Philodendron collection thriving out of the tropics | A love of Aroids | Gardening Australia

Hundreds of rare and obscure Philodendrons kept in a heated greenhouse. Meet the man who keeps them thriving. Subscribe: Philo means ’love, affection’ and dendron, ’tree’. Neil Crafter sure loves these plants. He is one of Australia’s biggest experts and collectors of philodendrons. Sophie finds out how he keeps his rare collection thriving in less-than-tropical Adelaide. Neil started his collection at university when he bought a plant to sit on his desk - it was a philodendron. There are nearly 500 recognised species. Neil says he loves “the diversity of the leaf colour, the texture. There’s so many species, I wasn’t going to run out of plants to collect…one species might have hundreds of forms, how could you ever get bored?” He creates tropical conditions in a greenhouse to create the right levels of heat and moisture. He aims for 80% or more by using misters. Feeding is crucial - he fertilizes weekly but weakly with a mix of liquid fertilizers. Only use free-drain