Birkin Philodendron (Philodendron Birkin )
Buy Birkin Philodendron
Look for Costa Farms’ Birkin philodendron in the Trending Tropicals® collection at your favorite retailer. See a list of our in-store and online retailer partners.
How to care for a Philodendron Birkin
The Philodendron Birkin is a beautiful plant with striking white stripes on its green leaves. These patterns might make you think that the Philodendron Birkin is a difficult plant to take care of, but luckily that’s not true. The Philodendron Birkin shows you when it’s not happy, which makes it the perfect plant for beginners. In this guide, we’re going to look at how you can take care of this beautiful, yet easy-going house plant.
We’re going to look at these topics related to Philodendron plant care:
Table of contents
- How do I water my Philodendron Birkin?
- How much sunlight does a Philodendron Birkin need?
- What is the best soil for a Philodendron Birkin?
- How often should I fertilize my Philodendron Birkin?
- When should I repot my Philodendron Birkin?
- How much humidity does a Philodendron Birkin need?
- Is the Philodendron Birking toxic for pets?
- Leaf colors of the Philodendron Birkin
- Yellow leaves
- Brown leaves
Let’s get right into the tips on how to take care of this wonderful house plant.
How do I water my Philodendron Birkin?
Watering your Philodendron Birkin is one of the easiest things to get right. Watering is always quite a tough subject when it comes to taking care of plants, but not for this plant. The Philodendron Birkin is a thirsty plant and likes to be watered as soon as the soil is dry.
If you’re looking for a watering schedule to use for this plant, it’s this: Water this plant once per week. It doesn’t matter which season it is at the moment, this plant loves to be in moist soil most of the time. Even though it loves to be in moist soil, it also likes to dry out.
How much sunlight does a Philodendron Birkin need?
The Philodendron Birkin is the perfect house plant when it comes to light requirements. It doesn’t want to be in a low-light place, but also not in direct sunlight. However, you can put it in any other type of light exposure. This makes it great for windowsills that don’t get any direct sunlight, or just any other place away from windows in sunny rooms.
This plant doesn’t like low-light situations. When it doesn’t get enough sunlight, two things will happen. The first thing you’ll notice is that the plant starts to grow towards a light source. The second thing is that the bright white lines on its leaves will start to fade to dark green.
When the Philodendron Birkin is exposed to direct sunlight, it will get sunburned quite easily. Once you see sunburns, move your plant to a place where it doesn’t get any direct sunlight.
What is the best soil for a Philodendron Birkin?
As we’ve discovered in the earlier section about watering your Philodendron Birkin, this plant likes to be in moist soil but also likes to dry out. We’ve also discussed that you should water this plant once per week. So what does this have to do with the soil? well, it means that you should find soil that stays moist for at least a few days but also dries out. It also means that the soil you use for this plant needs to be able to deal with being watered quite often.
When we keep all of these things in mind, the perfect soil for your Philodendron Birkin is a mixture of these ingredients:
- General potting soil
- Perlite for excellent drainage
- Sphagnum moss to retain moisture
The perlite helps to make the soil drain excess water quickly. This is important to prevent root rot due to the plant sitting in water all the time. The perlite also helps the soil to dry out quickly, because your plant loves this.
To retain some of the moisture, we can add sphagnum moss to the soil. Sphagnum moss is a great way to add some pockets of moisture to your soil. The Spaghnum moss, along with the perlite, helps to keep the soil soft and airy.
When you water your plant often, the soil likes to compact. This is bad for drainage and oxygen flow to the roots of your plants. Adding perlite and Sphagnum moss helps to keep the soil airy and helps to water your plant perfectly.
How often should I fertilize my Philodendron Birkin?
The Philodendron Birkin is a fast-growing house plant. Because it grows so quickly also means that it uses a lot of energy to grow new leaves. If you like that this plant grows so quickly and you want it to keep doing this, you’ll need to fertilize it regularly.
During the growing season, spring and summer, you should fertilize your Philodendron once per month. This will give your house plant the energy it needs to keep growing quickly. There are several ways to fertilize your house plant. You can use sticks, balls, or liquid fertilizer to feed your plant. Liquid fertilizer is one of the easiest ways to feed this plant since it likes to be watered once per week. You can simply add some fertilizer to the water once per month and that’s how you can feed your plant.
When should I repot my Philodendron Birkin?
We found out that the Philodendron Birkin is a fast-growing plant, which means it also needs to be repotted eventually. You don’t have to repot this plant very often, like some plants, but you can’t keep it in the same pot for 2 years. Usually, the Birkin outgrows its pot in a single growing season. This means you should repot your Philodendron Birkin once per year.
When you’re ready to repot your Philodendron Birkin, pick a pot that’s about 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) bigger around the current pot. This way your Birkin has plenty of space to grow, but it’s also not too big for your plant. You risk overwatering your house plants when you plant them in a pot that’s too big. There will be too much moisture in the pot that your plant can’t absorb quickly enough. When you repot your plant in an incrementally bigger pot, you don’t risk overwatering your plant.
How much humidity does a Philodendron Birkin need?
The Philodendron Birkin is a tropical plant and loves humidity. This is part of the reason it loves to sit in moist soil most of the time. To help your plant be happy, make sure to keep it in a humid place. You can do this by misting it occasionally, but also by keeping it around other plants. These plants will keep their environment more humid and grouping plants together help a lot. If you’re looking for more ideas to raise the humidity for your plant, read “10 ways to raise the humidity in your house”.
Is the Philodendron Birking toxic for pets?
Unfortunately, the Philodendron Birkin, like many other tropical plants is toxic to both pets and humans. Because of this, make sure you keep it out of range of your cats and dogs, but also small children. This plant is only toxic when the leaves and stems have been chewed on. So if you notice that your pets have eaten this plant, make sure to call your vet right away for advice.
The leaves and stems contain calcium oxalate crystals, which cause irritation and stomach problems.
Leaf colors of the Philodendron Birkin
The Philodendron Birkin has a variety of different leaf colors. When you have new leaves, they will be completely white. When the leaves age, they will get progressively darker. The oldest leaves on your plant will be dark green, while the newest leaves are completely white. Any leaves in between those two extremes will have white stripes on green leaves like in the photos in this guide.
Yellow leaves
When you see yellow leaves on your Philodendron Birkin, this could have two causes: old age or overwatering. If the leaf is at the bottom of the plant and it was dark green before, this is an old leaf. In this case, you have nothing to worry about, because this is the natural lifecycle of this house plant.
If this is not an old leaf, you might be overwatering your plant. To see if this is the case, check if your plant is standing in a puddle of water. It’s best to have drainage holes in your pot to avoid overwatering your plant. When you have overwatered your plant, make sure to let the soil dry out before watering again. If you want to go deeper into what to do when you’ve overwatered your plant, be sure to read “How to rescue a plant from overwatering”.
Brown leaves
As we’ve discovered, the Philodendron Birkin is a tropical plant and loves humidity. When it’s getting brown and crispy leaves, it’s too dry and you should try to find a more humid spot for it.
Birkin Philodendron (Philodendron ‘Birkin’)
Birkin philodendron is a relatively new — and especially trendy — philodendron variety that boasts large, dark green leaves liberally streaked in creamy white. Each leaf is different so you can enjoy an ever-changing display throughout the year.
A slow-growing houseplant, it makes for an excellent addition to your favorite desk or tabletop when young. As it matures, it can reach 3 feet tall and wide or so as a houseplant. Believed to be a sport of Red Congo, Birkin is a self-heading philodendron (meaning it does not climb and is self supporting). You sometimes see Birkin produce leaves with red patches, or leaves that are entirely reddish-green.
Buy Birkin Philodendron
Look for Costa Farms’ Birkin philodendron in the Trending Tropicals® collection at your favorite retailer. See a list of our in-store and online retailer partners.Birkin Philodendron Growing Instructions
Light
Birkin philodendron grows best in medium to bright indirect light. Not sure what that means? In a medium light spot, the plant will cast a soft or light shadow throughout the day. In bright light, the plant will have a strong shadow. Don’t have a spot with natural light? No worries! Birkin philodendron thrives under both fluorescent or LED lights, as well as the sun.Water
Like many other aroids (plants in the philodendron family), this Birkin sensitive to overwatering. Be sure to let the top several inches of the potting mix dry before you water it again. This houseplant holds up reasonably well to drought, but looks and grows best if the potting mix isn’t allowed to dry out.Humidity
Birkin philodendron likes average to above-average relative humidity levels. If your environment has particularly dry air, boost humidity by grouping your philodendron with other houseplants. Or place a small humidifier nearby. Or alternatively, grow it over a large pebble tray.Fertilizing
Fertilize Birkin philodendron in spring and summer, if you wish. Use a fertilizer formulated for use on houseplants. Follow the directions on the product packaging and avoid using more than the instructions recommend. Too much fertilizer can cause root damage.Pruning
Pruning Birkin philodendron is not necessary except to remove any old or damaged leaves.- Water Medium water needs
- Light Indoors: High light Indoors: Medium light
- Colors Variegated
- Special Features Purifies the air Super-easy to grow
Complement your Birkin Philodendron
Raven® ZZ Plant
Contrast Birkin’s brightly variegated leaves with the purple-black color of Raven® ZZ (another ultra-trendy variety).Nanouk Tradescantia
Enjoy a stripes-on-stripes look by pairing your Birkin philodendron with creamy-pink Nanouk Tradescantia.Golden Goddess Philodendron
Enjoy a couple of gorgeous philodendrons by accenting Birkin’s variegated foliage with the electric color of Golden Goddess.- 21800 SW 162nd Ave. Miami, Florida 33170
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