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torsten_gw

Help with 4 House Plants

13 years ago

Hello,
I have been a casual houseplant enthusiast for quite a while, but have just started to get serious in learning about proper plant care. Please help me identify these plants. I don't think any of them are particularly exotic or rare - just having a hard time ID'ing them through online galleries.

The first one has large, fanned leaves that extend from a large bulb-like thing. It wasn't doing so well, so I took it out of its pot to find it extremely root bound with some rotting. I trimmed it and was beginning to repot it, then thought I better find out what it was before I filled with the incorrect soil or something.

Comments (13)

  • 13 years ago

    Here is the base of the above plant.

  • 13 years ago

    I believe this is three individual plants. Just recently the tips of the leaves have started to brown.

  • 13 years ago

    I have a couple of other plants similar to this one, but this one has thicker, waxier leaves.

  • 13 years ago

    Finally, I believe this is a "swiss cheese" plant? I just purchased a larger pot for it as the roots are starting to come loose.

  • 13 years ago

    At the base of the above plant, there are some little green sprouts coming up. Are they in search of soil to further root the plant, or are they new offshoot vines?

    Thank you for all help. I know this is quite a bit to ask for my first post, but I look forward to joining the community here.

  • 13 years ago

    1.- Philodendron bipinnatifidum
    2.- Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana'
    3.- Hoya carnosa 'Variegata'
    4.- Monstera obliqua

    Rgds

  • 13 years ago

    Split leaf philodendron, dracena, hoya, and another variety of philodendron

  • 13 years ago

    next time.. 4 different posts .. for 4 different plants ... is probably preferred by most of us..

    there is a house plant forum ...

    the philodendrons can be cut into 3 inch hunks .. left to dry .. then laid on media ..... and rooted very easily ... as well as the trunk resprouting.. to control size ...

    the dracena ... the one with browning tips.. is most likely TOO BIG!!! for a small pot.. as the potting media can not hold enough water for the plant to process .. in a house in IL in winter.. especially if dealing with a forced air furnace ... in other words.. your favorite babe has turned into an unruly teenager ...

    now that you know the name.. google: propagation of dracena ... and learn how to regenerate it into a smaller plant.. that can cope indoors in winter in IL .... in the alternative.. up-pot to a pot double the size.. and figure out where it will fit in the house. ...

    i see with your swiss cheese.. you have gotten a larger pot.. and that will buy you some years.. but a youthful younger plant.. will be better.. than a jungle vine that tarzan might be seen cruising on [or is this your plan to get to the fridge on commercials .. lol] ... a new pot.. new media.. and cut back to one foot.. and that thing might be just as tall by next winter ...

    since you want to learn ... i used to do this kind of stuff in early summer.. when the plants can finally go outside ... so that by fall.. when they are ready to come back in ... they are vigorous.. and ready for winter torture in MI .. lol .. [and of course.. that is one reason my vines never got too long.. cuz i couldnt get them out of the house ... lol]

    good luck

    ken

  • 13 years ago

    Thanks for the quick ID's and advice!

  • 13 years ago

    Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! Beautiful plants! I would encourage you to visit the house plant forum also. The most critical thing I would suggest would be to learn about drainage and root health. The plants from your pictures can all grow well in the same "stuff" if it's chunky, porous, not retentive of excess moisture like a bagged potting mix of mostly peat.

    Dracaena's are tricky plants that do not get along well with the tap water in most places. Rain, distilled, dehumidifier water are alternatives you might be able to try. I agree it needs a bigger pot soon, and probably the root trimming that should accompany such a move.

    Those do look like new vine shoots coming from the Monstera. Aerial roots would not be green.

  • 13 years ago

    which means.. you can cut off the whole stalk above the shoots.. and play with propagating.. and then all the power.. will go to the new shoots..

    a form of rejuvenation pruning.. one might say ...

    ken

  • 13 years ago

    Thank you. Three of those plants have all been taken care of by someone else for a year or two before now. After removing them from the pots they came in, all of them were severely root-bound with some rot on some of them. Upsized their pots, trimmed the rot and excessive roots & put them in some new soil.

    I know it is not the best time of year to be doing that, but I am sure those three plants would be dead by Springtime if I didn't get them out of their pots soon.

  • 13 years ago

    I like your proactive approach. Good luck!