Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma Makeover: Start to Finish.
Several months ago, nearly a year now, I sprung for a Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma. It was a wishlist plant, and I’ve heard great things about their beauty and easy care. I went through the whole process of choosing a seller and plant, paying shipping costs, checking daily on my mail, and anticipating the anxiety that we all know as plant shipping stress. I tried to be an educated buyer and I forced myself to purchase with intention because this, I told myself, is not a plant I’m going to find in any of my local nurseries. I’d tried to find it before and failed. But, alas, I had no idea what tricks the universe had in store for me. So, I purchased the plant below.
Not too long after it arrived (perfectly healthy), I went grocery shopping at Meijer and saw none other than our friend Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma staring me down from the parsimoniously stocked plant area. I’m not one to turn my nose up at the Meijer plant department, so let’s just get that straight. I scored my beloved Hoya Sp. Aff. Burtoniae there, as well as my Hoya Lacunosa, and probably a dozen other amazing finds. My shock and alarm weren’t personal, Meijer. Seeing the Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma was just unexpected. I’d been out plant hunting off and on and had officially declared a plant drought within a 5 mile radius of my home, including Meijer. There just wasn’t much going on out there. Scanning the plant department I saw several dozen roses, your literal garden variety of cut flowers, a handful of succulents…and Rhaphidophora Tertasperma in an arty wooden pot. It was definitely an unexpected surprise. And it was hard to turn it down, but I did. I scoffed at the irony of not only finding it locally, but at a grocery store.
A week or two later, I made a trip to Lowe’s. This was the middle of winter and I surprisingly wasn’t on a plant hunt (the plant drought declaration still held). I just had to pick up a few odds and ends and hurry on my way. Sure enough, I crossed paths with yet another Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma. This one was only $20, but it wasn’t looking so hot. I knew I would be taking a chance, but I decided to go for it. Below is the plant I found.
For months now, I’ve been meaning to add these plants together into one pot. I rather prefer the look of a fuller plant, plus the Lowe’s Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma came in a pot that didn’t have drainage. I worried over that pot enough to finally spur me into action. And so at last, the lovely duo of Rhaphidophora Tetraspermas underwent a full multi-step makeover.
First, I had to make a pole to climb. Both plants were beginning to hang over the sides of their pots. They’re quick growers, so I was sure to leave room at the top of my pole to add an extension later once she’s grown more.
I used:
Coconut Fiber sheet - about 10 inches by 24-36 inches - Dimensions will vary based on the size of PVC you need to cover.
PVC pipe - I used 1.5” pipe from Home Depot that is precut to 2 feet long, no need to cut at home.
Your choice of wire, twine, fishing line or any other material you’d like to use to tie your coconut fiber to the PVC.
For the pole, I started with some coconut fiber that I cut from a huge roll at my local nursery. I purchased two and a half feet of coconut fiber in sheet form, but this pole will require less than half of that length. In the end, I used around 10 inches of the coconut fiber sheet. The fiber you see above was shredded by my cats on the top, but I was able to dig some from the bottom that was still in sheet form.
For the PVC pipe, I also purchased a double female connector as well as another identical PVC pipe to eventually extend my pole. I’ll stash away the connector and the extra pole for now and pull them out when my plant has outgrown the starter pole. This way the pole can grow with my plant.
I chose twine for tying because it’s what I had on-hand. It’s not the most durable choice, but it was available and I’ve used it successfully before. I’ve also used thick fishing line, but I prefer more natural materials when available. The twine can wear down, but I’ve found it’s easy to fix and it’s in alignment with my vow to use less plastic.
Next, I checked my size and cut. I left a couple of inches of pipe exposed at the bottom. This is so the PVC itself can extend down into the soil, preventing the coconut fiber from staying overly moist in the pot when the plant is watered.
I angled my cut slightly, and folded over one corner so the top of the pole rounds out nicely rather than creating a square tip.
Next, I wrapped my twine around the PVC pipe, beginning with a knot at the bottom-most area where the coconut fiber meets the PVC. I spiraled the twine up from there and knotted again at the top. I stopped winding the twine every couple of revolutions and checked to make sure the pole was even and the twine was tight. I used the shredded cat-attack fibers to fill in any gaps or bare spots on the pole, ensuring that they are secured with twine.
Next, I had to drill a hole in my IKEA Bergamott pot. More details on drilling drainage holes can be seen here. I recently found these pots on sale for half price at IKEA, so I got four. They’re 7.5” and they’re working perfectly for a bunch of my plants that needed to be up-potted or repotted this season.
I put a saucer under the pot, and put a couple of inches of my aroid mix inside. I wanted a buffer of soil so that the pole doesn’t cover the drainage hole and prevent proper drainage from happening. The chunky texture of the Aroid mix will ensure proper drainage through the newly drilled hole.
Finally, I removed each Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma from her pot and gently shook loose any potting mix that was willing to fall away from the root systems of the plants. I carefully arranged the plants and the pole into the pot in the configuration that I wanted. In this case, the pole is slightly off center with both plants in front of the pole. I wanted the pole within a couple of inches of center in case the plant ever gets top heavy - it just felt like it would balance best if it was close to center. The final step was to fill in the pot with Aroid mix until the plants were cozily situated against both the pot and the pole.
A couple of the vines were long enough to start training up the pole, so I secured those to the pole as I did my final inspection of the plant.
I didn’t water the plant after repotting because I want to ensure both Rhaphidophora Tetraspermas achieve equal levels of dryness first. The plant that was in the pot without drainage was still slightly damp while the plant in terra-cotta was drier. Over the next few days, I’ll be misting the pole to help encourage the Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma vines to climb. It is in close proximity to a humidifier, too, so that’s helpful.
I’m happy to have these plants potted together now. A couple of days after repotting, I moved them in front of an east facing window where there is a humidifier and lots of other plant friends to help them feel jungle-y. See if you can spot it in the chaos.
