Every plant begins with a story.
Some start from a cutting, others from a single seed — a small capsule of potential carrying traits that have never existed before.

At Plantlovers, we have always been fascinated by the hidden side of growing: what makes one plant thrive while another stays small, how new shapes and colours arise, and how nature fine-tunes each species over time. That curiosity has now grown into something tangible — our own in-house breeding project, developed in collaboration with ILVO (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food).

Breeding Philodendrons — the heart of our project

The main focus of our research lies with Philodendrons.
This diverse genus holds enormous potential for hybridisation: striking leaf shapes, intricate venation patterns, and a wide range of growth habits. Yet breeding Philodendrons is anything but simple — they flower irregularly, often unpredictably, and each species follows its own rhythm.

In our greenhouse, our in-house biologist leads the project. He is studying how light, temperature, and humidity influence flowering and is testing different ways to stimulate bloom induction so that pollination windows can be planned more precisely.

When flowering occurs, timing is everything: Philodendrons go through a male and a female phase, often separated by just a few days. Successful crosses require patience, careful observation, and a clear understanding of each plant’s behaviour.

Learning through Anthuriums

To refine our methods before applying them to large-scale Philodendron breeding, we have also started a smaller side project with Anthuriums.
Their flowers are easier to interpret, and their faster seed development helps us study each step — from pollination to berry formation and seed germination.

These test runs allow us to perfect techniques such as hand-pollination, pollen collection, and seed sowing in sphagnum moss, so that when our Philodendrons flower, we can work with confidence and precision.

What we aim to achieve

Our goal is not to chase the next trend, but to deepen our understanding of the plants we already grow and to contribute to the natural diversity within the genus.
By studying compatibility, inheritance, and growth characteristics, we aim to create new, stable hybrids that are strong, balanced, and visually distinctive — plants that perform beautifully both in the greenhouse and in their final growing environments.

Every seed and every inflorescence teaches us something.
Some crosses may never take; others could yield completely unexpected results. That unpredictability is part of the appeal — discovery through patience and observation.

Sharing the process

This breeding journey is still in its early stages, and it will take time — years, in fact — before the first results are ready to share.
But we believe in sharing the process, not just the outcome.

We will continue to post updates from the greenhouse as our experiments progress: flowering trials, pollination attempts, germination tests, and, eventually, the first glimpses of new Philodendron hybrids.

For us, growing plants is not only about production — it is about understanding them.
And this project marks the next step in that ongoing story of curiosity and innovation.