HA! During WWI, for the war effort, my great great great grandmother would get permission to cordon off short sections of paved streets, on which she scattered rubber bands of varying diameter. Under her miraculous care, within days the rubber bands grew into trees so laden with tires for various types of military vehicles that often she and the neighbors couldn't harvest them all before they became larger than intended; this, necessitating that they be trimmed back to a usable size. She would then have the trimmings ground into powder, which she mixed with white milk. When the slurry of rubber and milk was heated under pressure in small molds (like sinker molds or toy soldier molds, if you've ever made either from lead), the result was Ficus elastica seeds which were sold to tree farmers all over the world and served as the propagules for essentially every rubber tree plantation currently in existence. I sure do miss that lovely and determined old gal. ....... at her 100th in 1966: She sure was something. Sad that we have to wait until next summer to see her again. Michelin has kept her so busy at headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France for the last 49 years, she hasn't been able to get back to the states to see ANY of her great, great, great, great grandchildren. Fortunately for us, her employer is picking up all expenses and footing the bill for her bash back in the states. Keep your eyes peeled for pictures. Al

Re houseplants: most spoiled foliage is caused by physiological issues, over/under-watering, oedema, nutritional toxicities/ deficiencies, light levels, ...... with subsequent populations of fungi acting as opportunists as opposed to acting as causal agents. In this thread, oedema, a physiological disorder, is the main actor. Dead animals don't cause vultures, but they do provide a reason for vultures to congregate. IOW, lesions caused by physiological disorder often provide the consistently moist conditions for a period lasting long enough to ensure incubation and germination of fungal spores. This isn't to say that fungal conditions do not commonly appear in plants as pioneer pathogens, only that evidence of physiological disorder is far more common than direct evidence of pioneer populations of fungi. Plant pathologists often describe the disease process using a 4-sided figure called the disease tetrahedron (think “pyramid – 3 sides + the bottom/ base”). Each side of the tetrahedron represents an essential part of the infection process. There must simultaneously be a virulent pathogen (capable of infecting the plant) that is genetically capable of recognizing its host. Either the environment must be conducive to the development of the pathogen, or the pathogen must be able to stress/weaken the plant. The 4th requirement is the time required for diseases to develop and spread. Whenever conditions are such that any one (or more) of the 4 requirements is missing from the equation, there is no immediate threat. Since the best medicines are prophylactic, the grower who makes sure plants are healthy and not stressed is ahead of the game. Biotic diseases are better able to overcome the natural defenses of plants weakened by stress that occurs when the plant is forced to deal with cultural conditions near, at, or beyond the limits the plant is genetically programmed to deal with. Al

Allowing it to dry well will help if it's an issue with rotting roots, but those spots in the top pic aren't what overwatering or too dry usually looks like. When Pothos gets too dry, entire leaves turn evenly yellow, starting with those nearest the roots. Some of the damage in the 2nd pic could be from rotting roots but impossible to say for sure from a pic. Just in case it is some type of fungus, try to keep the foliage dry when watering. Pothos researchers at FL U say sudden drop in temps can cause spots like that. My (main) plant that didn't get brought inside seems to have suddenly developed these spots too since we've had a few colder nights in the midst of much warmer days. (There are some more interesting cuttings I've gotten in trade recently and I've lost interest in devoting space inside to the ubiquitous one. Curious at this point if it can survive winter here, so put it in the ground a few days ago. Last winters' experiment of whether it can go 4 months without a drink was successful, though my house isn't as dry as most during winter.) Symptoms - Leaves have scattered brown patches, usually located in the center of the leaf. Control - Low temperatures or abrupt change from very high temperatures to moderate temperatures can cause this discoloration, especially if plants are succulent and growing vigorously. Maintain even, warm temperatures. Here is a link that might be useful: Pothos production guide, UFL

I picked up a new Marble Queen Pothos today (yay!) at a nursery I've never been to before. I asked what these spots were, and they told me that they're just "from the sun". I trust you guys more than some random employee trying to get me to buy things, so I thought I'd just get a second opinion. Are these spots anything to worry about? Also, I saw really small brown spider on the plant when I picked it up. Could this have been a spider mite? Or are they not big enough to see with the naked eye? (More info: the plant was pretty badly rootbound when I found it, and had some yellow leaves that I think indicated this. I've removed all of the leaves with spots and yellowing -- there were only about 5 leaves in total that seemed to have issues on this rather large plant -- and repotted it now into a bigger pot. Roots looked healthy! There was no webbing or white speckles on it.)