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Looking for the best way to care for your Philodendron Pastazanum? Then this guide is for you!
Philodendrons come in many different shapes and sizes. The philodendron pastazanum is treasured for its long petioles and pillowy heart-shaped leaves.
The pastazanum comes in it’s standard form and the silver form which has striking silvery patches on the foliage.
Like most aroids, this plant will thrive if given a chunky well draining soil, bright indirect light, proper watering, fertilization and the right amount of humidity.
Philodendron Pastazanum Care – Quick Guide
Light: moderate to bright indirect sunlight (2000-3000 lux), fluorescent or LED grow light.
Soil: chunky well-draining soil mix
Watering: avoid overwatering. Water fully when the top 2 inches of your soil is dry.
Humidity: will thrive in humidity of 50% or more
Temperature: 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit. It does not do well with frost.
Fertilizing: fertilize “weakly weekly” with your fertilizer of choice during spring and summer.
Repotting: NEVER cover the rhizome in soil.
Introduction to Philodendron Pastazanum Care
Often called “Pasta” for short by plant collectors, this Philodendron is native to Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest region. More specifically, it comes from the province of Pastaza, where it was discovered in the 1970’s and earned its name from.
The pastazanum is different from most aroids in the way that it grows.
A majority of aroids are climbers that grow up trees, attaching their aerial roots as it continues to grow upwards.
The pastazanum however is known as a “creeper” or “crawler” due to the way it grows. It’s main stem is actually a rhizome that grows on-top of the ground, shooting it’s “aerial” roots into the soil as it continues to grow.
This plant is hardy and easy to care for. It will thrive if given the proper basics.
Pot Requirements
Planting the pastazanum in a proper pot is one of the most important aspects to growing a thriving plant with large lush leaves.
Most aroids do well in standard pots, especially with a moss pole. However, as mentioned before, the pastazanum is a crawler. It grows horizontally along the ground, not vertically.
Planting a pastzanum in a typical round pot would not be ideal. It would run out of growing space quickly, growing over the edge of the pot. Once it grows over the edge of the pot, no new roots can be established in the soil, depriving it from potential nutrients for growth. This is what you want to avoid.
With that said, a long rectangular pot is ideal for this plants growth habits.
Pastazanums don’t require much depth for their roots. What they require is length for their rhizome to grow.
For all our crawler plants, we’ve had great success with these long planters. They are low maintenance as they’re self watering and provide the ideal length for these plants to properly grow.
We’ve also seen people have success with these simple rectangular planters.
When replanting, it is very important NOT to plant the rhizome under the soil. As mentioned, the rhizome grows along the top of the ground, shooting the roots down into the ground. If you cover the rhizome in soil, you risk killing your plant due to rot.
Just remember, length not depth, is what’s most important.
Light Requirements
This plant is not as picky with light as other philodendrons. However, do not expect this plant to thrive in a dark corner of a room.
This plant does well with indirect sunlight. Aim for an area with at least 2000-4000 Lux. We measure the intensity of light using this LUX light meter to ensure our plants receive the appropriate amount of light.
If outdoors, find an area that is bright but receives no direct sun. Use a shade cloth If the only area you can place your plant outdoors is under full direct sunlight.
If indoors, think of a bright well lit room with natural light. South or east facing windows would provide the best amount of sunlight for your plant.
Use a grow light if you’re having trouble finding an area with sufficient light.
Note that this plant may tolerate direct sunlight for short periods of time, but should be limited to brief early morning sunlight.
Soil Requirements
This plant will do well in any soil suitable for aroids. The main goal is to plant your pastazanum in a well draining, chunky soil.
We use our aroid mix exclusively in all the plants we have.
In a pinch, you can use Fox Farms Ocean Forest mix, Black Gold Potting Mix, or even Miracle Gro cactus/succulent mix.
If you’re able to, mix some chunky perlite and/or orchid bark with these premade soil mixes for a nice chunky soil.
Water Requirements
The pastazanum is an easy plant when it comes to water requirements.
It is not sensitive to underwatering; however, does prefer soil that is consistently moist, but not over saturated.
The self watering planters we use, maintain the perfect consistent moisture when using a chunky soil.
If placed in a regular planter, you can easily stick your finger in to check soil moisture level. If the top 2” is dry, it’s time to water.
When you water, ensure to fully saturate the soil with water for a thorough watering. If you place your pot in a cache pot that has no drainage holes, be sure to allow the plant to fully drain before placing it back in.
To prevent root rot, avoid the plant’s roots from sitting in water.
Humidity Requirements
This philodendron is not picky and can withstand a range of humidity.
However, originating from the rainforest, the pastazanum loves humidity.
The plant will thrive in 55 – 65% humidity.
It is helpful to use a quality hygrometer in the area you have your plants to know your humidity level.
If you have difficulty maintaining a 65% humidity there are different techniques you can use depending on your situation.
Misting plants only raises the humidity short term. When the water on the foliage evaporates, you’re back to your original humidity level.
Grouping plants together can help increase the humidity surrounding them.
You can also use a humidity tray which can double as a drip tray when watering your plant.
If these techniques don’t raise or maintain your humidity, you may need to use a humidifier.
We’ve seen great results with this humidifier, as it has a built-in humidity sensor and can maintain the perfect humidity.
Temperature Requirements
The pastazanum is a tropical plant and thrives in warmer temperature; however, this plant is not as picky with temperature as other aroids.
This plant will thrive in temperatures of 65º – 85ºF / 17º – 29ºC.
This plant likes consistency and does not like large temperature fluctuation.
If you keep your plant outdoors, make sure to bring it in to avoid cold temperatures that have a likelihood of frost or sustained temperatures below 55ºF.
If your plant is indoors, keep it away from direct drafts from the air conditioner, heater or furnace.
Fertilizing your Philodendron Pastazanum
Lastly, fertilizing is an important component to having a healthy plant with lush foliage.
It is important to fertilize the pastazaum during its natural growth season. This means you’re going to want to focus on fertilizing during spring and summer when the plant is fully utilizing the nutrients.
Fertilizing when the plant’s growth is restricted, fall or winter, may lead to fertilizer burn.
If you would like an easy, “set it and forget it” method of fertilizing, Osmocote with worm castings mixed in the soil works well.
Osmocote is slow release and you won’t have to refertilize for at least 3 months.
If you want to optimize the nutrient availability for your plants, we’ve found “Fertilizing weakly, weekly” to work best.
We’ve had great success using Fish Emulsion weekly, diluted at 1/4th strength.
It’s a natural fertilizer and you have no risk of over fertilizing and burning your plants.
Conclusion
With all that said, we can see there is no need to be intimidated when caring for this plant.
Following the easy points on this Philodendron Pastazanum Care Guide will provide you with a strong foundation to growing a beautiful, lush plant.
Once you have these basics down, you can tweak and adjust where you see fit. Just remember to make changes slowly, and only change one thing at a time to see how your plant will react.
Let’s keep growing!
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