Some of my plants suffered a bit over the winter due to low light and my fear of overwatering, but the Philodendron Pink Princess got really dramatic lately.

PPP wasn’t in a good state to begin with, but made a decent recovery before going dormant. I’ve bought it in a terrible state last year with rotting roots, miniature leaves and low variegation, and with two growth points. At the time, I’ve cleaned the roots and moved it in a bigger pot with fresh soil and she dropped a half moon leaf.

This year, after the days got longer, two new leaves appeared, only to see one of them dying shortly and the second one struggling to unfurl. From my experience, traumatised plants can make a nice recovery and then relapse; they seem to have a higher sensitivity than healthy plants.

Although it’s not the ideal season for disturbing roots in houseplants, I took it out of dirt to check the roots. The only sensible thing to do was chop and prop.

I separated the two mini plants developed on the stem. The one with the half-moon still has the unfurled leaf and seems the healthiest part. The other one is not in a bad state either, although the top is a bit worrying. I also got three wet sticks from the stem and kept some roots on the base part.

All this PPP parts are now sitting comfortably in a closed jar in moss. With spring coming, I think this is the best chance for my princess, otherwise I would have risked losing the whole plant.

Here, due to limited space, I uploaded only a photo with the best looking leaf. To see more photos and a time-lapse of the whole chopping process (partially blocked by another royalty), check my Instagram page @greenmonstera.clinic.