The first thing that went through my mind when I started my new job at Indiana Tech in 2007 was “this office needs a plant”. Dusty, grey, lifeless cubicle walls don’t exactly inspire creative thinking. Research shows that some plants can actually measurably improve indoor air quality. So I asked Google for recommendations. The plant needs to be very easy to care for, it needs to be able to survive with minimal attention from me, and not much ambient light available.

Given these limitations, my choice was clear: I need a philodendron.

I came home with the perfect specimen from my next trip to Meijer – the plant was on sale for $7.99, because it had obviously been neglected. Three strands of about 4 feet length each, wrapped around a wooden stick in the middle of a plastic pot. The dirt in the pot was dried out, some of the leaves where yellow. Phil didn’t look like he was going to make it.

Look at him now, though! The plant has surely broken several records. At least what I read from this website Plantopedia, about the Philodendron Houseplant Phil is already three times as long as is to be expected. Probably because I string him up high along the ceiling tiles, so he can grow all he wants.