I need help with a leggy Philo, please

I posted this on the Aroid forum before I ever looked at that forum much. They seem to talk about mostly outdoor stuff, so I'm posting my silly question here, too. :oP

I just recently bought this Philo 'Pink Princess'. It is so leggy and appears generally unkempt. It's basically several long stems with a plant at the end of each. My first thought is to just cut off the plants and pot them up to root, but what to do with the stems that are left? Will they naturally leaf out if I cut off the plant at the end, or would I be left with a mess to throw in the trash?

I tried to arrange it and hold up one of the plants so you can see what I'm talking about. It just flops down out of the pot in a wad. LOL I hope this picture gives a good enough idea of what I'm asking, but I can take more if needed.

Thanks so much!

Hey Amy! Love your Pink Princess! This Philo I believe is a climber, vine type Philo, so you could put it on a totem or some sort of trellis and let it climb.
From what I've heard the Pink Princess is a very slow grower so if you cut off the plants at the end and pot them up you might have bare stems on the "mom" plant for awhile before new nodes sprout out.

I would think some of the experts on the Aroid forum would have some good tips for you .... Giancarlo/Armando has a nice collection of all different Philodendrons and I bet if he sees your post, he will be able to give you some pointers!

Great Plant!

I actually like the plant that way;hanging with the branches branching everywhere.

Susan

Thanks, Lin! I just don't know what to do with it! LOL Even if I put it on a totem, it's still got those bare stems, and I don't like that. They're more slow than other Philos, but I've not found them to be too bad. Cuttings root up fairly quickly for me. I could tolerate the bare stems for a while, if I knew they'd leaf back out, but I don't know if they will without cutting them.

thank you, too, susan! Would you leave it on the little hoop, or take that out and let them completely hang down? I'd never even thought of that...

If cuttings root fairly quickly for you, maybe you should cut off all those pups (?) and pot them up ... then put the remainder of the plant outside in the shade somewhere and see if it gets mad enough being cast out that it would put out more branches/shoots?! I guess you would just have to remember to water it though unless you have an irrigation system nearby where it would get a regular watering!

I forgot to ask ... if the basket was hung high, with the branches hanging down, would you still notice as many bare spots? Might give that a try. I'd take that little hoop out of the soil and just see how it looks hanging from a hook.

Keep us posted!

I'm not happy with it like it is now, so I'm going to do something with it. I think to start with, I'll do as susan and you suggested - take the hoop out and let them hang down. I'll take a picture later when I do that and post it. I'll decide from there whether to leave it like that, prune it, or what. LOL

How is yours doing, Lin?

Still very small ... but I hear these are really slow growers, so I guess time will tell. I'm not a real patient person, but I guess I will have to wait for it to grow up! It's still one of my very favorite Phio's .... and I'm loving that one called Pink Lady too. Any plant with pink flowers or pink in the leaves I just adore!

RG.
Whatever happened to this plant?
Johanna

Guess I missed this original post.
I will take a picture of my Philo for you today and post it.
It grows up 3 fern totem poles and needs another soon. I have noticed some new pointy things coming out of the stem and I think they are new vines which if they are, will grow new leaves and fill in any bare spots on the totem. I will try to remember to get a shot of it today and post when I get home this evening....just in case you are still looking for assistance with your beautiful baby!

Hi Amy! Just saw this for the first time when it got bumped up today.

Did you solve your problem with this philo? If not, let me know... I have a suggestion for you.

Karen

correct me if i'm wrong, but I count about 8 stems coming from the soil.

I have had great success with ckimbing Philo's before by cutting the leafy end off and planting it. This will cause the bare stem to send out new shoot(s).

You could experiment with 1 of those stems to see what this variety will do. All climbing Philo's don't regrow the same way.

You may find that yours creates a new shoot at almost every node or just a few along the stem here or there.

Hi all! Thanks for asking about this plant. :o)

I hung it outside to see what it would do if I let it continue to trail out of the pot. I didn't have time to make a totem of sorts for it, sooo... It had been hanging in a forgotten corner of a greenhouse in FL, so I figured it would do alright outside here. It's putting out some new leaves, burgundy with pink, because it's getting a bit of sun. The shoot coming out the top was a completely bare stem. I nicked it, at the suggestion of another DGer, and you can see it's putting out new growth up there now. I might try nicking the longer stems, just to see if I could get them to fill out a bit. This one puts out MUCH larger leaves than my other 'Pink Princess'.

I know it doesn't have the beautiful "show plant" look that most of you try to grow (and which I'd like to achieve with my other 'PP'), but I'm actually enjoying watching it grow like it is. If nothing else, it's different! LOL

Since several people seemed interested in what happened with this plant, I thought I'd post an update for you. I have continued to let it grow however it wanted to and it seems happy enough. It's filled in a good bit, and that new growth at the top where I had nicked it is coming right along. ^_^

And here's a closeup of that new growth up top. I think I'll nick it more! LOL Thanks to all for your suggestions and help!

I think I like it *better* the way you're growing it, Amy!

Mine was growing up (well, when it was alive..I think my room was too cool/dark and I overwatered it at one point during the winter) and it just got plain old 'gangly-looking'...some leaves were large, some were small...it just didn't look good. Yours looks great!

I'm not going to try this one again....I'm thinking of *maybe* trying the other one that's similar to Pink Princess....Steve Ankeney had it for sale, and someone who posts here (sorry I can't recall who....growhappy, maybe?) had purchased that one and said that it's more compact in habit, and seems to grow larger leaves.