How to grow Syngonium

Read along for a simple guide on growing and nurturing for lush green Syngoniums.

Syngonium podophyllum is a simple but elegant and versatile houseplant. It’s actually “easy” to look after in most homes. However, it has an unruly nature and tendency to creep quietly around your home (if allowed).

• Common Name: White-Veined Arrowhead Vine

• Botanical Name: Syngonium podophyllum

• Design Ideas: It may be a good idea to grow the arrowhead plant in a hanging basket, the plant can be trained on a pole or trellis for support.

Plant details:

Height/Spread:  

A well trained mature plant growing up a moss stick will, give you 1.8m / 6ft in height and a maximum spread of 60cm / 2ft. 

Flowers:

There are flowers which appear on mature plant, although they aren’t very exciting or interesting. The key selling point of this particular house plant is the foliage.

Speed of Growth:

A Syngonium will grow steadily for much of the year provided it has good conditions. Left unchecked a stray vine can creep several feet in only a few months.

Growing details:

Light:

When it comes to light requirements, they will do well in a position where they receive good light but no direct sunlight.

Watering:

Just remember to water well and then wait. The soil needs to be evenly moist when you water, waiting for the soil to dry a little before evenly watering again.

Humidity:

Humidity is some what important because very dry air will encourage brown leaf crisping which on mass will distract from the beautiful leaves.

Feeding:

It’s good to try and feed an established plant a few times a month. Like most houseplants, Syngoniums do “rest” in winter but for only a short period. Therefore, it’s fine to feed in winter too if you want.

Repotting:

They do pretty well in small pots, however if you are watering more frequently or growth has slowed (and you want more), repot into a bigger pot during spring using any standard compost mix.

Propagation:

One can do root cuttings in water, or straight into potting compost. of a new growth shoot that has one or two leaves already. Follow the growth shoot several inches downwards until you reach a pair of “nodes”, these are a set of two small bumps (one on each side of the stem). The cut needs to be made just a few centimetres below the nodes because this is where the new roots come from. If you are rooting using water, it’s just a case of dropping the cutting in and keeping the water topped up. A few weeks later you will hopefully start to see new roots.