Native to most of central South America, Philodendron pedatum has been given a few common names due to the rather humorous appearance of its leaf lobes; with such brandings as ‘Glad-Hands’ and ‘Horse-Head’, though the species has much more charm than just the names it’s been given. As a species, in the wild, stems use tree-trunks for support, clinging and climbing up them to produce giant mature foliage. In the average houseplant setup, this mature growth is rather impractical; but the regular size of juvenile growth of P. pedatum, ranging up to about 11 inches from leaf tip to tip, is more than adequate to provide a gorgeous pop of pleasant color to any menagerie. Philodendron pedatum is a heavy-feeding species that will require incremental dosages of additional fertilization that can either be mixed into the soil as a slow-release pellet, such as osmocote, or watered in.
