Collecting houseplants can be expensive, especially if you lust over those wonderful rarer varieties with the brilliantly variegated or enormous, delightfully shaped leaves.
With the new found interest in houseplants there are more varieties available than ever in your local shops. But, some of the most sought after plants come with eye watering price tags.
What is most frustrating is that many of these so called 'rare' plants are actually quite common and mass produced but growers hold back the stock to keep the prices high! Whilst there's demand who can blame them, they are in the business of making money after all?
But, that doesn't help us plant-o-philes down on planet Earth who would love to own these little treasures but just don't have the cash to afford them.
So a great way to pick up some of the 'rarer' gems is to browse the reduced aisle at your local store. For this approach I like to stick to the species I know, even if the variety is new to me, some species are easier to rescue than others and if I already know them it makes things even easier. Its a bit of an myth that 'rarer' plants are harder to keep, yes, some of them are but many of them are actually quite easy, they're just not made available very often.
Anyway, if I find something I like whilst digging around in the reduced aisle I give it a check over for any new growth, make sure there are no bugs, or at least I know how to deal with them if there are, and I give it a gentle tug to make sure it at least has some roots, or if I'm unsure it at least has a good chance of propagating. Once I'm confident I can rescue it the cheap, less than perfect plant, is a good a way to get my hands on some real treasures.
Today, I spotted this sad little P. Mayoi in our local independent shop. It was hugely reduced and clearly in need of some attention.
So why did I pick this one?
To start with: its a Philodendron so I can take a guess at what issues it might have, for example root rot might be an issue, but I also know most Philodendrons are relatively easy to propagate from cuttings so even if there is root rot I could propagate instead.
To me this one actually looked relatively 'healthy', with a couple of tiny new shoots too, but in a very battered state and a bit neglected. It looked like all it needed was some TLC. For the price it seemed like an easy win.
With all plants, I do give them a once over when I get them home to decide if they need immediate attention or if they can wait to settle a few weeks before any issues are addressed.
A lot of people are quite passionate about this arguing either:
- The plant is stressed enough, leave it a few weeks to settle in its new surrounding before you stress it out further; or
- You MUST repot and treat every single plant as soon as you get it home.
In my own experience, both methods work. So I tend to look at the plant as an individual and use my own judgement as to what I think it needs most.
I do quarantine new plants too, at least for a few days, just in case there are any bugs I missed.
This P. Mayoi is one that, in my opinion, is better off with immediate triage rather than a 'let it settle' approach.
Why?
Here are my observations:
- The plant itself is nice and green and healthy looking, it has two tiny new shoots;
- It has some damage to the biggest leaf, and the top has been broken off completely;
- It is quite limp and the soil feels dry despite its wet appearance;
- There's no visible evidence of bugs but I don't know what that compost is hiding, something has caused the damage. I suspect its just been battered but better to be sure;
- The main thing for me is that the pot is way too big for the apparent size of the plant. It has broken off at the top but it is still quite young so I suspect there's way too much soil compared to the root ball. That means, when I water it, the soil is going to stay wet for a very long time without enough roots to absorb all that moisture. Philodendrons generally get root rot very easily so that is the last thing I want to happen. It may be it already has root rot and this is the cause of the wilted look. In this particular case I think not, as it felt quite secure when I gave it a gentle tug, but I don't want to let it develop root rot later on; and
- There's one leaf that's really huge compared to the rest of the plant, its heavy, damaged and will drain a lot of energy for the roots to maintain if the root ball is compromised.
So, what do I do?
Firstly, I get it out of the pot. As expected the roots are actually nice and healthy, it did have a couple of small new shoots so that was no surprise. The potting mix is surprisingly not bad at all but I do prefer a chunkier free draining medium for Philos.
Primarily, though that pot is huge and there is just way too much soil for the size of the root ball. I think it would easily have struggled with being water logged which increases the risk root rot.
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So, it is going in a smaller pot which is a spare orchid pot I had to hand but: it will be fun to see the roots develop. The pot is still a little big for the root ball so I've opted to plant it lower in the pot than I normally would to reduce the amount of potting medium.
The potting mix I've moved it to is my usual mix for Philodendrons: compost, orchid bark, coco coir and some perlite thrown in. I just mix it up by the handful so I don't know the actual percentage of each.
Now, the final step, do I chop or not?
I don't think it is necessary for this one as it is nice and healthy but that large leaf was bugging me, it was just way out of proportion and the stem leggy, there were also still a couple of baby leaves on the lower portion, so for me it was a no brainer. The only real question I had was: do I chop once or twice?
There are two obvious nodes to choose from. The top one has that lovely large, if broken, leaf. The node below it has a few root nodules but it already has a dead spot where a leaf had broken off. I decided for the single chop below the bottom node, but I may choose to chop again later on. I'll see how it goes, easier to chop again later than glue it back together.
So, that section I've put in water to propagate. I could have used rooting hormone and put direct in soil, or sphagnum moss, or various other methods. I could have air layered it instead of chopping too, but I've always used water propagation and had very few fails so that's my go to this time too. I always use basic tap water for propagation, again never had any issues so why change it now? That will depend in your water quality though.
The propagating section will go in a nice bright windowsill, the cutting is a bit too big for one of my propagation stations unfortunately, but this pint glass will do well enough.
The main section I'll pop in a warm spot under a grow light.
Hopefully, with a little luck, in a couple of weeks, I'll see fresh roots on the propagating section and the two tiny shoots on the main stem will have matured and new leaves developed.
I noted at the start that this is a great way to pick up some cheap 'rarer' plants but its also reassuring that you can rescue your own plants in similar fashion if things do not go to plan.
Everyone makes a mistake from time to time. Some people have a 'green thumb', whilst others feel that, no matter what, any plant in their care will die.
Whatever the problem, if you spot it early on, there are always options to try to rescue your plant.
I also find it very satisfying to rescue my plants, I rarely throw them away unless they are utterly lifeless.
Fingers crossed for this P. Mayoi. I'll let you know how I get on in a couple of weeks.
Michelle
