International Aroid Society

Hi Marek,

I have high hopes for the next leaves. But even if they don't split, it's been interesting to watch. I fertilize once or twice a year at about 3/4 strength and use a little Ironite (for the micronutrients) once a year in the Spring. A couple of times during the growing season, between regular feeding,I might mix up some weak fertilizer and put it on the hose sprayer and give them a snack when I'm watering the leaves down. Other than that I don't use anything..I don't even have another chemical here for plants. The frogs, lizards, little snakes, wasps and sometimes even birds in the greenhouse are my bug fighting army, so I never use any kind of poison, and thankfully don't need to. Even in the plant beds in the yard, if a bug problem occurs, I do what my mom and grandma did...soapy water, then rinse well after about 10 minutes. That takes care of it for me. I also have some weed that the aphids seem to LOVE, so I leave a patch of them way away from the greenhouse and when they come, they concentrate out there and the other bugs head for the feast. Bugs on the plants hasn't really been a big problem in the greenhouse. My biggest 'critter gripe' is caterpillars in the spring & mosquitoes in the summer. But I still don't use poison..well sometimes I use OFF mosquito spray, but I use it on me. (smile) I'd never forgive myself if my dogs or family/friends were to get poisoned.

Marek, I've never treated any plant with anything to get it to behave one way or another. Shoot, I don't even know what chemical you'd use to get an effect of any kind! lol Peters (water soluble) fertilizer and Ironite are what I've been using for years. Russ Hammer asked me if I lived near a nuclear power plant, HA! He's been very nice and helpful, too. I love this group! What a great & diverse pool of information.

I know you didn't ask, but I wanted you to know what I use, when and how much. I hope you don't think I'm messing with chemicals or genetics, I wouldn't even know where or how to begin that project, nor do I have any interest in it. There's probably 10 or so of this Philodendron, including the big mama, in the greenhouse and they all get the same stuff & treatment.

Let me ask you something. I've had a couple of my older/bigger Philos bloom for the first time this year, but the 'outer wrapping' never seemed to open up. Why?

I hope I haven't taken up too much of your day.

Thanks and take care!

Sherry Gates

TheTropix@msn.com

Hi Sherry,

There may be 2 reasons of such leaf appearance:

1. A spontaneous mutation (if the next leaves will look the same, keep it secure, you will get rich :)

2. A disease or an intoxication. Often mistreated plants produce malformed leaves and inflorescences. Gardeners often treat plants with various chemical substances to produce multiple or malformed flowers, leaves in order to sell plants as new cultivars.

Best,

Marek Argent