Guides
Buying
- Is This a Fair Price? Reading a Rare Aroid ListingThere is no single correct price for a rare aroid. Node count, root state, variegation percentage, and where the sale happens all move the number. Here is what to check before you commit.
- Monstera 'Fission' Price, and When It May Be AffordableMonstera deliciosa 'Fission' is a 2026 release from the Chinese nursery EMgarden. What its asking price means, how long the price should take to fall, judged by three plants that have already fallen, and how to identify a real one.
- Stable vs Unstable Variegation: What Actually Holds Its PatternNot all variegation behaves the same way once it leaves the mother plant. Knowing whether a pattern is genetically fixed or a chimeric sport changes what a cutting will actually grow into, and what a fair price looks like.
- Tissue Culture vs Cuttings: Why Lab-Produced Plants Cost LessA tissue-culture plant and a stem cutting of the same cultivar can sell for very different amounts. The gap comes down to how each one is produced, not how healthy either turns out to be.
- Why Rare Aroid Prices Fall: Three Case StudiesHouseplant prices in this hobby move almost entirely in one direction: down, as propagation catches up with demand. Three well-tracked cultivars show the same pattern playing out at different speeds.
Propagation
- Propagating Aglaonema & DieffenbachiaBoth genera grow upright on a jointed cane rather than a climbing vine, and both propagate the same three ways: top cuttings, cane sections, and base division.
- Propagating Alocasia, Colocasia & CaladiumNo cutting, no node: these genera grow from an underground storage organ, and propagation means dividing a daughter offset away from the mother corm, cleanly and with patience.
- Propagating Climbing AroidsMonstera, Philodendron, Epipremnum, Syngonium, Scindapsus, Rhaphidophora and Amydrium all root from the same structure: a node. Get the cut right and the rest is patience.
Care
- Bright Indirect Light DemystifiedForest canopy climbers receive dappled shade in the wild. Direct sun burns delicate leaves, while low light leads to leggy growth and loss of variegation.
- Grow Room Gear for Collectible AroidsThe recurring equipment behind most aroid collections: what a moss pole, LECA, a humidity dome, sphagnum moss, rooting powder, and a grow light are each actually for.
- Humidity vs. Air CirculationHigh humidity keeps growth points moist and helps aerial roots attach. However, stagnant air invites fungal pathogens. Active ventilation is key.
- Watering & Mineral NutritionOverwatering is the number one killer of rare collectibles. Water when the top 50% of the pot dries, and fertilize weakly with every watering.
Soil and propagation calculator
Mix volumes for your pot size and genus, and expected rooting times.
Open the calculatorGlossary
- Fenestration
- Naturally occurring holes or splits in a leaf blade, characteristic of mature Monstera species, adapted to allow wind and rain to pass through without tearing the leaf. Monstera deliciosa, Monstera esqueleto. Browse Monstera
- Epiphyte
- A plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant (such as a tree canopy host) and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and debris surrounding it. Anthurium veitchii, many Philodendrons. Browse Anthurium
- Variegation
- The appearance of differently coloured zones (usually white, cream, or yellow) in leaves or stems due to genetic mutation or chimera, leading to zones lacking chlorophyll. Monstera albo-variegata, Philodendron caramel marble. Browse Variegated
- Node
- The critical structural point on a stem where leaves, buds, and aerial roots originate. A cutting must contain at least one node to be propagated successfully. All climbing Araceae. Propagating climbing aroids
- Petiolar Sheath
- A wing-like structure or sheath flanking the leaf stem (petiole) that protects emerging new leaves before they unfurl. Philodendron billietiae, Epipremnum pinnatum. Browse Philodendron
- Bullate
- A leaf texture described as puckered, blistered, or heavily wrinkled, usually an adaptation to increase surface area for light absorption in low-light rain forest floors. Anthurium luxurians, Alocasia rugosa. Browse Anthurium