Another case of misterious Philodendron leaf spots

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I have a few big Philodendron plants grown from cuttings (don't know exact variety). Plants grow in 511 mix with pot volume of about 1 gallon per each. One plant stands close to southern window, others kept in the middle of the room with a lot of artificial light.A few months ago I noticed appearance of a lot of tiny yellow spots on new leaves. Spots appear some time after new leaf unfurls itself. Spots do not grow in size and after some time stop to multiply. On the underside of affected leaf directly under the spot you can see sort of a dew droplets. There are no spider mites, no mealy bugs, no anything. Other than partially losing its appearance plants feel themselves perfectly normal.After looking for solution or at least clarification to my problem the best that I found are a few unsolved questions on Houzz plants forum and on Reddit
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5296619/philodendron-leaf-spots (see petrushka postings)
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5213799/yellow-spots-on-philodendron-and-droplets-help
https://www.reddit.com/r/plantclinic/comments/b8401e/what_are_the_yellow_spots_on_my_philodendron/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
https://www.reddit.com/r/plantclinic/comments/850o98/small_yellow_spots_on_my_baby_philodendron_xanadu/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
So, does anybody managed to solve that mistery? It's hard to believe that no one actually knows cause of those dots.

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petrushka (7b)

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I've been trying to find the solution for sev years :). and I look at undersides of leaves in bot gardens in Miami: I see the same spots too. they are outside all year.

it can be cultural: some mineral missing ...but I have not found out yet which one..

however I had another 2 philos next to pthe plant with spots and they were ok. so it's not something that crawls. I had it on philo Xanadu the worst, and it seemed to spread to Philo subincisum and then to Philo Gloriosum, both of which are fast growers with large leaves.

after 3 years of controlling it on Xanadu I got frustrated and chucked it.

I noticed that the oldest leaves are effected the worst, the youngest are clean for some time. I rooted the tips by wrapping them in moist sphag in hopes that they will not get it.

when I keep them tented and water minimally while they are very small they seem to be OK, but then it starts again slowly. I read that it can be bacterial and can only be controlled chemically. which is what nurseries do, but I don't want to use commercial products indoors for obvious reasons. I tried Azamax, which is a super concentrated Neem extract: It definitely reduces the spots to bearable, but you need to apply it again and again.

they recommend keeping the effected plants on a drier and cooler side when it's bacterial.

I read thru most common bacterial symptoms and none match. the plants grow vigorously and well despite the spotting.

When I tent the humidity rises and I can keep them drier and water less. and then it helps, there is less 'dew spots' on underleaf. but there is still some.

I tried spraying occasionally with soap and a bit of peroxide added: then they stop 'dewing' for like a 1-2 weeks..

I do get mites occasionally on subincisum, but it's different, though they can cause spots obviously and some dew too.

My Philo 'Painted Lady' and 'Jose Buono' are clean and they never are bothered by mites. but they grow much slower and have tougher leaves.

perhaps, some are not as susceptible to it? but if it's bacterial I would think that all of them

would be? My P. gloriousum was clean for years, but started getting this spots 6mo ago.

it's unsightly to say the least. I just hate it! That makes me think some mineral deficiency is causing it. I do feed them with fertilizer with trace minerals and with cal-mag supplement too.

Aroids like that. and I flush too, though I grow most plants on self-watering wicks in the well draining light 'tropical mix' that I mix myself (you can get more info from my other posts: too lengthy to go into here).

P. Xanadu outside in landscaping in Miami seem to all have it badly and P. subincisum too (the worst). But outside plants here are constantly under attack from various pests, even in botanical gardens.

If you manage to get more info, please , post :).

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Comments (6)

Alexander Goncharov
Original Author
4 years ago
Photo of damaged leaf from underside:

And from topside
Gabby C (FL 9A)
4 years ago
My guess (a guess!) would be environmental, not bacterial or pest. Do you know if anyone whose kept their plant outside has had problems?
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OMG, this is amazing.... I just happened to be perusing my file folder of MyPictures\garden\tropicals-houseplants (very organized) and I found an old picture of the same plant that I saw while at Foxwoods Casino several years ago. I snapped the picture because I thought it was interesting to see the same type of plant that I also had. The surface roots were interesting too. I didn't have any at the time, but now I do so I'm glad I knew to expect them. Look at the 2 spots I marked. Same as on my plant!!! One has the caterpillar look and one has the elongated tear. And possibly in the same position in the veins!!! Thanks for the complement. And after seeing this commercially maintained specimen, I feel really good about mine too in comparison! No damage on any other plants. Knock on wood... I have really good luck with plants and insects.
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You cant lose anything except time and effort in trying to bring the plant back but I agree, its probably in plant heaven now. You bought a houseplant and its home is a pot. So why did you think it needed an outside planting. The pot confined the size of the soil it was in, it also confined the amount of moisture (water) it received to nurture itself on. But, with both in the garden, it received far too much water, the pot took it all in and didn't release it fast enough. The roots undoubtedly rotted out. At the first sign of too much water sitting around roots, the plant stops being able to draw nutrition from the water. Even though it was there....it couldn't use it and soon stops entirely feeding itself. In effect, it starved itself to death. The phil is a houseplant and while it can go outside during nice weather, it should be given care as strictly as what it is...a house plant. Plants grow according to their size of pot. But a plant that should be in a 4" pot, given an 8" pot, will soon show you it should not have been given the bigger home. Roots can only feed the plant what it receives from the soil and given too much food, it rebels. That's what happens when you put a plant into a pot with too great a source of food. It would have proven better to remove it from its pot, then given the garden place where good drainage would have treated it better. Mind you, the phil is not a garden plant. Most, if not all, houseplants are tropical. Let your new plant please you in its own way---in a pot....in your home.
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I’m not sure if I have the same plants as the rest of you, but mine send to look similar to the first picture. I’ve had it for years but it doesn’t get much larger than it is because the leaves continue to turn yellow, gets small spots, or the new leaves bloom with a partial brown shriveled leaf. There also seems to be some brown sticky substance, as though someone splashed Coke or Pepsi on the leaves! The small spots are creepy to me, but uncertain what to do for it. Has anyone got a clue? I’m past desperate! Thank you!
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Alexander Goncharov
Original Author
4 years ago
I live in 6b USDA plant hardiness zone so there are hardly any philodendrones outside (not at that time of the year anyway) :) On the other hand one of the users from link above mentioned that he lives in Florida and such kind of damage on philodendrones is more or less common in the area (to different degrees).
Alexander Goncharov
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
petrushka ,

your posting completely devastated me. Seems like you have been waging that battle for years and there is still no victory in sight. My philos grew free of those spots for 4-5 months and then began getting it. Typically new leaf unfurls healthy and clear, then after 7-10 days spots start to appear and continue to do so for a few weeks. Recently I tried to control for spider mites by sweeping leaves twice day with wet rag - still got spots to appear on schedule. I grow my philos in 5-1-1 mix and fertilize them weekly. Also there is quite low relative humidity level currently because of cold weather outside - just about 28-30 %.
petrushka (7b)
4 years ago
I tried wiping with paper-towel with dish soap too. I am pretty much resigned at this point.

I currently have sev cuttings tented still with moist sphag only, freshly rooted. I keep dunking them in warm water for 15min ev few days: the dunking pot and all works to kill off mites and get rid of eggs that are attached to the leaves. for some reason it does not work without dunking the pot. so may be they crawl and lay eggs in soil?

they dunk cyclamens and orchids too like that. I pretty much dunk all of my mite-prone-plants periodically to control them. it seems to delay the reappearance. besides spraying with neem. supposedly spraying with Azamax even once for winter controls them completely. but I am concerned about spraying indoors with azamax, so have not done it. only soil drenches and neem sprayed at the same time.

but I dunk my cuttings also to hydrate the leaves while they are not fully rooted and in the mix: they do not drop the leaves. otherwise they invariably yellow and fall off and it takes much longer to get a good looking plant. so it sort of serves dual purpose : I add some peroxide and a bit of dish soap into water too. quite a nuisance...
Alexander Goncharov thanked petrushka (7b)

Another case of misterious Philodendron leaf spots

petrushka (7b)

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Alexander Goncharov
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Another case of misterious Philodendron leaf spots

petrushka (7b)

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Alexander GoncharovOriginal Author

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