Can Arrowhead Plants Grow In Water? (How To Grow+Care)

Arrowhead plants or Syngonium are easy-to-grow tropical plants with beautiful spade-like leaves. These plants eventually vine when they mature. Since vining plants look great while you grow them in water, you might be wondering if arrowhead plants can be grown in water. Let’s find out. 

In general, Arrowhead plants can easily grow in water. To grow them in water, you need to find a healthy stem, clip it below the node, and put it in a jar or bottle filled with water. Roots will start growing within a few weeks, and you will have a thriving arrowhead plant.

If you have an arrowhead plant growing in soil, you can cut a stem from it, propagate it in water, and wait to notice roots. You can keep growing it in water or shift it to the soil to change things up. 

This article will give you all the information to grow an arrowhead plant in water.

How do you grow arrowhead vines in water?

Growing an arrowhead plant in water is even easier than growing it in soil. 

And the best thing is, you can move the plant growing in water to the soil at any point. 

Your arrowhead plant will adjust well in both these growing mediums. 

Before you learn how to grow your Syngonium in water, check the supplies you will need for it.

Pruners: You will need sharp and disinfected pruners to take the cuttings from your arrowhead plant. 

Don’t forget to sterilize it before and after use to avoid spreading any infection or disease. 

A glass container: Although you can take any container for growing your Syngonium, a glass jar or container would be ideal as you can witness the root growth and identify any problem in the roots. 

Water: Since your arrowhead plant will grow in water and get all the nutrients, you should use good quality water instead of regular tap water that contains harmful minerals for plants. 

You need to change the water frequently whenever it gets dirty. 

A moss pole: Since arrowhead plants grow vines as they mature, you should get a pole to support the Vines and keep the plant upright. 

A moss pole is ideal as it also provides humidity to the plant. 

Now let’s understand how to grow Syngonium in water.

1. Take a healthy cutting

Selecting a healthy stem and making the right cut is crucial for the successful propagation and growth of the arrowhead plant in water. 

Keep this in mind while taking the cutting from your Syngonium.

Select a mature stem: Young stems have not shown good results when propagated or grown in water.

This is because they are not strong enough how to survive in water.

However, selecting a mature stem almost always leads to successful propagation and healthy growth in water.

Always select a stem that is mature but not too young or too old.

Select a healthy stem: You must select a healthy stem from your arrowhead plant as a diseased or unhealthy cutting will produce a low-quality plant that will not remain healthy even when it grows in water.

Such plants will look unhealthy or die before their normal lifespan.

If you have an unhealthy arrowhead plant, take proper care and allow it to recover. Once the plant looks healthy, you can select a healthy stem from it.

Make an accurate cut: Making a clean and proper cut is crucial for the successful growth of the arrowhead plant in water.

You will notice a healthy and fast growth of roots from a clean and precise cut, whereas a clumsy cut will have poor root growth that will take a long time to grow.

The chances of root rot and other bacterial and fungal diseases increase when you don’t make a precise cut.

Include a leaf node: It is important to cut right below a node as the roots come out of the nodes on the stem. 

A node looks like a small bump on the stem.

2. Insert the cutting in water.

After taking the cutting, get the glass jar and fill it with water. 

Now insert the stem into the water and ensure that the node remains inside the water. 

Use the pole to support the arrowhead stem so it can stand upright. 

You should notice root growth within 1-2 weeks. 

The arrowhead plant grows bushy fast, so it will grow bushy and long if you give it the right care.

How do you take care of an arrowhead plant in water?

Although arrowhead plants will grow easily in water, you must take proper care of them to make them thrive.

Caring for an arrowhead plant growing in water is much easier than the one growing in the soil.

But go through the following section to understand how to take care of your Syngonium growing in water.

Factor	Brief Care Need
Light	Provide bright indirect light.
Water	Change the water whenever it goes dirty. Avoid using regular tap water and use good quality water as it is the only growing medium.
Temperature	Maintain suitable temperatures for the plant, which is 60-80°F.
Humidity	Since your arrowhead is already growing in water, you can occasionally mist to provide humidity.
Fertilization	You can add some liquid fertilizer to the water to provide some nutrients to the Syngonium.
Pruning	You can prune your arrowhead plant whenever it becomes too bushy or leggy.
Repotting	There is no need for repotting when a plant is growing in water, but you only need to change the water.

Now let’s get into the details.

Light

Arrowhead plants thrive in bright indirect light.

While the greener varieties can tolerate lower light levels, the variegated ones will need brighter light.

But you can’t deprive the plants of light as they will grow leggy and weak without good lighting.

Consider rotating the Syngonium to allow consistent growth on all sides.

You can get artificial lights if you don’t get enough natural light in the house.

You must avoid exposing the plant to direct sunlight as arrowhead plants will not tolerate intense sunlight, burning their leaves.

Also read: Arrowhead Plant Light Needs: What Type, How Much & More

Water

You need to change the water of the jar or container in which your arrowhead plant is growing.

Since arrowhead plants grow aerial roots, the water will become dirty, and you must change the water whenever you notice a color change.

Usually, you can change the water once a week.

Take care of the quality of the water.

Although arrowhead plants are not very particular about the water quality, you must ensure that the water doesn’t contain harmful minerals since it is the growing medium.

Don’t opt for regular tap water and consider going for distilled water or rainwater that doesn’t contain harmful minerals for the plant.

Poor water quality can shock the plant, so avoid using it.

Also read: How To Water Arrowhead Plant? (How Often+Summer & Winter)

Temperature

Arrowhead plants or Syngonium come from tropical and subtropical regions that receive high temperatures.

Even as houseplants, they prefer high temperatures ranging between 60-80°F.

Unlike many plants that can tolerate low temperatures, arrowhead plants start getting stressed as soon as the temperatures drop below 50°F.

High temperatures will result in faster water evaporation when growing in water, so you need to add or change water frequently to the jar.

Try not to let the temperatures drop below 50°F and keep the room well-insulated in winter.

Humidity

You need to worry less about the humidity for an arrowhead plant that’s growing in water than one growing in soil.

When the water evaporates, it adds moisture around the plant, but you can sometimes mist it to provide more humidity.

If you feel that the Syngonium is not getting enough humidity, you can keep a humidifier near it or keep other moisture-loving plants around it.

Don’t let the plant receive humidity levels lower than 50%.

Also read: Do Arrowhead Plants Like Humidity? (+Misting?)

Fertilization

Water is the only growing medium for a Syngonium growing in water.

Since it can’t absorb nutrients from the soil like its natural habitat, the water needs to contain the nutrients.

You can ensure that by using good quality water that is free of harmful chemicals and using a liquid fertilizer.

You can add a drop of a well-balanced liquid fertilizer to the water each time you change it.

However, don’t add too much fertilizer at once as that can cause overfertilization.

Also read: How Often Should You Fertilize Arrowhead Plant? (Best Fertilizer For Arrowhead)

Pruning

Arrowhead plants grow bushy fast, so it will require timely pruning if you want them to remain in shape.

The pruning will not be different from an arrowhead plant growing in the soil.

You should prune the overgrowth, leggy growth, and damaged and dead parts of the plant whenever you notice them.

However, you must not prune too much at once, which will stress the plant.

Repotting

There is no need for repotting since your arrowhead plant grows in water.

However, the plant might need a change of the jar or container when the roots grow too big for it.

You can check the roots in a glass jar and understand whenever they grow too big for the container.

Avoid keeping the Syngonium in a small jar or container as it will become root-bound.

Also read: Do Arrowhead Plants Like To Be Root Bound? (+Signs & When To Repot)

Can Syngonium live underwater?

Although you can grow Syngonium or an arrowhead plant in water, it can’t grow completely underwater.

Your arrowhead plant will die if its leaves remain underwater.

It will grow in water as long as the roots are underwater and the other parts are above water.

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Reference: CABI, Britannica, United States Department of Agriculture, Wikipedia, Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Missouri Botanical Garden.