It is an epiphyte native to the cool temperate rainforest of southern and central Chile.

[3] In temperate regions it is usually grown under glass, either epiphytically or using a specialist potting medium containing leaf mould or sphagnum moss.

It may be placed outside during the summer months, in a warm sheltered spot where the temperature does not fall below 5 °C (41 °F).

[3] The plant is still widely advertised as Sarmienta repens, a name which is now regarded as illegitimate.

[5] Sarmienta scandens has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.