my philodendron squamiferum’s leaf is rotting from the middle outward. it is mushy and oozing gross liquid. this one leaf is like this and it’s still growing as a new leaf just opened up the other day. this doesn’t look like other leaf rot i’ve seen on this subreddit. should i cut it off, leave it, is the whole plant gonna die? please help
by sckinnylegend
1 Comment
Do you tend to have a heavy hand with watering? It looks like it could be an extreme case of edema (when the plant takes up too much water for the roots to handle and it starts to pool into the leaves). The leaf can’t be saved but you can make some adjustments to help your plant, namely – pulling back a bit on water, making it sure it has good airflow. I tend to take a conservative hand with plants that are overwatered (I am a recovering overwaterer). I will poke holes / mix up the soil with a dowel or a chopstick just to try to get more air to the medium, and then just let it be. I won’t water til the pot feels light to the touch (my guess is that if you’ve recently watered, it has a bit of a “full diaper” feel to it). You could go as far as replacing the soil but the plant looks generally pretty healthy from the photo. Light/air/humidity are all factors that can play into edema and its recovery as well so depending on its environment you might find some additional adjustments helpful (humidity being a big one!).