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
T*@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
