Houseplants forum→P. scandens - yellow, curling leaves

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Name: Rosie Z
Manchester, UK (Zone 11a)
May 24, 2020 1:59 AM CST
Hi all,

I'm hoping I can get some help/answers here as google unsurprisingly gave me some confusing information.

As the UK went into lockdown due to COVID, I took one of my colleague's plants from the office to look after while we're all working from home. It's a Philodendron scandens and I've had it with me since 12th March.

It was looking great for several weeks until maybe 4 weeks ago when I spotted the first yellow leaf at the base of the plant. And then another one. My colleague said it was fine as that happens to plants often. I removed the leaves but it's been getting them more and more since then. Some leaves have curled near the stem, again at the base of the plant, and generally it seem a bit paler.

I think I tend to be more of an overwaterer so recently I've been trying really hard to correct that when I water plants. Generally speaking, I've been watering the Philodendron every 1-2 weeks, leaning more towards the 2 weeks mark, and I have been checking the top soil beforehand. In the office the plant will have been succumbed to constant (ish) temperature and probably very dry air because of the A/C, and it was watered once a week. Plus, it was not getting that much light. However, now I suppose because it's in an apartment the humidity is probably a little bit higher, the temperature varies a lot more, and because I have kept it on a North-Northwestern window sill which actually gets quite a lot of bright light during the day, with only a bit of sun (when it got sunny I moved the plant away), maybe it's a bit shocked. I keep reading lots of contradicting info about how much light P. scandens needs so it's hard to judge where it needs to be but since it was thriving in the office, I've now moved it about a meter and a half away from the window.

It's also had a few new leaves (one came out 2-3 days ago) and it looks like it's preparing to release a couple more unless it's now stunted. So, I can't work out what's going on. I gave it some fertiliser on 19th May as some websites suggested the yellowing might be due to nutrient deficiency during the growth season, but I don't know how soon I should be seeing a difference if it even helps at all. It would be great if anyone here knows what might be happening to it as it's not mine and I'd feel really bad if I killed it.

How it looked a month after I took it home:
Thumb of 2020-05-23/rosiez/8eb4f3

How it looks now:
Thumb of 2020-05-24/rosiez/3d6f01
Thumb of 2020-05-24/rosiez/4a81b1
Thumb of 2020-05-24/rosiez/ccec8d
Name: Will Creed
Prof. plant consultant & educator
May 24, 2020 9:20 AM CST
Plants often have difficulty adapting to changes in their environment and the symptoms of stress don't show up right away. The change in light may be part of the problem, but I suspect watering is a bigger issue.

A north windowsill should be fine for it but do protect it from the rays of the sun falling directly on it during the day.

Let the top inch of soil get dry to your touch. Then, water it enough so that a bit trickles through the drain holes. Don't leave the pot sitting in water.

Humidity and normal home temps are not issues and it will not need any more fertilizer.
Will Creed
Horticultural Help, NYC
Contact me directly at [email protected]
I now have a book available on indoor plant care
Name: Rose
Colorado (Zone 5b)
May 24, 2020 6:51 PM CST
It's over-watered. Allow it to dry at LEAST an inch down if not further between waterings. (I neglect mine far more and it thrives.) Don't worry about the window either, mine have been in north windows and the hour or two of direct morning sun that they got is nowhere near enough to sunburn them.
Name: Rosie Z
Manchester, UK (Zone 11a)
May 25, 2020 4:52 PM CST
Thanks for your responses, guys, will make sure to leave more time between waterings!

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