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Misting my marble peperomia today and noticed this spot in the first… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

sabrinasaurus

Misting my marble peperomia today and noticed this spot in the first photo — it goes through the leaf and is squishy. Preliminary google is telling me it might be the ring spot virus? Really really hoping it isn't, but if it is, any suggestions would be helpful! It's only on that one leaf and it's the first time I've seen it. I got it from a local nursery a little over 2 months ago and I thought it was doing great since it's grown almost 2 inches and is putting out new leaves like a maniac

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17 comments

  1. eatyacarbs

    quit misting! this is one of the things misting opens you up to — spots, rot, fungus and other unfortunate things the app really pushes misting but you can turn that off in your settings

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    • eatyacarbs

      don’t stress — looks really great otherwise 😊

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    • sabrinasaurus

      Oh interesting! Planta recommended it so I'm blindly following 🫣 this is my first peperomia so I'm not totally sure how to treat it. Would you recommend a humidifier instead?

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    • sabrinasaurus

      Also, should I remove the infected leaf?

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    • eatyacarbs

      Just added to my first comment but yeah the app is always pushing misting but I never do it — you can turn off misting reminders in your settings. Normal household humidity is generally fine for these. Here’s mine — yours is impressively..erect for lack of a better word lol

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    • eatyacarbs

      yes! cut that leaf off 😊

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  2. Adrian

    Definitely agree to quit misting it. Mine doesn’t need a humidity tray or anything (granted, I live in PA. It’s humid in the summer), and I never mist her. As for the spot, definitely remove that leaf, and check if it starts on any other. Don’t use the same tools for that plant as you do any other until you can rule leaf spot out, and quarantine it. It could be edema, as I dealt with that from the travel stress and humidity and temp shifts causing it on my raindrop peperomia. I’ll attach a photo of it for you to compare. If it’s clear and looks like the leaf lost its green, then starts to turn brown, it’s edema. It looks very different on peperomia than other plants cause of the succulent nature of their leaves. Hope this helps!

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    • Adrian

      The other telltale sign of edema is curling leaves and “bumps” forming on the leaves. If you start seeing that within the week, it’s edema. It’s difficult to diagnose since you can’t tell from the leaves, but if it is edema, try to rule out how that occurred. It can be something as simple as being near an AC vent after being recently watered, but look up what causes edema on houseplants, and that should help you rule out what caused it.

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  3. Adrian

    I treated mine by repotting it (it arrived in a very tiny pot, as you can see, which only worsened the edema), adding some peroxide to the water the next time I watered it (letting the soil completely dry out before watering it again), giving it a new, chunky all-purpose mix, and WAITING until the edema stopped forming and new leaves looked unaffected before chopping any affected leaves off. Chopping a bunch of leaves off will only worsen the edema, but if it’s just one leaf, you should be ok. Sadly, leaves won’t recover in serious cases, but your plant looks just fine aside from that leaf so far, so if it is edema, you’ve caught it early. If it’s ring spot 😬 good luck, and quarantine it the hell away from all your other plants.

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    • sabrinasaurus

      Thank you! Yeah that spot on yours looks pretty much identical to mine so I'll keep any eye on it and hopefully it clears up 🤞 I have it in a custom soil mix with some perlite & tropical soil that I repotted it in about two months ago but not sure if there's a better mix I should use that would help

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    • Adrian

      The added perlite to the tropical mix is probably fine. The issue isn’t so much soil as a shift in temp or humidity. Edema has to do with a change in humidity or temp when the soil is moist, leading to the plant’s trying to absorb more water than it can handle, leading to the “bursting” of the plant’s cell, thus the hole. I’m happy to report mine has since recovered, and was a much more serious case, so I’m very hopeful with yours. I’m pretty sure it’s edema, but it’s much better to be safe than sorry when there’s the risk of ring spot.

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    • Adrian

      In the meantime, try to deduce if it’s near anything that changes the humidity or temp for it suddenly, like being near an AC vent, or an often opened window or door. To double check it’s not the soil, two questions for you 1. How much peat is in it? If it’s a nice chunky mix, and not just a ton of peat moss, it’s probably not the soil. 2. How long does it take for the soil to dry out. If it takes more than 2-3 days for the top layer of the soil to dry out, it could be the soil. Mine dries out within 24-48 hours after watering, and I bottom water all my peperomias.

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    • sabrinasaurus

      Definitely not a chunky mix so maybe adding some orchid bark would help! It stays damp for 2+ days with a bottom water so sounds like that's my issue

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  4. Adrian

    If you’re looking for soil recs, I use a mix of Espoma’s Organic Cactus and Succulent Mix with their All-Purpose Mix. Essentially it’s a mix of succulent mix with peat moss, and both already come with perlite, so I don’t add extra. Obtusifolia seem to enjoy a drier mix than the more delicate varieties of peperomia, such as watermelon for rana verde peperomia. Im gonna guess the edema occurred during the growth spurt you mentioned, as it would’ve been working hard on sending any water up through the roots to the new leaves. Just keep monitoring it for the rest of the week, and definitely come back if it worsens. And let the soil dry out completely. Overwatering will only exacerbate edema.

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