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There are a lot of different reasons why you may want your plants to climb. Generally, the reasoning is that they are some natural climbing plants like a Monstera, Philodendron, or some Hoya. There are a lot of different plants out there that are standard houseplants that are also naturally climbing plants. They may have ended up as trailing house plants when you got them like a hanging basket. Most of the time you are not going to have plants come as climbing plants. For the most part, you are going to find them either as little cutting or just as hanging plants in general.
You want them to climb so that their leaves can get bigger, and more mature, and they can change their shape. Philodendrons especially will go from these little tiny heart-shaped leaves to these big, giant, velvety luscious foliage. It is absolutely freaking gorgeous. Many plants can transform like this if allowed to climb and mature.
What You Need To Get Your Plants To Climb
When you are trying to get your plants to climb they are going to need four things. It does not matter what type of plant it is they are all going to need these four things in order to climb. They are going to need proper light, regular fertilization, something for them to actually climb on, and they are going to need really good humidity. If they do not have these four things they are not going to do very much for you. They are not going to become that big beautiful plant that you want them to become.
Lighting
Most of the time whatever plant you are trying to get to climb is going to need quite a bit of light. They may not need full-on direct light but they are definitely not going to want to be shoved in a dark corner with no light.
Plants need that light to provide nutrients and energy so that way they can push out all of these leaves and actually grow bigger. They need the extra energy to push out those big leaves and to push out the aerial roots that are actually going to allow them to attach to the thing you want them to climb.
Try bright indirect light for the majority of plants with a few exceptions. Philodendron micans can still grow in lower light while Hoya needs as much light as possible. Research your plant to determine its lighting needs.
Fertilizer
Just like the lighting, plants need proper nutrients in order to continue to grow. It is just like vitamins for people. You need those vitamins and nutrients in order to be able to be healthy, push out that new growth, and be the best that you can be. Our plants are the same exact way.
Plants are going to want regular fertilization. So you pick whatever kind of fertilizer works best for you and make sure that you are feeding your plants on a regular schedule. That way they are not missing nutrients and having health issues. Fertilizer is crucial if you’re really trying to size up your foliage and get your plant to grow.
Climbing Items
You need something for your plants to climb. Depending on the type of plant and your aesthetic there are a lot of options. You can get some type of trellis, wooden board, dowels, sticks, or Cocoa coir poles.
There are also empty plastic poles that can be filled with any material for your plant to climb. Basically, the center is hollow but they have spaces in them for aerial roots on one side. You fill them with whatever material you want your plant to grow on. You can use Leca, or sphagnum moss, or there are lots of different kinds of bark out there that plants are willing to root in. It is just as if they were climbing a tree.
There are definitely lots of options out there. It just depends on the type of plant, your environment, and your aesthetic. Whatever works best for you
Humidity
Almost all the house plants come from a very humid and very warm tropical region. Generally, unless it is some type of ivy plants are not going to be climbing trees up North. They are going to be climbing trees down South in a tropical region. Because of this most houseplants are going to need very high humidity.
Especially if you want them to push out those aerial roots. Humidity is going to soften everything up and allow more nutrients into the air. Which is what the aerial roots will be taking in as well in addition to attaching the plant to the climbing item.
In order to get your plant to properly attach to whatever you are trying to use make sure that you have a 75% to 80% humidity going on for them. If you have something like a moss pole; where the moss is kept constantly moist. Then you will not need something like a humidifier.
You have that moisture in the air and around the roots already.
However, if you have a plant on a board you are going to need a specific humidity level in your room or in your greenhouse. This enables the plant to have enough humidity to really push out those aerial roots. The plant can then just continue to grow and be the best it can possibly be hopefully.
Hopefully, this helped identify problem areas for you, and that way you know what you need to work on in order to get your plants to size up and grow. It can be very rewarding to see each leaf size up and change. The mutations are astonishing and using these tips will get you well on your way to having your indoor plants reach their full potential.
