Dragon Tail Plant

Dragon Tail Plant (Epipremnum pinnatum) is the climbing aroid for a green wall indoors rather than a trailing pot. Given a moss pole it reaches about 3m and stays near 1m wide, and the leaves change as it goes: plain ovals low down, then deeply cut fingers once the plant has height. Its native range reaches into northern Australia.

Why you'll love it

• The foliage earns its keep. Mature leaves split into long lobes that read as sculpture against a plain wall.
• Fast enough to see. With warmth and a support it climbs quickly, filling its space within a season or two.
• Humidity is an asset here. Steamy bathrooms and wet subtropical summers suit it, where fussier indoor plants spot and rot.
• You control the size. Left unsupported it stays short and juvenile; given a pole it stretches to 3m and matures its leaf shape.

Where it works best

Indoors. Bright indirect light beside a window is ideal, and it copes further into a room with slower growth. Indoors your climate stops mattering, which counts for a plant this frost tender.

Pots, balconies and courtyards. Outdoors it wants a sheltered shaded spot in a tropical, subtropical or warm temperate garden. A 300mm pot with a pole suits one plant on a covered balcony.

Feature planting. In a frost free garden it climbs a shaded tree trunk or a shadehouse post, and the leaves reach their fullest split form there.

Growing Dragon Tail Plant in Australia

Position and climate. Bright indirect light indoors, shade to part shade outdoors, never hot sun through glass. Outdoor planting is limited to tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens, because it is frost tender and one cold snap will damage it. Cooler southern gardeners should keep it inside.

Soil. A chunky free draining mix with bark or perlite through it. The roots want air as much as water, so dense mix in a pot without drainage is the fastest way to lose one.

Water and feed. Water when the top few centimetres are dry, more often in warm months and clearly less over winter. Half strength liquid feed every four to six weeks through spring and summer is plenty.

Pruning. Cut back any stem that runs too far and take the tip out to encourage branching. Prunings root readily in water, so one plant becomes several.

What to expect when it arrives

Three sizes are sold: tube stock, 140mm in packs of ten and 200mm in packs of six. Tubes and 140mm plants arrive young with the plain juvenile leaf, and need a season on a pole before the splitting begins. The 200mm plants can go straight into a decorative pot.

Aroids travel well, though a bruised or yellowed leaf after transit is normal rather than a fault. Give it a week somewhere bright and indirect before repotting. Plants are delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to keep your indoor plants alive
• A guide to growing exotic plants indoors
• Browse the full indoor plant range
• Plants suited to pots and containers

Common questions

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

No. The sap contains calcium oxalate crystals, which irritate the mouth and throat if a pet chews the leaves and can bring on drooling and vomiting. Keep it on a shelf or a pole out of reach.

Why are my leaves not splitting?

Because the plant has nothing to climb. Dragon Tail holds its plain juvenile leaf while it trails and only develops the cut lobes once it is climbing in decent light.

Can I grow it outdoors?

Only in a tropical, subtropical or warm temperate garden, in shade and out of the wind. Anywhere with cold winters it belongs indoors, or in a pot you can move under cover.

How is it different from a pothos?

They are close relatives, but pothos stays a trailer with a small heart shaped leaf. Dragon Tail is a genuine climber to 3m that grows a much larger, deeply lobed leaf as it matures.