Hi Glen. I don't think you're Philo is selloum, but it could be a split-leaf..Foliage is too young/small to tell.

As Philo matures, leaves will split..'if it's split-leaf.'

One problem, your Philo wasn't getting enough light. Stems are frail, and leaves are pale and small.

Since soil is extremely wet, the first thing I'd do is get it out of that pot and discard soil. Does soil have an odor?
One reason dirt is drenched if from lack of sun.

Rotted roots should be trimmed off, repotted in fresh, fertile, well-draining soil.

After ridding soil and trimming roots, Philo might fit in its current pot. If roots barely fit, up a size, if there's more than 2" of space between medium and inner pot, either leave in same pot or downsize.

Philos leaves don't look frost-bitten unless you've removed them. Frost-bitten leaves turn gray/black, usually drop on their own.

After repotting, keep Philo in bright light, a semi-warm, semi-humid room.
Give a drink until water seeps from drainage hole/s.

Good luck...keep us posted on its progress... Toni

Thanks for the advice Toni! I'll get on repotting it ASAP. If I understand correctly, I should remove the rotted part of the stem too?

As for the frost-bitten leaves, my understanding is that the plant was left out in the cold last winter, and is now only bouncing back.

Glen....yep, any parts that are rotted should be removed.
Are the pieces soft, mushy?

I don't know how cold it gets where you are, but it's amazing your Philo survived. :)

Which zone are you? Toni

Hi,

Anything soft & mushy should pls. but cut back to firm, healthy tissue. Then sprinkle the cut areas w/ cinnamon (acts as antifungal & to prevent rot); shake off the excess & repot when ready.

Yeah, the lower part is soft and mushy. It was in CT and now it's in NJ. I'm going to get some pots and try to get it sorted out tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again.

That looks a lot like the one people plant in the ground here which do grow back bigger each spring, probably a lot of them go untrimmed when partially rotted. I also think yours and these are P. bipinnatifidum. It will hopefully stop rotting since it's not freezing cold anymore. Must be the season for these, I talked this landscaping place out of one for half price Monday because it looks dead after a couple frosts. If it looked as good as yours, I'd post a pic. Of course they weren't sure of the species name. I trimmed all of the dead stuff, repotted, and brought inside. Good luck to us both!!

I was out of cinnamon, just plan to let it get really dry now and see how it does. Would there be any point to sprinkling the soil and watering it in whenever it does seem time to water this thing? Seems like probably a moot point by then...?

Glen, Pirate Girl's right..I forgot about cinnamon. I keep a jar of cinnamon with plant supples/fertilizers, etc. In case.

Purple, I don't understand your last paragraph about sprinking???

I was still talking about cinnamon. About sprinkling it on the soil after it dries out, before I water, so the water would kind of rinse it into the soil. Don't know if it would still do any good that way at that time. I haven't used it on plants much and don't know all of the timing of using it.

Purple..I see now.

I've never used cinnamon in soil.

Two years ago, the top/trunk of my Brighamia insignis rotted. I sawed off the rotted part, then sprinkled cinnamon over the entire cut..didn't water afterwards.

If a plant needs water and some rot, water first then sprinkle.

Like baking a ham, only using cloves..lol.

By any chance when you repot this plant, can you give me a small stem from your plant. I really want to grow one of these. You can email me at simonbetta13@gmail.com.Thanks.

This post was edited by simonbetta216 on Thu, Nov 29, 12 at 21:34