Pink Princess Philodendron: Care & Variegation

Pink Princess Philodendron: Care & Variegation

I’ll be honest with you: I stared at Pink Princess Philodendrons online for about six months before I bought one. The price made my stomach hurt, and I kept reading horror stories about people spending $150 on a plant that turned completely green within weeks. But I caved last spring, and now I understand both the obsession and the anxiety that comes with owning one.

The thing about Pink Princess Philodendron is that it’s genuinely weird. It’s a cultivar that happened sort of by accident, and the pink parts aren’t actually producing chlorophyll. That means every leaf is a gamble. Sometimes you get a stunner with half-pink, half-green. Sometimes you get boring all-green. And sometimes, if you’re unlucky, you get all-pink, which sounds amazing but actually means that leaf can’t photosynthesize and your plant is wasting energy.

I’m going to walk you through what I’ve learned from keeping mine alive and reasonably pink for the past year. This isn’t going to be a scientific lecture. It’s just what worked for me, plus some research I did when I panicked about mine pushing out three green leaves in a row last summer.

How to keep the pink variegation bright

The pink on a Pink Princess fades when it doesn’t get enough light. I learned this the hard way when I first brought mine home and stuck it on a shelf about eight feet from my east window. The existing pink leaves started looking washed out and peachy instead of that bubble-gum pink you see in all the Instagram photos.

Here’s what I figured out: these plants need bright indirect light, and I mean actually bright. Not “oh, there’s a window somewhere in this room” bright. If you hold your hand up near where the plant sits and you get a soft but clear shadow, that’s about right. I moved mine to a spot about three feet from my south-facing window, but I have a sheer curtain that filters the direct sun. The pink perked up within a couple of weeks.

Direct sun will scorch the pink parts because remember, those sections have no chlorophyll to protect them. I accidentally let some afternoon sun hit one of my leaves for about two hours, and it got these crispy brown edges that never recovered. So you’re threading a needle here: bright enough to keep the pink saturated, but not so bright that you burn it.

Some people use grow lights, and honestly, that might be more consistent than relying on windows. I haven’t tried it myself because I’m already running two grow lights for my orchids and my apartment is starting to look like a grow operation. But if you live somewhere with bad natural light, a good full-spectrum LED light would probably work better than a dim corner.

The other thing that affects the pink color is how you water. When I let mine get too dry for too long, the pink sections seemed duller. I think it’s because the plant gets stressed and the cells in those pink areas don’t plump up the way they should. I’m not saying you should keep it soaking wet, that would kill it faster than anything. But consistent moisture makes a difference in how vibrant everything looks.

According to the University of Florida’s horticulture extension, variegated plants generally need more careful light management than their all-green counterparts because the white or pink sections can’t contribute to photosynthesis. That means the green parts are doing all the work, and if there’s not enough light, the whole plant suffers.

Preventing your PPP from reverting to green

This is the nightmare scenario. You spend a bunch of money on a Pink Princess, and then it just decides to become a regular green philodendron. It happens, and it’s not always your fault.

First, you need to understand that this plant is what’s called a chimeral variegation. That means the pink mutation exists in only some layers of the plant’s cells, not all of them. When the plant grows a new leaf, it’s pulling from these cell layers, and sometimes it just pulls from the all-green layer. There’s some randomness to it. A grower I read about on a hobbyist blog compared it to a slot machine, which feels painfully accurate when you’re waiting for a new leaf to unfurl.

That said, you can tilt the odds in your favor. Light is the biggest factor. When my plant doesn’t get enough light, it prioritizes survival over looking pretty. Green leaves are more efficient at photosynthesis, so the plant will push those out if it’s struggling. After I moved mine to a brighter spot, the ratio of pink-and-green leaves to all-green leaves got way better.

If you do get an all-green leaf, or worse, if you get a whole stem that’s pushing out only green growth, you need to cut it off. I know that sounds harsh, especially when you paid $100+ for this thing and you don’t want to lose any growth. But that all-green growth is more vigorous than the variegated growth. It will take over if you let it. I cut back a fully green vine on mine in August, and I felt like I was sabotaging my own plant, but two months later I had three new variegated leaves coming in.

Make the cut right above a node on the main stem, before the green growth branches off. Use clean scissors or pruning shears. I wipe mine with rubbing alcohol because I’m paranoid about spreading diseases between plants.

Some people also prune all-pink or mostly pink leaves, which seems counterintuitive. But here’s the thing: a leaf that’s more than about 50% pink isn’t pulling its weight. It’s a cool decoration, but it’s not helping the plant survive. I had one leaf come in that was probably 80% pink with just a tiny green stripe. It looked incredible, but I watched that leaf closely, and it never grew as large as the others. The plant was putting energy into something that couldn’t give much back. I didn’t cut it off because I’m sentimental and it wasn’t hurting anything, but I understand why people do.

Above: A close up look at the symptoms.

The perfect chunky soil mix for Aroids

Pink Princess is a philodendron, which means it’s an aroid, and aroids hate sitting in soggy soil. I killed my first pothos years ago by using regular potting soil and watering it like I thought I was supposed to. The roots rotted. I learned.

For my Pink Princess, I use a chunky mix that drains fast but still holds some moisture. I make my own because the pre-mixed “aroid soils” at the store are wildly overpriced. Here’s what I do: I take regular potting soil and then mix in about 30% perlite and 20% orchid bark. The perlite creates air pockets, and the bark keeps things from compacting. Some people add coco coir or sphagnum moss, but I find that holds too much water for my environment.

You want the mix to feel light and fluffy, not dense. When you water it, the water should run through pretty quickly, not pool on top. I water mine thoroughly until it drains out the bottom, and then I don’t water again until the top two inches of soil feel dry. In my apartment, that’s about every five to seven days in summer and every ten days in winter.

The pot matters too. I use a plastic nursery pot with a lot of drainage holes, and then I stick that inside a prettier ceramic pot. Terracotta would work fine too since it breathes and dries out faster, but I think it’s ugly, so I don’t use it. The important thing is that water can escape. Root rot will kill your Pink Princess way faster than underwatering will.

According to research from NC State University’s horticulture department, philodendrons prefer a soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5, which is slightly acidic. Most standard potting mixes fall into this range, so I don’t stress about it too much. But if you’re mixing your own soil and adding a lot of bark or perlite, you might want to test it. I don’t, and mine seems fine.

One more thing: I repot every year and a half or so, usually in spring. The roots get crowded, and the soil breaks down and gets compacted even with the chunky mix. When I see roots poking out the drainage holes or the plant drying out way faster than usual, I know it’s time.

Dealing with leaves getting stuck

This is such a specific problem, but it happened to me three times, and I’ve seen other people panic about it online, so I’m including it.

Sometimes a new leaf starts to unfurl and then just stops. It gets stuck halfway, with part of the leaf still wrapped in the cataphyll (that’s the papery sheath that protects new growth). If you leave it alone, the part that’s stuck can get damaged or discolored. If you’re too aggressive trying to help it, you can rip the leaf.

The usual cause is low humidity. Philodendrons come from tropical environments where the air is consistently moist. My apartment in winter is basically a desert because of the heating. I bought a cheap humidifier and run it near my Pink Princess, and I haven’t had a stuck leaf since.

If you do get a stuck leaf, here’s what worked for me: I took a spray bottle and misted the stuck part really well, making sure the water got into the seam where the leaf is trying to emerge. Then I waited about ten minutes for things to soften up. After that, I very gently tried to help the leaf along, just using my fingers to ease the papery part away. If it resisted at all, I stopped and misted again. Patience is key. I damaged one leaf by being impatient and pulling too hard, and it unfurled with a big tear in it.

Some people use a damp cotton swab to work into the tight spots. I haven’t tried that, but it makes sense. The goal is just to add moisture so the leaf can slide out the way it’s supposed to.

You can also try putting the whole plant in your bathroom and running a hot shower to steam up the room. I did this once when I had a particularly stubborn leaf, and it worked, but it felt ridiculous standing there with my plant in the shower.

Above: The tools you need to fix this.

Is the Pink Princess worth the price?

Okay, let’s talk about money. When I bought mine, I paid $120 for a plant with four leaves. That’s insane. I could buy groceries for two weeks with that money. Or a pretty nice pair of jeans. Or twelve normal houseplants.

The price has come down a bit since tissue culture propagation has made these more available, but they’re still expensive compared to a pothos or a snake plant. You can sometimes find smaller ones for $40 to $60 now, which feels less ridiculous but is still a lot for a plant.

Here’s my honest take: if you’re new to houseplants, don’t start with a Pink Princess. It’s not the hardest plant in the world, but it’s finicky about light, it needs good drainage, and there’s always that chance it will revert to green and break your heart. Get a regular heartleaf philodendron first. Learn what bright indirect light actually means in your space. Figure out a watering schedule. Then, if you still want a Pink Princess, go for it.

If you’re experienced with aroids and you have the right light conditions, I think it’s worth it. Mine makes me happy every time I look at it. That sounds cheesy, but it’s true. There’s something about those pink and green leaves that just hits different than any of my other plants.

But I’m not going to pretend it’s a practical purchase. It’s not. It’s a weird luxury item that happens to be alive. You’re paying for genetics and rarity and the fact that growing these in large quantities is still tricky for nurseries. If that price makes you uncomfortable, there are other beautiful philodendrons out there. The Philodendron Brasil has lovely variegation and costs about $15. The Micans has this gorgeous velvety texture. Neither will give you that pink, but they’re both great plants.

One thing that bothers me is the scamming. Because Pink Princesses are expensive, people try to pass off other plants as PPP. I’ve seen regular philodendrons with pink painted on the leaves being sold online. I’ve also seen Pink Congo, which is a philodendron that’s been artificially treated to produce temporary pink leaves that eventually fade to green. That one is particularly cruel because the buyer thinks they got a deal, and then six months later they realize they were tricked. If you’re buying online, make sure you’re getting it from a reputable seller. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The other option is propagation. If you have a friend with a Pink Princess, you can ask for a cutting. Rooting them in water works fine, though I’ve had better luck with sphagnum moss. Just make sure the cutting has at least one node and ideally some pink variegation. A cutting won’t cost you $100, just the awkwardness of asking your friend to chop up their expensive plant.

So is it worth it? For me, yes. For you, I don’t know. It depends on your budget, your space, and how much joy you get from having something rare and kind of ridiculous living on your shelf.

References

University of Florida IFAS Extension. “Foliage Plant Care: Light and Watering.” Environmental Horticulture Department.

NC State Extension. “Philodendron.” NC State University Horticulture Information Leaflets.