Philodendron squamicaule is one of my long-time favourite plants, and has been discussed a bunch of times on this blog. When it was last mentioned, in January 2023’s “5 furry stemmed philodendrons you can buy in Australia“, you could find it listed for sale for $500 or more.
This month, Uprooted have announced they’re now stocking this plant at a $30 price tag. While this isn’t the first time that Uprooted has randomly released a previously very rare plant, the magnitude of the price drop on the squamicaule is noteworthy.
I don’t know whether they produced this plant through through tissue culture, or the old fashioned “chop at prop” method, but if it’s the latter they deserve to be commended. I’m pretty good at propagating plants—probably have a 95% success rate—and failed miserably with this plant. I’d get one or two little leaves, and then the whole thing prop would just dissolve to black mush.
Setting aside the trouble propagating the squamicaule, this is a surprisingly easy plant to keep. Mine grows in fairly average light conditions and doesn’t have any issues with leggy growth. I had expected the furry petioles to cause all sorts of spidermite problems as well, but it seems far less susceptible to pests than the verrucosum. My only complaint would be that it grows really slowly, but as someone with 100+ plants that’s probably a blessing in disguise.
