How to Grow and Care for the Arrowhead Plant in Containers
Intro: The arrowhead plant is a great container plant for shady balcony gardens that don’t get much direct sunlight. If you have a southern exposure with bright light, it will do better in an indoor garden (it will also not tolerate temperatures below 60 degrees). Arrowhead leaf color varieties vary from dark green to highly variegated dark and light green, but the leaf of each arrowhead variety will always have that interesting arrow shape. You can keep the arrowhead plant pruned so it only has juvenile leaves, or you can allow it to mature and climb up a trellis or support sticks.
Scientific Name: Syngonium podophyllum
Plant Type: Flowering plant
Light: The arrowhead plant should receive bright light, but not direct sunlight.
Water: The arrowhead plant should have moist potting soil and dry out slightly between waterings. Add less water in fall and winter. Learn more about how to water your container plants at "Tips for Watering Plants."
Fertilizer: Use a half dose of a balanced houseplant fertilizer each month during the arrowhead plant's growing season.
Temperature: The arrowhead plant can survive outdoors in Hardiness Zones 10 and 11, but because they do well as houseplants, bring arrowhead plants indoors if temperatures dip below 35 degrees Fahrenheit. See "What's My Hardiness Zone?" for more information.
Pests and Diseases: You may see spider mites, aphids, scale and mealybug insect pests on your arrowhead plants.
Propagation: Propagate the arrowhead plant by taking cuttings, best done in early summer.
Misc. Info: The arrowhead plant is a climbing plant that is most often pruned when kept as a container plant. The arrowhead plant stays bushy when the older, climbing stems are trimmed off. When these stems are cut off in early summer, the arrowhead cuttings can be propagated in water. If you want to allow the arrowhead plant to grow in the garden, loosely tie the climbing stems to sticks stuck into the potting soil (try not to damage roots). When the arrowhead plant is young, its leaves are heart-shaped and become more arrowlike as the plant grows older. Repot the arrowhead plant every two years in the spring. If you allow the arrowhead plant to grow and flower in your container garden, you will see that its flower is somewhat similar to that of the peace lily.
