boomexa
a few brown spots & yellow leaves on my Pepperomia and dieffenbachia (I think it’s due to dryness?). I made a humidity box (4th picture) - any tips/ other suggestions?
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a few brown spots & yellow leaves on my Pepperomia and dieffenbachia… | Pests, diseases and problems | Comunità di Planta
11 commenti
StormLoverFollowing! Interested on the humidity box. Sorry I can't help with the issues. I don't have either of your plants! Hopefully, someone can assist!
1 mi piace- boomexa
I’m super curious on how the humidity box will work too! excited to see how it progresses
0 Mi piace
- Vanessa
Check the roots. Looks like root rot to me but can’t tell for sure until you pull them out of the pot and look. Another thing that can cause this is fertilizing a plant that doesn’t need it (ie recently repotted, etc).
1 mi piace- boomexa
oo okay! these are the roots, I think they’re alright? Might be a bit cramped though… I originally put a plant food spike in but just took it out. also there was a small black bug in the soil - I’ll attach another image. Little white dots are pebbles I think (this one is pretty new from the store, never repotted)
1 mi piace
- boomexa
Little bug, about half a cm long or smaller.
1 mi piace
- Vanessa
Bug is not good… I would get rid of all the soil, rinse the roots, remove any that are black or mushy, use a hydrogen peroxide/soap/water rinse on the roots and then rinse them again with clean water, wash the leaves with dawn dish soap and water mixture then rinse again with fresh water, then let it sit for about an hour to make sure any cuts you made are callused over before repotting (some plants take longer like dragonfruit I let sit for a week but peperomia should be ok in an hour or so but just watch it - then repot in fresh light well draining soil mix - I like a mix of 1/3 MG indoor potting mix, 1/3 perlite, and 1/3 MG sphagnum peat moss. Spray weekly with bifenthrin alternating with spinosad to keep pests away (I do this when Planta says to mist - I always use the opportunity for a treatment). Do not fertilize it until Planta tells you to then just use 1 tsp of MG per gallon of water - all other times use plain water. Avoid those fertilizer sticks they can burn the roots and cause those spots on the leaf, the plant then sends distress signal that attracts bugs, etc… best to keep it as healthy as possible.
1 mi piace - boomexa
Oh wow thank you so much! I definitely think the grow sticks were the issue - I repotted, changed all the soil and added 1/3 perlite. The brown spots have stayed contained and have sort of calloused over. Haven’t seen any more bugs since that! The new leaf is already starting to open up so I think the issue is solved for now - thank you so much for your help, it worked!
2 Mi piace - Vanessa
Yay! I’m so happy it helped 💚🪴
0 Mi piace
- Vanessa
It’s not a humidity issue. My dieffenbachia are fine at 50-55% humidity in my house - I do keep them away from air vents. They hate to have their roots soggy. The leaves will yellow from that and if the lighting isn’t right. Lighting for them is very tough. Use a light meter and you’re looking for about 250-400 without any direct light. They like those halo grow lights on amazon as well as Barrina lights. The Sansi lights are hit or miss for them bc some are really strong like the actual sun and they will get burned lol that’s the good and bad of dumbcane… they can grow well in fairly low light but get it wrong and they look super terrible. Repotting them is a nightmare bc they throw a fit and will turn yellow. Move them and they turn yellow. Think of them like Goldilocks… once you get it right they’re easy… until then… little terrors. But the yellow isn’t humidity, it’s either soil or lighting. Also the missing chunks on the end is highly suspicious for thrips. As mentioned in my previous comment, you need to be doing a weekly pest control regimen and be super consistent. Personally I’d add in beneficial nematodes to the soil atleast once too to eat any larvae/eggs. Fun times :) Good luck!
2 Mi piace- boomexa
Thank you! I bought one of the halo lights you suggested so fingers crossed that helps. I definitely think it’s a problem with the soil as well - planta keeps telling me to water it every other week but last time I watered it, 3 leaves turned fully yellow and had to be cut so I’m deciding to ignore the app for a bit and water her when the soil near the bottom starts to dry slightly. Hoping it’s just overwatering and that’ll fix it. Also will replace her soil in case it’s bugs! Thank you!
1 mi piace - Vanessa
I’ve been noticing here recently now that the plants are starting to go dormant that the app is either letting them go too long without water (my poor lady palm 🤦🏻♀️) or I’m having to snooze frequently. I use one of those water meters but a few weeks ago I was so busy I just watered based on the app… big mistake bc now I’m chopping roots off that got root rot. It does help me see which plants are sensitive so I’m rerooting those in water for the next month or so and planning to transition them to leca clay balls. For any others I keep on soil that I repot I’m going to start putting the leca clay balls at the bottom of the nursery pot. Root rot is the bane of my existence. I just found a root supplement on amazon that is supposed to help strengthen plants against root rot so I may try that. I usually do a 1/3 indoor potting soil, 1/3 perlite, 1/3 peat moss mix but this year seemed to have a lot more issues w root rot 🤔 I feel like a lot of the plants have it at the big box stores/nurseries this year and it just worsens. Just a speculation.
0 Mi piace
