Hi everyone! I'm new here, although I've been reading the forum for a while looking for information on various plants I've acquired. I've always been an outdoor gardener but with growing up in Oklahoma's harsh climate, tropical plant care is a whole new level for me!! This is my first philo, a teeny melanochrysum, and I'm so excited to have a new leaf emerging!! Hoping I can keep this going, it brings me so much joy!!

Its a gem! I grew it before my greenhouse heater blew and it passed away. Wish I could replace it but way too much coin needed for a new one these days!
Welcome to the forum!!!!!

The 'Jose Buono' I have in the front of the greenhouse has put out a really really huge leaf. It just kind of rolls over like a big banana slug LOL

I've never heard of the Black Gold Philodendron (Philodendron melanochrysum) and I love those leaves!

Isn;t it nice??? I;d like to re-collect it but its just too expensive nowadays

If I didn't know that this P. hastatum was just ditching these 2 lower leaves naturally, I might try to claim that this was some weird brand new orange mutation of hastatum and sell it on ebay for $1000

Philodendron brandiatum. A friend gave me a small 3 leaf cutting earlier this season and its growing well now!

Gina1960 said:Philodendron brandiatum. A friend gave me a small 3 leaf cutting earlier this season and its growing well now!

Ugh, I need to find this plant for sale somewhere! Or at least save up enough money to buy it on Etsy. $25 plus shipping is a lot to me right now.

I don't have anything rare or expensive but I love my philodendrons

Micans




Rojo Congo, both "rescues." The one in the patterned pot was in the clearance bin at Home Depot and had two very sad, broken leaves but a nice looking new leaf popping out! It's come a long way. I just recently bought the larger one. It was marked down to $10 from something ridiculous and it's still...trying...the two new leaves since I've gotten it don't unfurl all the way. They stay curly.




Green Congo, orange prince and somebody's finale...Mccolley's maybe? Oh and a tiny hanging brasil.




My most recent is this Tahiti. I cleaned it off once in the sink but it looks like the leaves still need to be wiped off again.



This tiny hope...I just can't figure out what it wants. It's doing a little better now!



Lemon limes, an upright and a heart leaf, not sure what that's actually called.





My sister and I call this "the frankenplant" as in Frankenstein because it looks like two separate plants were crammed into the same pot and each plant thinks it's in charge. It was another clearance Home Depot plant.

I think the bright green heartleaf and the more upright bright green philo, are both sold as 'Lemon Lime'. That's messy.

Your philo collection looks great! Your 'Green Congo', 'Rojo Congo' and 'Prince of Orange'/'Mccolley's Finale' look like they may be wanting more light, though. Just a general observation. Beautiful collection nonetheless!

Thank you, and they could be in search of more light! The prince of orange, yes, I'm sure it wants more light. The thing is, I'm about to give up on it. It has consistently put out leaves that I can't describe as anything but maybe rotten? They are brown and crumpled and this started with the first leaf that emerged a couple of days after I bought it. I read that this could be over fertilization from the nursery, but I don't know. It happened to put out ONE good leaf and my cat jumped into it and broke it! I don't know what to do with it. It seems mad at me no matter what I try, so it's now banished to the foot of the green Congo. The green Congo is in an east window and I'm afraid, with a plant so huge, I'm limited as to other spots in my house that can accommodate it! I had it next to my monstera (in photo below) but it's also an east window and the two together are just a mess of leaves. In fact, I have the monstera wrangled into two pigtails until I can find or make a moss pole large enough. Could a green Congo handle a south facing window?

Of course I expected it to be large when I bought it, but it's doubled in size!
I thought I'd have more time to sell some furniture

Can't forget these guys...






I just got a "little Phil" yesterday and I'm excited to learn more about it and get it into whichever spot will become it's home in the house.

Hey don't underrate ANY of those plants! That's a great collection! A plant does;t have to be unusual or rare to be a great plant. And remember, some plants that are 'rare' now were COMMON 10 years ago. And CHEAP. Why they are expensive and uncommon now, I have no idea. Unless they are just not being produced for the market anymore. It seems that tissue culture labs here in the US are mainly interested in producing only patented plants nowadays

Thanks, Gina. I agree that they're great plants. I love every one of them
Philodendrons were my gateway into plant addiction and will always be my first love. Just don't tell my hoyas.

Adriennevs said:Thank you, and they could be in search of more light! The prince of orange, yes, I'm sure it wants more light. The thing is, I'm about to give up on it. It has consistently put out leaves that I can't describe as anything but maybe rotten? They are brown and crumpled and this started with the first leaf that emerged a couple of days after I bought it. I read that this could be over fertilization from the nursery, but I don't know. It happened to put out ONE good leaf and my cat jumped into it and broke it! I don't know what to do with it. It seems mad at me no matter what I try, so it's now banished to the foot of the green Congo. The green Congo is in an east window and I'm afraid, with a plant so huge, I'm limited as to other spots in my house that can accommodate it! I had it next to my monstera (in photo below) but it's also an east window and the two together are just a mess of leaves. In fact, I have the monstera wrangled into two pigtails until I can find or make a moss pole large enough. Could a green Congo handle a south facing window?

Of course I expected it to be large when I bought it, but it's doubled in size!
I thought I'd have more time to sell some furniture

Hmm, if you POO isn't growing fast and constantly throwing out new leaves, it's acting pretty strangely. Maybe it has some sort of illness... or maybe a curse.

I can relate to the lack of space fears! I think about, and do sometimes, move or give up my furniture. I mean, let's be honest, a living creature or an inanimate object? The living creature wins every time.

I don't personally grow any Congo Phils, so I can't answer on the sun issue. A lot of houseplants can take more sun than we give them credit for, though. I'm sure someone else can answer that for you!

I'm going to say it's a curse and it's on me, not the plant

I had this other plant just like the orange, sunrise, maybe? Same thing. Put out a couple of rotten leaves and then one day it just died.

Here they are in happier days, back when everyone was alive and well-ish.

That's weird that you cannot grow these. These are self headers, they don't climb. It must be a root issue. I usually don;t say this but should you unpot the Prince of Orange and look at the root system?

Perhaps I should do that, Gina. I could do it tomorrow. What should I be looking for with the roots?
What's so odd is that the Mccolley's doesn't have any of these problems and grows steadily and easily. New leaves are fine, not brown or bunched up. I inquired about it where I purchased my little Phil. I suggested that maybe it's because one is a hybrid and one isn't, and I was informed that both the orange and the Mccolley are hybrids, so it can't be that. They also said that what I read about fertilizer burn doesn't sound right. So odd!

Not sure if you can see, but one leaf is bent out of its sheath next to what appears to be a crispy root that tried to pop out with it, and the second new leaf turned brown and died without ever coming out and the tip of another new leaf is trying to come out behind it. It doesn't appear to be brown...yet.

Yes both of those are hybrids (as is Moonlight, Autumn, Black Cardinal, etc). McColley's Finale and Prince of Orange were hybridized by a man named McColley LOL.

Look for healthy roots, white/tan. Firm not mushy. Don't remove or shake off the soil, if the sots have rotted the plant may pull out of the soil pretty easily. see if there are any little beasties visible feeding on the roots. Check the backs of the existing leaves really carefully, are you sure there are no spider mites? And is the soil wet down near the bottom of the pot but dry on top? Stuff like that

Thank you. I'm going to check it today.