Grow Vertical

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Grow Vertical

Grow Vertical is an online Plant Support shop. Dealing with climbing plants that need a vertical structure and media to grow well in contained cultivation.

Product is manufactured in Australia.

10/10/2026

The best time to air layer a climbing Aroid is 2 months before you think of it.

Air layering is one of the most reliable propagation techniques for climbing aroids — a cutting with an established root system before separation recovers faster, succeeds more reliably, and produces more mature foliage sooner. The problem is most growers only think about it when they’re already in trouble.

But even if propagation isn’t something you’re interested in — you will eventually need to cut your plant. Every climbing aroid outgrows its space at some point. When that happens you want the most fail safe and easiest way to do it. A cutting with an established root mass from a media filled support gives you exactly that.

A well packed media filled support changes the whole equation. Roots are establishing continuously inside the support from the moment the plant starts growing into it. When the time comes to chop, you’re not starting an air layer from scratch under pressure — the work has already been done.

The problems climbing aroids present are predictable. The root mass, the chop, the propagation — none of it has to catch you off guard if you set things up right from the start.

Swipe through for the full breakdown.

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29/09/2026

Climbing aroids don't all climb for the same reason. Knowing why your specific plant does, tells you what to prioritise.

It's also why people get confused about whether a plant is actually a climber. Someone growing Monstera deliciosa in a bright spot might conclude it doesn't need to climb — it's producing large leaves, even flowering, without a support. And in that environment, whilst they'd be a nightmare to manage long term, they're not wrong. But that's the light doing the work, not the plant abandoning its climbing habit.

Some climb for light. Philodendron atabapoense and Philodendron billietiae are good examples — given enough light they don't need to climb much to reach maturity. Prioritising light over support height will get you further quicker with these species.

Some climb to escape competition. Philodendron verrucosum doesn't need much light but still needs to climb to mature — likely about the evolutionary advantage of being on a tree rather than light itself.

Some need to climb to stay in mature form. A Philodendron mayoi that grows past its support will start lengthening internodes regardless of light levels. Lose the support and you lose the maturity.

Some climb only to then detach. Philodendron hederaceum and Philodendron chinchamayense need to climb first and then hang away from the host to produce inflorescences. Climbing is part of their reproductive strategy.

This post is still an oversimplification. We can't simply ask a plant why it climbs or what it needs. Growing plants would be a far less interesting endeavour if we could. There are no clean rules — the sooner you stop looking for them and start observing your specific plant, the better a grower you become.

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28/09/2026

The aroid flower is more complex than it looks. What most people see as a simple spathe opening is actually a carefully sequenced reproductive process — involving heat, scent, specific pollinators, and in some genera, berries that burst out when the time is right.

Swipe through for eight terms worth knowing the next time your aroid flowers.

Who loves being a pervy pollinator? Drop your favourite term in the comments — and tell us what your ideal hybrid would be.

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25/09/2026

IRCC (Internal Rapid Cutting Calculation) ... how fast is yours?

IRCC (definition)
The involuntary internal and instantaneous mental calculation triggered by the words "can I get a cutting?" Variables processed simultaneously include: the replacement value of the plant, current market availability, the rarity of the form or clone, the number of viable nodes remaining, the time of year and whether conditions favour successful propagation, the anticipated setback to the parent plant and its current trajectory, the requester's demonstrated horticultural competence, their track record with previous cuttings, the current state and history of the friendship, whether reciprocal cuttings have ever been offered, and an unconscious projection of where the cutting will likely end up in six months.

The entire calculation takes approximately 1.3 seconds while you hold a weird awkward nervous smile.

A negative IRCC score results in the phrase "Let's see how it goes over next summer"

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22/09/2026

Failing to plan is planning to fail. With climbing aroids, the problems you'll eventually face are completely predictable. The question is whether you're ready for them when they arrive.

Every climbing aroid will eventually run out of headspace. Your support will eventually need extending. The plant will get top heavy. And at some point you'll need to cut the top — either to propagate to sell a cutting or a chop and extend to keep the plant thriving. None of this is a surprise. It's just a matter of when.

The mistake most growers make is waiting until they're in the middle of the problem before thinking about the solution. Trying to air layer a top cut under pressure, scrambling to find a way to extend a support that wasn't designed for it, or attempting to remove a root mass from a support with openings too small to get it out cleanly — all of it is avoidable with the right setup from the start.

Getting onto a good support early is the single biggest thing you can do. The most common question we get is how to get a tall untrained plant onto a support. The honest answer is almost always the same — cut the top and start again with a good support. That conversation doesn't need to happen if you plan early.

This is what makes us different. We've grown hundreds of climbing aroids over more than eight years. We're not a faceless seller on Temu or Amazon who don't grow plants or answer questions. We know the problems you're going to face because we've faced them ourselves — and we designed our supports around the solutions before you even knew you needed them.

Swipe through for the full breakdown and let us know in the comments below what problems you don't think businesses or DIY'ers are managing to solve well.

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18/09/2026

Large wholesale nurseries use cheap media and cheap supports. Coir poles, peat based mixes, plastic trellises. And honestly — of course you would. At the scale they operate, what's economical and functional is the right call. They have full time staff, controlled environments, and watering systems that compensate for media that compacts and supports that dry out. It works for them.

The problem is that nobody tells you any of this when you walk out the door with your new plant.

It's also worth remembering that nursery plants are almost always small. At that size the support is largely there to hold the plant up and stop it getting damaged — the plant isn't relying on it yet and the root system isn't established enough to care. A coir pole or trellis does the job fine when the plant is twelve inches tall. The consequences of a poor support only become clear later, when the plant has sized up, the aerial roots are looking for somewhere to go, and you're wondering why nothing is happening.

What works in a nursery environment doesn't automatically work on your windowsill, in your living room, or in your greenhouse. The media that held up fine under a professional watering schedule will compact and lose oxygen in your pot. The coir pole that stayed moist under daily attention will dry out and leave your aerial roots with nothing to grow into.

It's not a criticism of nurseries — it's just the reality of how plants move from commercial growing environments into home cultivation. The conditions change completely. The products don't.

So what do you do about it? When you bring a new plant home, the first thing worth doing is checking what you're actually working with. Have a look at the mix — is it dense and peat heavy? Is it already compacting? What's the support situation? A quick assessment tells you a lot about what the plant needs next.

Moving it into a mix you know works for your environment is the first move. And if you're going to repot anyway, getting it onto a proper support at the same time just makes sense — you're already disturbing the roots, you may as well set it up right from the start.

Do what works for you.

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16/09/2026

Went in to quickly water. Left two hours later with seventeen cuttings, six repots, and absolutely no memory of watering anything.

The plants are fine. Probably. I'll check tomorrow.

This is not the first time this has happened. It will not be the last.

If you also go into your greenhouse or plant room with a plan and leave having done everything except the plan — drop a 🌱 below. We are many.

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14/09/2026

The plant community has a type for everyone. Some of us just have higher electricity bills than others.

We've been thinking about this for a while — because the more you're in this hobby, the more you realise that "plant grower" covers an enormous range of people, setups, motivations and methods. The grower with a climate controlled greenhouse full of obscure species has almost nothing in common with the person carefully arranging their Pothos on a sunlit windowsill. And yet here we all are, obsessing over roots and humidity and whether that new leaf is going to unfurl properly.

We landed on four types. They're not exhaustive and they're not meant to be — but we think most people will recognise themselves in at least one of them.

The Greenhouse Grower. Climate controlled, species focused, hybridising, hates tissue culture and has a botanist on speed dial. Spends more on heating bills than most people spend on rent.

The Aesthetic Indoor Grower. Curated feed, stunning plants in stunning interiors, the pot matters as much as the plant. Buys all the planty gimmicks because they came in cute packaging.

The Tent Grower. Grow lights, hydro or semi-hydro, loves growing things nobody else can in a plastic tub on the bottom shelf. Genuinely cannot understand why you don't just get grow lights.

The Outdoor Tropical Grower. Plants things in the ground and steps back. Nature does the work. Genuinely impressive results for approximately zero effort. Loves flexing on socials like they invented growing.

Which one are you? And which one do you think is the most unhinged? Drop it in the comments — we genuinely want to know.

🌿 Grow Vertical — growvertical.shop

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