Help :( Philodendron damage, honeydew all over

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I’ve been a proud owner of this Philodendron Ring of Fire for almost two years now. I noticed minor signs of pest damage in the past , but because the damage was barely there and it was very difficult to even notice, I hadn’t acted on anything. It had been growing fine, appeared very healthy, and I was seeing no other signs of issues.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I were inspecting and found almost all of the leaf undersides covered in honeydew. It’d never had honeydew, ever. Combined with some small brown, necrotic spots, my brain jumped to spider mites or scale. However, I can‘t actually SEE any insects. I didnt see any signs of spider mites, webbing OR bugs. There are these very faint, tiny, tan/brownish spots on the underside of the leaves that I assumed to be scale, but I’ve never seen scale that small before and am hesitant to jump to that conclusion. I can’t find anything that resembles physical insects on the stem, petiole, or leaf blade aside from these. I cant think of anything else that would be causing this issue and secreting honeydew like this.

I feel stupid that I didnt catch this issue sooner, and I’m embarassed. Can anyone provide some insight on this and some suggestions on what I can do to help it? I want to avoid tossing this guy if at all possible. I have wiped all the leaves down with water several times, and I’ve done one insecticidal soap treatment since discovering this.

Top of the leaf blade, you can see the necrotic spots.

UPDATE/EDIT: I had a friend take a look at this too who said it could be a fungal leaf spot… which would explain the damage and why I cant seem to find any insects. Checked the roots for damage as well, and I dont see any strabge fuzz or signs of rot. Thoughts ?

Underside of leaf.

Underside of another leaf, where you can see some damage AND very faintly the tiny dots that blend in with the leaf tissue a little.

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Comments (4)

Jamie Dasenbrock
Original Author
4 years ago
and please only helpful, constructive comments.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
can we see a pic of the whole plant. including the pot ...

annual loss of the oldest leaves is cyclical.. and when those old leaves start to fade.. all kinds of things appear to happen to them .. but its easier to just snip them off.. then continue observing ...

those leaves are damaged.. you arent going to 'heal' them ... after two treatments .... in presumably a short time period ... i suspect its time for you to stop trying new treatments.. and see if some new leaves come out clean ...

why does your pot have white patches ... is that decorative.. or is the side of your pot mildewed or something???

i almost didnt answer because i wasnt sure this would be helpful to you ...

ken
Jamie Dasenbrock thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
I see no visible signs of any insect issues. The bumps/sunken areas on the leaf reverse looks like edema, a non-pathogenic cultural problem caused by irregular watering.

The 'honeydew' is most likely guttattion or the oozing of excess moisture from plant pores. It does tend to be somewhat sticky and philos are well know for this issue.
Jamie Dasenbrock thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
Jamie Dasenbrock
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
hi @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 and @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9),

currently working on getting a photo out of the whole plant but im away from home so ill try to remember !!!

as for annual leaf loss, i suspected that could be part of it but i didnt think that would show as necrotic spots on all of my leaves. i was already planning on snipping most of them off, pest or pathogen or not, as a health and aesthetic choice. im not under any illusions that i can save the already damaged leaves. the treatments i did were only because I was previously pretty certain i was working with a pest infestation.

as for the white patches on the pots, theyre salt/mineral deposits that the pot (terracotta) leached out. working on finding a way to clean them off without potentially harming my plant.

im a little confused on edema? i thought that presented as blistering. regardless, ive kept a regular watering schedule but the change in weather this winter probably kept the media a bit wetter for longer than my philo is used to. ill make sure im keeping an eye on watering.

guttation makes a lot more sense, especially with the lack of insects !!! i also read up a bit recently on extrafloral nectaries, and found someone else’s philodendron RoF presenting the same symptoms as mine that indicated that the extrafloral nectaries were the source of the ’honeydew’.

thank u both for your insight here !!