Philodendron gigas

[Dypsisdean]

What can you Big Leaf guys tell me about this Philo. I have only seen a single pic of one, and only my own in person. The pic showed a very large leaf, and with the velvety texture of the leaf, it must be a real knock out.

Mine is finally getting up there, but it is hard to believe it will be as big as I saw in the pic. Does anyone out there have a big one of these?

[aussiearoids]

Dean , Arden of Equatorial Exotics has a mature clump ,, the pics I took were right on dusk and are not the best .. leaf maybe close to 1m long , and only 5m up a tree .

[Dypsisdean]

Michael, thanks for the info. I would die for a good pic. I can't think of another velvet leaf aroid with a bigger leaf, can you?

[aussiearoids]

Very poor lighting , but you get an idea of the habit .. 6.30 pm and the sun was just starting to go down .. I will be going back soon a nd will try and get a better pic. along with some plants for myself . This does not seem to match the pic of Tom Croat and leaf on MoBoT .

[Dypsisdean]

Thanks for the pic Michael. I agree that it looks different than the MoBoT pic you mentioned. That is why I was doubting mine would get that large. I can't tell for sure if mine is more like the one in your pic, or the one Tom Croat is holding.

Why aren't there more pics around of this plant???

[Deezpalms]

Now that's a lovely philo!!! Dean, doesn't JDA have one growing in Hawaii?

[Dypsisdean]

He did. It died.

How's that for brevity?

[Deezpalms]

Damn! It couldn't make it even in Hawaii???

[Dypsisdean]

No,

That's not it. Mine is growing great as you can see. And a little cutting I took and neglected is doing fine as well.

Sometimes even the best growers manage to kill things.

[MattyB]

No wonder you're growing it; it flowers money.

[Dypsisdean]

No wonder you're growing it; it flowers money.

Yeah,

But even at a dollar a leaf, I would need an acre of 'em for a tank of gas these days.

I'm looking for the $50 variation.

[aussiearoids]

Been back to Equatorial Exotics a few times over the last few weeks , and managed to get some better pictures of this Philo . Cant wait until the seedlings are released .
Notice the ladder leaning up under the Philo , maybe there are more seeds coming . Think the host is a giant Cuban Royal .

[Dypsisdean]

Michael,

Thanks for the pics --- a very nice Philo. I can't tell if those leaves are the velvet type. Are they?

[aussiearoids]

Its the same plant Dean , seedlings are identical to your first pics . And a mate got a cutting from the base of the mature plant ,, it's the same as well .. mature leaves are not as velvety .

[Dave from So-Cal]

Been back to Equatorial Exotics a few times over the last few weeks , and managed to get some better pictures of this Philo . Cant wait until the seedlings are released .
Notice the ladder leaning up under the Philo , maybe there are more seeds coming . Think the host is a giant Cuban Royal .

Swoooon, umph!

Will this grow in California?

[Dypsisdean]

Dave,

I wish I could tell you it would. I doubt it very seriously, but don't know for sure. I don't know of any of the velvet leafed philos that will.

I've take some newer pics, and I've got another velvet type - P. splendidum that is a real sofa swooner as well.

[Peachy]

I have a couple of gigas here and they do fine, just a bit slower than in the tropics. They are in a sheltered position but still handle our occasional freezing nights and boiling hot days. They still look good even in our freakish long winter this year, when many other tropical things eventually succumbed.
Peachy

[Dypsisdean]

Hey Peach,

Long time, no Palmpedia see. I would be really curious to see what you have as P. gigas - as this is (or was) a very rare plant at one time. And it is just now finally getting "gigas." For a while it was way less than a meter long, and has only recently reached about 1 1/2 meters and still each leaf is getting larger. But at this point it is twenty feet up the trunk of a tree.

Any chance you could share a pic, or other information about where it came from, how big, etc?

I'll try to get some pics myself.

[The Silent Seed]

Guys,
This is more in my area of expertise (But I'm no expert, by all means) - but the first one, I assume is P. gigas. The other two plants seem to be closer to P. verracosum, or something similar. I belong to a Philodendron group, and would be happy to share your photos for verification. (These guys are the ones who work on the Aroid.org site, including Dr. Croat.)

[Dypsisdean]

After looking around some, I tend to agree with Jude. My P. verracosum hybrids look a lot like AussieAroids pics. Here's a pic of my P. gigas today. It is very hard to get a good pic of it. And the two newest and biggest leaves are hidden. But you can see how the leaves have gotten progressively larger - quickly. And the newest leaves have done the same. They are approaching 5 ft long. And it looks to me like they are maintaining the velvet.

[Peachy]

I got mine from Equatorial Exotics up in Cairns. I had to wait a long time for it as Chris took mine as cuttings from the one up there in the ground. They are from the same plant as in post 12. Just got my new camera (and computer) last week and still figuring out how everything works on them, so no photos at the moment.
Peachy

[Dypsisdean]

I got mine from Equatorial Exotics up in Cairns. I had to wait a long time for it as Chris took mine as cuttings from the one up there in the ground. They are from the same plant as in post 12. Just got my new camera (and computer) last week and still figuring out how everything works on them, so no photos at the moment.
Peachy

New camera? New computer? I see great things in our future.