Question
black spots
Hello-
I have recently purchased a philodendron xanadu and noticed that there are black spots on the underside of some of the leaves. There are also some faint yellow spots as well. The plant looks healthy to me otherwise, although I don't know much about plants. The black spots do wipe of with water. Is this something to be concerned about? The majority of the leaves do not have this, it seems to be mainly confined to the ones around the base of the plant. Could I possibly just cut the stems off that have the bad leaves? Also, I am not sure if this is significant, but after I brought the plant home, There was a bluish/white film on the top of almost every leaf. It sort of looked like water spots. I just assumed it was from something that was sprayed on it and I wiped each leaf with a damp cloth to remove it. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my question. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Marie
AnswerHi Marie,
If the dark spots rinse of with plain water, then you have nothing to be concerned about. However, if the spots return and they are slightly raised, have a hard outer covering and require pressure or scraping to remove them, then they are scale insects and need to be treated. Rather than explain scale treatment here unnecessarily, I will wait to get confirmation from you that you do have scale insects before posting that information.
The bluish film was probably the residue of pesticidal and fungicidal sprays that nurseries routinely use on plants grown in greenhouses.
The yellow spots are also not a cause for concern as long as they are limited to older leaves.
I have written an article on plant pests and their treatment that I will email for free to you (or anyone else) who sends a request to me at
[email protected].
Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.
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Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC
