Struggling Philodendron Xanadu
Hi all! I received a large Philo Xanadu back in February. It's been struggling ever since. I overwatered it for a few weeks before realizing I needed to scale back to roughly once every 2-3 weeks. It's in a corner next to a window where it receives some direct light in the afternoon, otherwise it's indirect light. Maybe two months ago I discovered a scale infection and have been battling it since (dabbing them with alcohol, as well as spraying a mixture of alcohol/vegetable oil/dish soap). I still found a couple last week but it seems to be much improved. My major concern is that probably 5-10 stalks drop every week!! Sometimes the leaf yellows, but other times the leaf stays healthy in appearance and just begins drooping and within a couple days the whole stalk just falls to the ground. You'll see from the photos that the base of the dropped stalks looks kind of rotted and squishy, but I'm confused as to how to could be rot when I water this plant so infrequently? It's very fast draining soil - water runs through it very quickly and I always remove the excess water that collects in the dish. I don't know what type of soil since it's still in the grow pot it was given to me in. The last confusing part is that there's lots of new growth, so it seems the plant isn't completely miserable.
Feeling like I've done poorly by this beautiful plant, can anyone help?
it used to be so much more full and thick!
Comments (8)
User
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Philodendron Xanadu
Comments (4)It seems to be a fairly fast grower, for it being a Philo. You can see the new leaf sprouting up from the center, and there are even a few more fixing to. I was originally going to throw in a joke about hurrying up to repot it before it bursts out of its small pot. It seems to love this warm humid weather and all of the thunderstorms that my area has been receiving. I also have a Monstera deliciosa, a close relative, that I noticed is sending out aerial roots galore. I'm going to have to place it on a plant stand as well, seeing as how long its aerial roots are getting. So fascinating....See MorePhilodendron Xanadu
Comments (11)Are you keeping it indoors? I've been keeping mine outdoors, where it's warm and humid, and mine has been loving it. I think they prefer higher levels of sunlight as well. From the pics I've seen when I google this plant, in many of them, it appears they're growing in direct sunlight. As for mine, it's been getting direct morning and afternoon sunlight and dappled sunlight throughout the rest of the day. This hasn't phased it one bit and it's still been growing like a weed. This particular Philo also seems to be fairly active. I haven't repotted mine just yet, so the pot it's currently in is still top heavy. I mention this because it tipped over one night and I didn't notice till the next day. Several of the leaves had bent "upwards" trying to grow towards the light. When I stood it back up, the leaves eventually straightened back out again. I also plan on cleaning the leaves off, seeing as they also have some water spots on them as well. I like to use just plain old lemon juice. This works great at cleaning leaves and giving them a nice healthy shine. I do this for many of my plants (the ones with smooth textured leaves) and have never encountered any problems. This was an excellent tip I learned from growing orchids and keeping their leaves clean....See MoreHelp w/overwatered philodendron xanadu
Comments (4)There are many forms of 'du' each with its own name. (Voo Du, Deja vu, Danadu, etc) Xanadu tends to have a little wider leaves. I am trying to visualize by the size of pot you gave. This could be a type, it's possible that these are semi-juvenile leaves but an 8 in pot is much too large for the plant to still be throwing out juvenile leaves unless it is extremely stressed. Try putting it about a foot away from a south facing window and see if that helps its leaves broaden. This will also help to prevent Chlorosis. Philodendrons are notorious for this if they do not get enough light. The more leaves it has, the healthier it will be also. (Also keep in mind I just moved from California where Xanadu is a landscape plant and grow to be about 10 or so ft high without support. The leaves can get huge.) You can also try upping the humidity in lieu of watering too often. Putting the plant next to other plants or misting it with a spray bottle daily will help.All of your plants will benefit from frequent misting, especially during the winter where it tends to be dryer inside. In about 2 months or so, depending upon where you are, you can start misting with a very dilute amount of an all purpose fertilizer (Eleanors VF-11 is a wonderful all purpose that does wonders for all sorts of epiphytes) can help it come back. (dilute meaning 1/4 strength or less) As for orchid bark. I would get the large because Philos' roots can be pretty clingy, they like to anchor in the bark, smaller bark will break down too quickly. You also want to make sure your mix is well draining and the plant never sits in water. HTH...See MorePhilodendron bipinnatifidum vs Xanadu
Comments (4)Xanadu is a hybrid and never has the size, drought tolerance, or cold tolerance of P.bipinnatifidum. Xanadu is a clumper and almost a tall ground cover, P. b. is self heading tree climber..if no tree is near...they can grow trunks. Like this....See Morelmontestella
7 years agohrm11
7 years ago
Laurie (8A)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agohrm11
7 years agoLaurie (8A)
7 years agojamilalshaw26
7 years ago
User