Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine (Syngonium angustatum)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called five fingers arrowhead vine, five-lobed arrowhead plant, American evergreen.

More about five fingers arrowhead vine

About Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine

Syngonium angustatum · also called five fingers arrowhead vine, five-lobed arrowhead plant · houseplant

Syngonium angustatum is a vigorous Central American aroid whose juvenile leaves are arrow-shaped and mature leaves develop into deeply five-lobed palmate blades — the origin of the 'five fingers' common name. It grows quickly as a climbing or trailing houseplant and is tolerant of a wide range of indoor light conditions. Toxic to pets.

Cold limit: USDA 10-12 · RHS H1c (15–28°C)

What five fingers arrowhead vine's hardiness rating actually means

Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-12 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for five fingers arrowhead vine as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can five fingers arrowhead vine go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when five fingers arrowhead vine can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is five fingers arrowhead vine cold hardy?

Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-12); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature five fingers arrowhead vine can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is five fingers arrowhead vine?

Five Fingers Arrowhead Vine is rated USDA 10-12 and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can five fingers arrowhead vine survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to five fingers arrowhead vine below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.