Help identifying mystery plant and mystery plant problem
February 15, 2020 2:21 PM Subscribe
1. Any idea what this houseplant is? It sends out hardy vines with cool reddish parts. The leaves remain smallish closer to the roots and get bigger and bigger as the vines grow longer.
2. Cuttings usually grow well in water. However, the latest cutting has developed tiny dark brown spots on the underside of two leaves with sticky gel-like blobs on each spot. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Philodendron species. I used to have a very similar one, if not the same. It looks like some type of leaf spot disease; it may need attention paid to its watering regime. They are okay with lots of water but need a pot with drainage.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:39 PM on February 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 3:39 PM on February 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
No matter what it is or what the problem is I agree with nouvelle-personne that you should just cut off /remove/destroy the affected parts of all plants that have it ASAP.
It does look like a Tradescantia species, aka spiderwort/“wandering dude”.
And it does look like honeydew. One simple way to make sure is taste a drop, honeydew will taste like (surprise) honey.
If the problem spreads after removal, keep removing. If you can’t keep up, mechanically remove the gunk with a soft brush then liberally apply insecticidal soap to the whole plant, making sure to get the leaf bottoms.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:23 PM on February 15, 2020
It does look like a Tradescantia species, aka spiderwort/“wandering dude”.
And it does look like honeydew. One simple way to make sure is taste a drop, honeydew will taste like (surprise) honey.
If the problem spreads after removal, keep removing. If you can’t keep up, mechanically remove the gunk with a soft brush then liberally apply insecticidal soap to the whole plant, making sure to get the leaf bottoms.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:23 PM on February 15, 2020
Not a Tradescantia- most certainly a Philo of some type. Probably scale or aphids- throw out the cutting.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:58 PM on February 15, 2020
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:58 PM on February 15, 2020
We call that a Wandering Jew. I have several hanging WJs, easy to take care of, beautiful. Your cutting looks evil. Trash it and see if you can get a better one. I got mine at Amazon, believe it or not.
posted by james33 at 4:42 AM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by james33 at 4:42 AM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Philodendron; I would guess probably P. erubescens 'Red Emerald.' (Tradescantia stems don't get woody like that, and don't have aerial roots. Also your plant has sheaths around the developing leaves, which brown and fall off after the leaves unfurl; these are called cataphylls and Tradescantia don't have them. Also Tradescantia leaves are usually but not always lightly hairy. It's really, really not a Tradescantia.)
My guess would be that these are extrafloral nectaries (you can see some photos of extrafloral nectaries on a different Philodendron here, though in that case they're on the top of the leaves), especially because the excretions are sticky; if they also taste sweet, and you can't rub the spots off, that's probably what's going on. That's harmless, but annoying, and you won't be able to stop the plant from doing it because it's supposed to do it.
Another option is mechanical damage to the leaves, which is now guttating, and you're catching the drops after they've sat on the plant long enough for most of the water to evaporate away. I think this is less likely because Philodendron usually guttates near the leaf tips, not the underside of the leaves. (This would also be more or less harmless, though it could indicate that you're overwatering, or that you have a mild infestation of a pest like thrips or mites creating the leaf damage.)
Aphids are big enough that if you've looked over the whole plant already to try to figure out what's happening, you'd probably have seen one, and if it's scale, you could rub off the brown spots with your fingers or a paper towel.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 4:53 AM on February 16, 2020 [5 favorites]
My guess would be that these are extrafloral nectaries (you can see some photos of extrafloral nectaries on a different Philodendron here, though in that case they're on the top of the leaves), especially because the excretions are sticky; if they also taste sweet, and you can't rub the spots off, that's probably what's going on. That's harmless, but annoying, and you won't be able to stop the plant from doing it because it's supposed to do it.
Another option is mechanical damage to the leaves, which is now guttating, and you're catching the drops after they've sat on the plant long enough for most of the water to evaporate away. I think this is less likely because Philodendron usually guttates near the leaf tips, not the underside of the leaves. (This would also be more or less harmless, though it could indicate that you're overwatering, or that you have a mild infestation of a pest like thrips or mites creating the leaf damage.)
Aphids are big enough that if you've looked over the whole plant already to try to figure out what's happening, you'd probably have seen one, and if it's scale, you could rub off the brown spots with your fingers or a paper towel.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 4:53 AM on February 16, 2020 [5 favorites]
Spathe cadet is right, it’s not tradedcantia but extra floral nectaries would usually be positioned more regularly and not just on one cutting, in my experience, though their nectar will taste much like honeydew!
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:49 AM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:49 AM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the replies. Here’s a close-up pic of the plant showing the red parts on one of the vines.
posted by Majorita at 12:31 PM on February 16, 2020
posted by Majorita at 12:31 PM on February 16, 2020
Response by poster: Oh and just to clarify: I’ve had the main plant for around 25 years. The main plant doesn’t have any spots or gel blobs, and I don’t see any aphids or other insects on it.
The spots/blobs were on a small cutting that I took myself from the main plant. They were only on the two oldest leaves of the cutting, not the newer emerging leaves. The cutting was in water in a vase, separated from the main plant in a different room on a different floor of the house. The cutting was over a year old. I don’t know when the spots/blobs first appeared. I’ve trashed the cutting since posting this question.
I recently brought some new plants into the house — parsley, thyme, two hyacinths, and a tulip — and they were near the cutting. So were a philodendron cutting in water, a peperomia, a citronella, and two basil plants (one in water and one in soil). None of those plants have spots/blobs.
posted by Majorita at 1:01 PM on February 16, 2020
The spots/blobs were on a small cutting that I took myself from the main plant. They were only on the two oldest leaves of the cutting, not the newer emerging leaves. The cutting was in water in a vase, separated from the main plant in a different room on a different floor of the house. The cutting was over a year old. I don’t know when the spots/blobs first appeared. I’ve trashed the cutting since posting this question.
I recently brought some new plants into the house — parsley, thyme, two hyacinths, and a tulip — and they were near the cutting. So were a philodendron cutting in water, a peperomia, a citronella, and two basil plants (one in water and one in soil). None of those plants have spots/blobs.
posted by Majorita at 1:01 PM on February 16, 2020
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posted by nouvelle-personne at 2:41 PM on February 15, 2020 [2 favorites]