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Species library › Philodendron › Philodendron domesticum
Aroids Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Philodendron domesticum

Spadeleaf philodendron

The spadeleaf or elephant-ear philodendron is a long-established houseplant with glossy, arrow-shaped leaves up to about 56 cm long and 23 cm wide. G.S. Bunting named it in 1966, and none of the sources we could check give a wild origin. Every record we found is of cultivated or escaped plants, so its care is based on what works in cultivation and on lowland Neotropical climbing philodendrons generally.

At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodClimber

Where it grows wild

No wild habitat is documented in the sources we could read. In cultivation it behaves like a vigorous climbing (hemiepiphytic) philodendron, rooting along its stem and climbing a support as the leaves enlarge.

Its wild elevation is unknown. It grows well in warm lowland tropical gardens, such as Florida, Rarotonga and West Africa, where it is planted or has escaped.

Uncertain; known from cultivation

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.