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The Case of the Missing Philodendron Roots

Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)

9 years ago

Hello all!

Wow, I haven't been to the GardenWeb forum since Houzz bought it...a bit bewildering, to say the least. BUT! Not as bewildering as to what happened the other day when I went to repot a heart-leaf philodendron! It's about a decade old, and seemed to do so well in an eastern indirect light part of the living room that I only repotted it a couple of times...but then I noticed that it's growth had slowed a bit for what it should be this time of year, and I thought, "Poor old thing! A repot is just what it needs." Well...I turned it over, thinking it'd be all potbound, and THERE WERE NO ROOTS! Zilch. Nada. Bupkis. The entire plant fell into my hands like a beheaded French monarch! Aaaagh.

The soil line was extremely low in the plastic pot, and actually quite loose, with a slight bit of a fine, white, sandy powder mixed in it. (Fungus? Salts?) The weird part was, the plant wasn't turning brown or dying, so how on earth was it still getting by? The only thing I can think of was that perhaps there was some sort of root rot, but that it happened so suddenly that it hadn't visibly affected the plant yet?

No taking any chances, I clipped off as many viable vines as I could (which was a considerable amount) put them in water and chucked the plastic pot into the trash, weird sandy soil, saucer, and all. Now I'm looking over at a whole planter of philos hanging over the stairwell in a similar condition and am nervous to check on them. What if they have this mysterious condition, as well?

Anyhow, I thought if anyone else had experienced this, or would like to play armchair botanical detective, it'd be fun to have some help figuring this case out.

Thanks,

L

Featured Answer

Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
Original Author

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Hi Tiffany! Thanks for the quick reply. :)

Well, I went out and dug through the trash (very glamorous and CSI-like) and took some pics. If there were any millipedes or pill bugs I didn't see 'em. I did, however, find some scant postmortem remains of the hitherto assumed missing root system.

Soil:

Roots:

Thinking of calling in the forensic lab specialists,

L

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Comments (6)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
I wish I had something as helpful to say as the entertainment value of your post. I'm in your debt! It's rude to ask for more, but a pic of this would be cool.

Did you see anything like a millipede or pill bug in the soil?
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Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
So after some digging around (pardon the pun) I think I might have found my answer!

From http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Grow%20or%20Growing%20Philodendrons.html --

"In nature most Philodendron species live on the trunks or branches of trees and do not need soil to survive. Those tree dwelling species are known as epiphytes or hemiepiphytes and are plants that live upon another plant ... Relatively few Philodendron species grow in rain forest soil and are truly terrestrial plants although a few species are consistently terrestrial (...) Both epiphytic and hemiepiphytic plants drop long roots to dangle in the
air in order to collect rain water. Take a walk in any rain forest and
you'll be amazed at the "vines" hanging from the branches that are
often nothing more than roots!l"

So at some point, my intrepid philodendron must've gotten dislodged from the soil (I've knocked it over while vacuuming a couple of times, and it also got neglected and dried out in a darkened corner for a few weeks) but was perhaps continuing to live because I resumed watering its long aerial roots that trailed into the half empty pot. The white stuff I'm fairly convinced was evaporated salts, etc.

At any rate, I'll repot the cuttings in fresh potting soil and make sure to pay more attention in the future.

--L
User
9 years ago
I'm not much help - but you pulled a grin out of me. Are you by any chance a writer? Good post. ;-) Informative and quite interesting!
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
I agree, that sounds likely, the most plausible explanation. TY for the followup, and more entertainment!

...Must remember to squeeze in a quick but amazing walk through the rainforest before dinner!
Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, all.

Nope, I'm not a writer. But I do the pictures that go with other people's writings (illustrator) so that SORTA counts, right? ;)

--L

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