I keep reading that many of the small aroids available for sale are plants with the juvenile leaf form, and the mature leaves are seldom seen in houseplants. It seems that they have to get much larger and grow upward, as they would in nature, before the mature leaves show themselves. At that point they can develop a beautiful form called "shingling", as I understand it. So, now I'm really interested in getting a plant to shingle, and I have lots of questions.
How do you get started? Do you start with a small plant in the final larger pot? Or wait until there's a medium plant starting to vine, then transplant it to a larger pot with some sort of support?
And of course, what plants will shingle? I'll need something on the smaller side, Monstera would be too much. I'm considering Scindapsus pictus (Satin "Pothos") or Philodendron hederaceum (Heartleaf Philodendron, maybe Brasil?), and am open to comments and suggestions.
What sort of pot, what sort of pole, what sort of soil? It's going to end up on the heavy side, I want to start with the right combination so I won't have to do a lot of moving/transplanting.
I'd love to see any photos of plants that are shingling, can you post any for me?
Any suggestions on how to get started--from scratch?
Thank you very much!

None of the plants that you mentioned above will develop any other form then their initial one. They are not plants that have a definite juvenile vs adult form, They will develop larger leaves, that is all. There is a difference between 'shingling' and simply climbing. There are many species of climbing aroids. Most Philodendrons climb, but climbing is not shingling. Scindapsus will shingle, but will not morph into some other form.
Examples of plants that will morph are Monstera dubia, Marcgravia (not an aroid, but it a shingle plant) Some of the Rhaphidophoras, Philodendron lupine will morph, but is not really a shingler, just a climber. Epipremnum pinnatum and Epipremnum aureum are climbers that have definite juvenile and adult forms, as does Philo camposportoanum, and Syngoniums.
True 'shingle plants' are plants that have very close spaced leaves that tend to overlap somewhat, some more than others. They are referred to as 'appressed climbers' because their roots actually come out under the leaf and stick to the support, holding the leaf flat to the surface (appressing it) as it climbs.
Here are a few plants I have that are shinglers...Marcgravias, the 2nd photo also shows a Dischidia that is an appressed climber



This Marcgravia has overgrown the support and gone off the rails, the leaves are starting to mature


Rhaphidophora korthalsii...this will morph when more mature, and it definitely shingles

Monstera dubia (variegated form). This shingles and morphs, this one is climbing up a plumeria tree trunk

Monstera dubia, green form. This one climbing up another tree. This plant has reached a height of almost 12 feet and still has not developed mature leaves

Epipremnum pinnatum, adult form at about 12-13 ft up

Rhaphidophora hayi..shingles, does not morph

Rhaphidophora cryptantha...shingles, will morph

Rhaphidophora latevaginata

Pothos barberianus far left

Piper clypeatum

These are just a few.
Most shinglers will attach to almost anything. Wood (untreated, NO Pressure treated chemical treated woods), stone, brick walls...I build large totems that will support more than one climbing plant and they run up these readily. I generally wrap PVC with coir matting but you can use other things. They climb in the terrariums by affixing themselves to cork bark slabs. Tree fern can also be used, but cork is preferred because its sustainable and tree fern is not. If you have larger hard stemmed houseplants, like indoor palms with trunks, trees like ficus, etc you can let them attach to these.

When a plant that morphs decides its time to do that is totally seemingly unpredictable. In the wold, it would be in response to the light levels probably more than anything...once they have climbed high enough to get the light they would need to sustain adult form they will morph. I know someone who has a Monstera dubia that morphed at 5 ft. One of mine is over twice that and gets tons of light and has not developed transitional leaves yet.

These are some scindapsus I have that are climbing





This would be a good, inexpensive plant for you to start with

Thank you Gina, for the advice and pictures! Your plant collection is awesome. And I learned a new botanical descriptor--"apressed".
OK, now I'm looking for a Scindapsus to start on. 🙂

Show us your progress!!!!

Once you get some experience under your belt if you want to branch out you should look for these Monsteras. These have juvenile and adult forms. Some are harder to find than others. Monsteras....pinnapartita, epipremnoides,siltepecana,spruceana, standleyana and tenuis

Thank you Gina, now I'm browsing all sorts of plants that are new to me!
I'm also new to getting vines to grow upward. Could you post some pictures please that show your totems/vine supports? How do you anchor and support the totems? How do you connect the planter and the post parts?
How long do moss poles last? Seems like wood would be gone in a year or two, but a metal trellis wouldn't really provide anchorage for roots.
Please, if you can, back up a bit and post pictures of the entire pole and plant? I love the close ups of the plants, but would also like a look at the whole set-up. Thanks!

The Marcgravia are smallish and totally cute, but I don't think I'd have enough ambient humidity for them here.

Well, I may not be the one to actually emulate. I don't grow houseplants. I grow greenhouse plants. My totems are generally 10-12 ft tall large bore diameter PVC pipe made for septic drainage fields covered in coir liner mat which I buy by the economy roll, 33 feet long x 36 inches wide. Some things, I will tie on with something, then after the roots get anchored, remove the ties. Others, I just place on the matting and they root and start climbing. Some things are planted directly into the ground, others are left in containers. Commercially made small moss poles would be totally inadequate for my purposes
These are some photos

Thank you for more lovely and helpful pictures!
Full disclosure: I don't have much room at home. I'm going to transfer a heartleaf philodendron to a pot with a 24 inch totem, for starters. Make use of some empty vertical space.
But...
I volunteer at a local greenhouse that is part of a recreational therapy program on hospital grounds. And--about a month ago someone donated a very small vanilla orchid. It seems to be surviving, showing some new growth and wanting to vine. And--we just had a new volunteer start who seems to have some shop space and experience building stuff (I don't). I'm thinking of trying to sneak in a climbing pole, maybe more than one plant on it.
I'll try to post a snapshot in a few days.
Thanks for your help!

Vanilla will vine reasily. Just be sute that any wood you use is NOT chemically treated.

The last few times I was @ L's, they had Rhaphidophora plants shingling up wood planks, with the houseplants. Part of the collection in white cache pots, so be careful picking one if you decide to investigate. If the pot is full of water, find one that isn't.

Yeah these are all the new Costa Farms releases for their 'tropical' collection. Those white cache pots are a menace at the box stores when it rains or they have an over-avid water person. They must rot a few plants

At least at my Lowe's they keep those pots inside or out under a rain proof sun roof, the water gal doesn't water there, which is good because she loves that spray hose.

Yesterday at my Lowe's they had three new Costa's, "Tropical collection", price is $20. One really caught my attention, Geogenanthus ciliatus, really neat looking leaves, sort of succulent looking, so I passed it by, however looking it up, it loves water and humidity, but not cold. They also had pothos 'Global green' and pothos 'Baltic blue'. I really wish they would cut the price down and put them in plastic pots instead of those no hole ceramic pots.

Yeah the Geognanthus came here last season, the Epipremnums just arrived

They're double potted. I tried taking one to the register w/o the white cache pot and that didn't work. (Giggle!) Don't bother. They are decent cache pots but I would like to have the option to purchase without. $20 is about $5 too much for me for a houseplant. I'll wait to find something smaller at a smaller price or just not have that one. ...unless it's a Begonia, Adenium, Plectranthus, or Kalanchoe that I don't already have.

I have found a few on clearance when they get thirsty. As said, they aren't getting watered, so if you visit often, you might find one that's still OK but just needs a drink.

yeah, if I buy something in a cache pot like that, I take my drill and a special ceramic bit I have an put a hole in the bottom of it so I can use the pot elsewhere

Update:
Well, nothing is shingling for me, and I don't have the space that Gina has to work with. Oh, and the vanilla orchid died.
BUT, I'm very happy with how this Philodenron Brasil is looking. The pot is relatively small compared to the top growth, but the plant doesn't seem to mind. It's gone to the top and started back down, I think I'll be taking some cuttings pretty soon. I didn't think these would even grow for me, so it's been a nice surprise addition to my collection.
And, I have two Schindapsus started. They seem slow to root, but are really liking our recent hot weather. One's on a trellis in the greenhouse, we'll see how it goes.

It can take a bit to get a shingler to shingle. Once they get tacked on though they usually get the hint. You don't need a lot of space to have a shingler. They don't always have to grow straight up. they can go all different ways. They will eventually always point up, but can take detours
Rhaphidophora pachyclada on a rock