Performance of Philodendron ‘Green Princess’ Grown Under Various Light Levels and Fertilizer Regimes

Philodendron ‘Green Princess’ is a new hybrid variety with considerable commercial potential. There are no specifically published protocols for the production of a high-quality, marketable crop. Plants were grown in a Central Florida greenhouse at two light levels, with varying application rates of three commercially available controlled-release fertilizers. Soil pH and electrical conductivity were regularly measured throughout the production period. At the end of the 24-week production period, plant height, width, and number of shoots were measured. Florida Southern College students served as a “consumer” group, visually rating the plants for quality on a Likert scale, choosing the “best” and “worst” plants in each evaluation block—explaining why the plants were so rated, and indicating whether they would purchase each plant for a price of $9.99. Measurement and survey data were analyzed to determine if either production light levels or fertilizer application rates correlated with physical plant characteristics or qualities preferred by consumers. Student consumers preferred “larger/fuller” plants. Plants with greater numbers of visible shoots, that were also wider and taller, were rated as being higher quality. Such plants were more likely to be purchased for $9.99 and were consistently voted “best” plant per block. Further analysis revealed that none of the fertilizer rates or formulations were related to the superior plants, but there were significant correlations between crop production light level for both higher survey rankings and larger plant measurements. Philodendron ‘Green Princess’ can be produced satisfactorily under higher light levels using any of the fertilizers we evaluated.