Mature size & growth rate

How big does Anubias gigantea (Anubias gigantea) get?

Also called giant Anubias.

More about anubias gigantea

About Anubias gigantea

Anubias gigantea · also called giant Anubias · tropical

Anubias gigantea is the largest commonly kept Anubias, a West African aroid with big, three-lobed hastate leaves on tall petioles. Best suited to large aquariums, paludariums and emersed culture, it is slow-growing and hardy, attached to substantial wood or rock and fed from the water column under modest light.

Mature size: Leaves 15-25 cm long; mature plants can reach 40-60 cm or more tall with a broad spreading rhizome.

Watch for — Outgrowing the setup: Its giant size overwhelms standard tanks. Reserve it for large aquariums or paludariums and divide to manage size.

Indoor size vs how big it gets in the wild

Anubias gigantea does not get tall — it gets long. Size here is about stem length and how you train or cut it, not how much floor it claims. Indoors and in a pot, expect leaves 15-25 cm long. In the ground with no restriction it is a completely different plant — mature plants can reach 40-60 cm or more tall with a broad spreading rhizome. — which is why the pot, the light and the pruning matter so much for the size you actually end up with.

Growth shows up as lengthening stems that trail down or climb up a support; the plant can be kept tiny or grown metres long from the exact same root system.

Growth rate and years to mature

Anubias gigantea is a slow grower. Realistically, expect many years — it gains very little each season, so it can hold the same shelf-sized footprint for 5-10+ years. Its feeding profile backs this up: supply a complete liquid aquatic fertiliser through the water column; emersed plants in rich substrate also respond to root feeding. iron and potassium are key. co2 boosts growth on this large, otherwise slow species.

Want this turned into the right next pot at the right moment? The pot size calculator and the anubias gigantea repotting guide cover when and how much to size up — pot size is one of the biggest levers on how fast anubias gigantea grows.

How to keep anubias gigantea smaller

You are not stuck with the maximum size. For anubias gigantea specifically, these are the levers, in order of impact:

Trim the longest vines back to the length you want — anubias gigantea takes hard cutting well and bushes out from the cut.
Cut just above a leaf node; each trimmed stem usually branches into two, so pruning makes it fuller, not sparser.
The cuttings root easily in water or mix, so "keeping it smaller" doubles as free new plants.
A trim once or twice a season is usually enough to hold its length.

The keep-it-smaller method, step by step

Decide the length you want. Pick the point each vine of anubias gigantea should stop — you can be aggressive; it regrows readily.
Cut just above a node. Snip about 0.5 cm above a leaf node so the stem branches there instead of dying back.
Root the cuttings. Drop the trimmed pieces in water or mix — they root in 2-4 weeks and can fill the same pot for a bushier look.
Repeat as it runs. Re-trim whenever it overshoots; regular light pruning keeps it both smaller and fuller.

How to grow anubias gigantea bigger or faster

If you want it to fill the space sooner, push the conditions rather than hoping — for anubias gigantea the accelerators are:

More (indirect) light dramatically lengthens the vines and enlarges the leaves.
Give it something to climb — many vines grow far faster and bigger up a support than trailing.
Feed through spring and summer and keep it consistently watered while it is actively running.

Light is almost always the ceiling. The anubias gigantea light requirements page covers exactly how bright a spot it needs to grow at its potential instead of stalling.

When anubias gigantea outgrows the room (or the pot)

"Too big" usually arrives as one of these signs for anubias gigantea:

Vines pooling on the floor or wrapping past where you want them — purely a trimming cue, not a repot one.
Bare, leggy stems with leaves only at the tips (usually a light problem, not a size one).
A tangled mass that has outrun its support and needs cutting back and re-training.

If it is the pot rather than the room, it is a repotting job, not a goodbye — see the anubias gigantea repotting guide. If you want more of this plant instead of a bigger one, the anubias gigantea propagation guide turns prunings into new plants.

Anubias gigantea size — frequently asked questions

How big does anubias gigantea get?

Anubias gigantea reaches leaves 15-25 cm long when grown indoors, and far larger where it grows unrestricted (mature plants can reach 40-60 cm or more tall with a broad spreading rhizome.). Growth shows up as lengthening stems that trail down or climb up a support; the plant can be kept tiny or grown metres long from the exact same root system.

Is anubias gigantea slow or fast growing?

Anubias gigantea is a slow grower. Expect many years — it gains very little each season, so it can hold the same shelf-sized footprint for 5-10+ years. Anubias gigantea does not get tall — it gets long. Size here is about stem length and how you train or cut it, not how much floor it claims.

How long does anubias gigantea take to reach full size?

Roughly many years — it gains very little each season, so it can hold the same shelf-sized footprint for 5-10+ years. Light, pot size and feeding move that timeline more than anything else.

How do I keep anubias gigantea smaller?

Trim the longest vines back to the length you want — anubias gigantea takes hard cutting well and bushes out from the cut. Cut just above a leaf node; each trimmed stem usually branches into two, so pruning makes it fuller, not sparser. The cuttings root easily in water or mix, so "keeping it smaller" doubles as free new plants. A trim once or twice a season is usually enough to hold its length.

How can I make anubias gigantea grow bigger or faster?

More (indirect) light dramatically lengthens the vines and enlarges the leaves. Give it something to climb — many vines grow far faster and bigger up a support than trailing. Feed through spring and summer and keep it consistently watered while it is actively running.