Philodendrons in poor shape

11 years ago

I have two philodendrons which I'm concerned about. They were both grown from cuttings by their previous owner. One of them – P. Correae – I've had for over a year. It got root rot about 4-5 months ago but was repotted and seems to be stable.

The other one is P. Gloriosum. It dropped its leaves shortly after I got it. I don't know why.

Now they are both sitting at the back of my greenhouse. They're both alive, but neither of them has any leaves. They've been this way for several months.

All my other aroids are happy as larry, but I seem to have bad luck with philodendrons.

What should I do?

Would they grow better if they were planted out in the garden? I have two different monstera species planted outdoors and they seem to be happy enough.

Any ideas most welcome!

Featured Answer

tropicbreezent

11 years ago

Back of the greenhouse may be too dark and humid without air movement. I'm not familiar with P. correae but have always thought P. gloriosum not a difficult one. What sort of soil and how's the drainage in the pots?

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Comments (8)

patchyjack
Original Author
11 years ago
Just a note: I am in Australia and summer has just ended, so these plants have been kept warm for the last few months.
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patchyjack
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey, thanks for your help! The soil is regular potting mix with plenty of bark chips mixed in to improve the drainage.

I'll try moving the plants to another position where they can get better air movement and light.
laticauda
11 years ago
Is that what you pot all your aroids in? Seems like it would retain water for a really long time?
laticauda
11 years ago
It could help explain the root rot you've experienced. How are things going in the winter?
laticauda
11 years ago
Seriously? No update?
patchyjack
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey, I appreciate how keen you are to know about my Philodendrons! LOL

To answer your question -- no, I have my aroids potted in a variety of different media depending on the plant's natural habitat and where I personally am trying to grow the plant (for example, P. Correae is growing in sphagnum moss while P. Gloriosum is in 50/50 soil/bark chips). I tend not to water my plants very often, so well-aerated mixes with reasonable water retention work well for me in general (I also grow Christmas cacti and Dendrobium orchids in sphagnum/coir mixes and they flower beautifully for me every year). The root rot occurred in Correae back when it was growing in regular potting soil, which is why I moved it to sphagnum. It has since put up one small leaf. That's it... but it is winter, to be fair.

P. Gloriosum hasn't done anything at all since I originally created this post. I'm hoping maybe it will do something when the weather and light levels improve. The drainage is great and I don't water often, so I really don't think water-logging was ever the issue with that one. I still have no idea what made it drop its leaves.

Cheers!
laticauda
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
It sounds like things are going as well as can be. Maybe the one that just put out a leaf deserves a little bit of fish emulsion since it's clearly wanting to grow? The solstice has passed and your days are getting longer now :)

I've had problems with water-logging when using only potting soil and bark, it seems like the stuff NEVER dries out lol.

Oh, and we had to get you back here somehow.
patchyjack thanked laticauda