New with guestion about Philodendron Selloum

I have a P. Selloum that been living a slow death for about a year. Yesterday, I desided to try to save him. The potting soil he was in wouldn't take water. So I was gonna take some of potting medium away and replace it for a last ditch effort to save his life. I'm attaching pics of what I found. Maybe someone can tell me what this stuff is and if he has a chance. After digging in the roots and found what looks to be ground up concrete, I took all the medium away, washed the roots and repotted from a 14" pot to a 10" pot. If an 8" would have been tall enough, that would've probably worked better. Does anyone know what this stuff is and is there anything elso I should do????

Will someone please let me know if you can only post 1 pic at a time? In the mean time, I'll post replies to get my pics up. ;-)

What was left after I washed the concrete looking stuff away!!

The 'Ground up concrete-looking stuff' was probably pumice, which is actually a very good substance to have mixed into your potting soil....makes it a faster-draining mix.

What kind of conditions were you growing your Philo in before?

Do yal think I should also remove the leaves that are turning yellow? That will only leave about 3 leafs.

I'd definitely remove them, but cut them...don't pull them.

It'll grow new leaves!

Nan, drain faster is an understatement with this stuff. The water would go right out the holes. Even if I let it soak in a big tub of water the soil wouldn't get wet. Here's a close up of the soil it was in. Almost all the potting medium was this grey stuff.
Oh, it spent the winter about 3' from a south facing window that was partially shaded. He was getting plenty of light.

Can I post more than 1 pic at a time?

This message was edited Apr 20, 2006 12:04 PM

Hello baja, welcome to DG! And no, you can't post more than 1 pic at a time. The roots look healthy to me, what did you plant it in this time?

Hi Brinda, thanks for the welcome!!!!
I planted it in Bayer All in One planting mix which leads to another question!! LOL Why can't you find planting mix without ferterlizer in it?
I used the handle of a very small paint brush to get the mix in the roots. Then watered it well.

Oops...sorry I didn't address your photo question.
Sorry, too, that I didn't realize you were 'new'....so I say WELCOME, too!

I agree w/you that it should have been getting enough light, so apparently your soil was too fast-draining.
Your photos are good, but I still can't quite make out what you've got in there, lol!! Looks like there's some perlite, but when you said ground-up-concrete I immediately thought of pumice, as that's exactly what it looks like.

I also agree w/brinda that your roots look really good, and I noticed, too, that your main 'trunk' has a couple of offsets, so hopefully your Philo's on it's way to some growing for you!

It looks pretty happy, now.

I can't seem to find soil w/o plant food, either!
But I use a brand that I buy from a greenhouse that has a very minimal amount, and my plants seem to do well with it.

just wanted to say Welcome!!!!!!

kelly

I'm still haveing problems with this plant. It have been growing well up till about 2 weeks ago and now the leaves are yellowing. Any ideas???? I'm pretty sure it's not too wet. Here's a few pics. Still looking good here around the 1st of June.

Debbie

But now look!! :~(

One more

Hi
Strange to see your post ..I am having exactly the same problem as you are .
My plant has been growing ,giving out great leaves ,beautiful color ,has always been in the same location for 3 years ..now suddenly ..it's leaves are turning yellow ,ok, the first ones were not alarming ..probably old ..but now so are the new leaves
sorry I can not tell you what is happening to yours ,but will follow this trend to see if it can also fix my situation .

Look how bad it's gotten in just a couple more days. Actually, I took this pic the day after the above post. Doesn't anyone know what may be wrong?

Debbie

Debbie,
It looks to me like you've solved basically the problem.
I would have gone up a bit more in pot size though.
That's a lot of roots in a pot that size.
It looks like the leaves that are yellowing are left over from the concrete soil. Is that correct?
If so they were just severely stressed I'd say.

The newer growth looks good.
It will first grow new feeder roots, then start adding leaves.
Watch over-watering now, don't let it get soggy or damp.
You're shooting for moist.

I plant most all my Aroids in a Compost/orchid bark/sand mix w/ maybe 5% manure added.
It's a slower releasing way of fertilizing.
You're looking for a jungle floor soil.

Ric

Actually Ric, all the leaves were new sinse I got rid of the "concrete" soil back in April. It was growing really well. See the first pic on July 9. I took that pic a few weeks ago. It was lookin great then. It just suddenly started yellowing. All the new growth you said looked good is turning yellow. I'd say in a couple of days there will be no more leaves.

It was growing well then started to show stress and yellow.
Nice offshots, good color.....
What happened a few weeks ago that's the cause of the distress?

If outdoors.......lots of rain, heat, change of sun amounts, did you move it?
If indoors...A/C draft? Baking in the sun?

If nothing comes to mind......pop the plant and rootball.
Check the soil, smell the soil (should smell like fresh dirt, no sour smell) check the roots (should be tan and white, free running not circling around)

Look for critters, especially under the leaves.
Ric

Or on the stem....look for scale....they seem to appear out of no where!

I have a P. 'Xanadu' that behaved like this....it had scale.