Rhaphidophora korthalsii is the Shingle Plant that makes people question whether what they're looking at is a plant growing on a surface or a surface that somehow became a plant—those small, flat, broadly oval leaves press themselves so completely and so precisely against whatever vertical surface they're climbing that the whole shingled display looks less like a standard climbing aroid and more like someone applied overlapping botanical tiles to a wall, a board, or a moss pole with the most precisely flat and the most completely adhesive intention imaginable. She's the ultimate climbing aroid for collectors who want something that genuinely and completely commits to its climbing surface rather than merely leaning against it, and she delivers that extraordinary shingled display with the kind of consistent flat-pressed precision that makes every new leaf placement feel like a deliberate and entirely satisfying architectural decision. Shingled, flat-pressed, precisely overlapping, and entirely committed to being the most adhesively architectural and most precisely tiled climbing aroid in any collection she plasters herself to.
Care Card
🌿 Light — Bright indirect preferred. Those flat-pressed shingled leaves develop their most precisely overlapping and most dramatically adhesive form with good consistent light; low light causes the shingle habit to become less pronounced and the leaves to lose the flat-pressed precision that makes the korthalsii so distinctively and so architecturally extraordinary.
💧 Water — Let the top 1–2 inches dry between waterings, then water thoroughly and drain. Well-draining aroid mix essential; she is an epiphytic climber and her roots need airflow as much as moisture—never soggy, never bone dry, always draining, always breathing, always maintaining the precise conditions that support her most extraordinary shingled climbing habit.
💨 Humidity — 60–75% preferred. Humidifier recommended; those flat-pressed shingled leaves appreciate consistent humidity that supports the most precisely adhesive climbing habit and the most dramatically overlapping tile-like display—dry air causes leaf curling that lifts those shingled leaves away from their climbing surface and interrupts the whole flat-pressed architectural effect.
🌡️ Temperature — 65–85°F. Never below 62°F. Stable warmth keeps those shingled leaves pressing consistently and precisely against their climbing surface; cold drafts cause the flat-pressed habit to become less pronounced and the whole precisely tiled architectural display loses the adhesive precision that makes the Shingle Plant so genuinely extraordinary.
🌱 Fertilizer — Half-strength balanced liquid every 2–3 weeks in spring and summer. Monthly in early fall. Nothing in winter; consistent feeding supports the vigorous climbing growth that keeps those shingled leaves pressing most precisely and most adhesively against their surface in an increasingly extraordinary overlapping architectural display.
⚠️ Toxicity — Toxic to pets and humans. Calcium oxalate crystals cause oral irritation and vomiting if ingested.
🐣 Beginner Friendly? — Not quite. Epiphytic climbing requirements, consistent humidity, and the precise vertical surface needed to display the shingle habit at its most extraordinary make this one for intermediate to experienced collectors who sought out the flat-pressed shingled climbing form specifically and are ready to provide the vertical surface and the consistent conditions it needs to become something this architecturally extraordinary.
HOW OUR SHIPPING WORKS
For more details, please see our Shipping Policy to support your plants for a healthy journey in all seasons.
PLEASE NOTE: What you see is the vibe — not the exact plant. 🌿 Each plant has its own personality (some a little more dramatic than others). Leaf shape, size, and variegation will vary, but pot size is consistent.
