Diagnosis needed for spotting on large philo

16 years ago

Can anyone help me diagnose and cure the spotting on my big philo?

Over the past month or so the spotting is getting progressively worse. The health of the plants (2 in one pot) seems good and only a few of the new leaves have spotting. I thought at first it might be spider mites because I had a palm that was afflicted with them for a short time - but I see absolutely no evidence of mites on my philos. I've even tried spraying them often with a diluted soapy water like I did with my palms in case it was mites...but to no avail. I've never seen this happen to a philo before.

Could this be due to minerals in the water (I'm in Austin, TX) or some other insect I can't see? Any help would be appreciated. These are large plants (approx. 4' x 5' - with 12" leaves) and I dont want to have to throw them away because of disease.

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Comments (3)

shiver
16 years ago
Austi, I do believe this plant has spider mites, even if you see no evidence of them. The progressively worsening pinprick marks are a dead give away! There are several different kinds of spidermites---not all of them spin webs and hide under the leaves. Philos tend to get the fast moving kind of spider mites that do NOT spin webs, and they hid deep in the crevices at the base of the plant. You'll likely never see them---you'll only see the damage. Many here on garden web will tell you you can cure a plant of spider mites, but I find they spread to other plants so fast it's not worth it. My advice is to toss the plant---sorry. :(

PS Just an FYI: you might get more responses if you post in the "discussion" part of the forum, and you *can* post pics there! Most people use the gallery part of this forum to show off pretty plants that they don't have questions about. :)
austidendron
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Shiver. It really looked like spider mite damage to me too - but I was only familar with the kind you could see - and see the webbing from.

I really love this plant and would hate to throw it away, but I have so many plants inside my home and would not want to infect any of the others. When I bought this plant I actually bought two but a few months ago had to throw the other away because it because spotted also. This plant I placed in a bedroom away from the plants in the other parts of my home. Now I'm glad I did. *sigh* I guess the the plant is off to the trash. It will be remembered fondly.

Thanks for your reply. I tried to post a picture in the discussion forum, but could not find the way to do it :(
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shiver
16 years ago
You were very smart to isolate your sick philo at the first sign of trouble, and likely saved the lives of your other plants by doing so. :)

Try not to feel too bad about the loss of your philo---I have also lost some prized plants to those darn spider mites. I've had one or two epic battles with them over the years, and at times have felt like giving up plants forever because they destroyed most of my collection. Thank goodness I haven't had trouble with the nasty buggers lately...knock on wood!

About the pic posting---you should be able to post a pic in the discussion forum the same way you post one in the gallery. Perhaps it was just a glitch or something. If you want to practice posting photos there is a great test forum here with a very nice and helpful moderator.

Happy growing!

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Test Forum

Diagnosis needed for spotting on large philo

Comments (3)

shiver

austidendron
Original Author

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Diagnosis needed for spotting on large philo

Comments (3)

shiver

austidendronOriginal Author

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shiver

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austidendron
Original Author