Gigas means gigantic in Latin, and gigantic it surely is. The plant explorers who discovered this giant in the wet, steamy, wild rainforest in Panama must have been astounded when they found it. Really huge, pendulous leaves in velvety, deep pine green have a whitish/green midrib with faint, long veins tracing from the center vein to the lower leaf edges. A thin pale outline traces the edges too. Underneaths of the leaves are a muted burgundy. Light shining through the leaves have a semi transparent copper and burgundy tint. Newest leaves emerge in pinkish green points and unwrap to the dark green velvet. The thing about this plant is that it loves to climb, absolutely crazily, up to 50' in the jungle. Starting as a little seed on the forest floor sprouting in the leafy litter, maybe deposited by a bird's dropping which comes complete with a little moisture and a bit of fertilizer itself, it quickly looks around for a tree to zoom up and reach the light at the top of the rainforest's canopy. The leaves, the main attraction, can grow up to an astounding 4' long!! Ours, on a pole to get it started, already has the leaves alternately placing themselves right and left and all facing the same way when they acclimate and look towards the light. Just be ready to get a much larger pole.
- Air Purifying
- Low Maintenance
- Low Light
Quick Care Guide:
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Water – Med (3): Likes the soil to be kept slightly moist, but not soggy. Water when the top 2 inches feel dry.
- Light - Low/Med (2): These plants need some diffused light to stay happy. Prefers if there is a window in the room, but doesn't need to be very light nor close to it.
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Difficulty – Low/Med (2): Easy to care for and forgiving of a little neglect. Will reward you with bigger leaves when it’s happy.