I've had a Variegated Billietiae for… | Philodendron Parents | Planta community

Plant Dad

Hello fellow Philodendron Fam. I've had a Variegated Billietiae for almost a year now. From what I am reading, they are generally a fast growing Philodendron. I received mine as a lightly rooted chonk with one leaf and another leaf that was getting ready to unfurl and since then has only grown two additional leaves with the third growing now. I have it under a grow light and it also gets very little direct early morning light, planted in a soil mix that I have all of my soil plants in, ambient humidity ranges from about 45% (rarely that low) to about 70%. Are there any tips or tricks that someone might have about something I might be missing? I'm not a huge advocate for semi hydro in the sense of me having all of my plants in it but as I encounter issues is when I usually try the semi hydro route. "If" I went in that direction, would leca or pon be better for this particular plant?

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3 comments

  1. Snail Diva

    Hello! It could just be a fluke as well. I had success with leca for rooting cuttings of that philo but that’s my only experience with the varigated billietiae in semi hydro. I have a mint which is a bit slower and it has got about 7 new leaves since July. And my regular variegated I had to trim about twice since March as the height wasn’t matching the root ball. How frequently do you fertilize? That’s the only thing I could see depending on your current soil. (I personally prefer the weaker fertilizer every watering method) I have a similar setup as you but I’ve transitioned to natural lighting and room humidity since as it grew too tall for my shelves. If you go semi hydro, you just need to be confident in your fertilizers or learn as much as possible as it is inert. Unless you go with the pon with the premixed fertilizer but that can get expensive, I personally use a homemade mix for my pon.

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    • Plant Dad

      As far as fertilizing goes, I do the same as you as far as a lower amount with each watering; I do this with all of my plants no matter in soil or semi hydro. All in all it appears to be healthy with the new leaves having nice variegation; The only reason I am questioning it is because I am comparing it to some of my other philodendrons which give me about one new leaf every six ish weeks. However...now that I am typing this, I forgot I have an orange princess galaxy which is also very slow growing compared to my other ones. Not sure if it's a fair comparison but the ones I am comparing them to being fast growers are a Prince of Orange, Florida Ghost X Tortum and a Grenn Congo Nuclear. Its just at a point where I thought I would be able to enjoy it more than I am now afyer a year of having it so questioning on selling it while I can still make my money back....

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    • Snail Diva

      Oh I absolutely get that but that’s why I truly believe it could be just a fluke based on the care you explained. It’s never fun especially that it is a wish list plant for a lot of folks and still quite pricey. It could be an idea to resell like you mentioned. I personally experienced the same with a Rhaphidophora tetrasperma. Everyone is saying they grow super fast, easy, etc. The one I had gotten just had weak genetics and was constantly in shambles, super slow and losing a leaf everytime it got a new one. I even tried propagating it and once established, it did exactly the same. Just like you mentioned the ghost, mine is not particularly a fast grower but my prince of orange or my Florida bronze on the other hand are most likely racing against each other.

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