WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FAVOURITE PLANT ? - Philodendron verrucosum FAIL!

[@florentplantier4833]

Hello Jan, These types of videos are really helpful for a new plant parent who is still in that "oh my god, I'm a bad bad bad plant parent" when things don't go according to plan. This video reminds us ( well, at least me ) that we are dealing with living organisms, not robots and yes, sometimes things do go wrong, even for accomplished growers. "You win some, you learn some." Your honesty and willingness to show us the not so good is trully refreshing. Thanks a lot for all these efforts you put by creating content for us !

[@sydneyplantguy]

That's awesome to hear :) glad my video can make an impact on the way you approach this hobby :) happy growing !

[@-_M___M_-]

@@sydneyplantguy I was about to write the same thing. I'm sure it's a lot of effort to store, retrieve & edit the footage for this type of videos but it's such a learning experience for us! Thank you for all the work you put into these! Sidenote: you need to take care of this plant, it's your new logo. 😉

[@torquess454]

Agreed!!! ❤

[@brenna4678]

Thanks for sharing this. It's not so much that I love to see your plants struggle lol, it's that I benefit the most from videos that show how people troubleshoot their plant problems. I mean I love a good video of all your healthy, beautiful plants but it's nice to know that everyone has issues and see the different ways that they use to address those issues :)

[@torquess454]

Same!! ❤

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :) glad these videos help :)

[@dark_antihero]

Talk about dedication. I've never seen anyone plan out their videos years in advance like yours

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@heatherstephens9295]

Dealing with nature can be very challenging. I have the highest respect for commercial growers that’s livelihoods depends on good crops/beautiful plants for gardens & homes. Thank you so much for this video, it’s great to see how you tackle these things 👍👍👍

[@sydneyplantguy]

For sure !! It's scary, especially for farmers relying on the natural climate without being able to control it !!

[@Digitalhunny]

Aren't farmers just, industrial gardeners? 😂😂😂❤

[@heatherstephens9295]

@@Digitalhunny um in a word - No

[@oskarraeburn3516]

had to sell my lovely verrucosum, (moving country) it was so nice that it proved to my family why i filled there house with weird moss totem poles (they said it looked like i was drying weed lol)

[@sydneyplantguy]

haha !! Verrus are the best (when they thrive) :)

[@Digitalhunny]

Um, you might wanna ask your family, how _exactly_ do they know, what "weed drying" _actually_ looks like? They sound sus. They know more then, they letting on. 😂😂😂😂❤

[@surfingsmooth3422]

Thanks Jan! I really appreciate all your hard work in bringing these excellent and informative videos to us. When i first started my houseplant journey, i initially was not a fan of velvet philodendrons, due to reading about how finicky they are and how they tend to attract spider mites. However your demonstrated love of velvet philodendrons especially the verru eventually inspired me to give it a go. Totally worth it, i thoroughly adore my two verrus, especially their gorgeous red abaxial sides when highlighted by the morning sun, the striking electric green veining, the fuzzy petioles, velvety leaf texture, ruffly leaf edging as it matures, bring a warm and peaceful joy. Thank you for sharing the challenges and learnings in growing these beautiful plants, they are very valuable indeed!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thank you!! Glad i was able to convince you:)

[@halliedobbins]

Hi Jan! Thank you for sharing about the internodal spacing. I had never heard that before about maturity decreasing this. Great tip!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Cheers :)

[@clairepook2703]

Such a gorgeous plant and I personally appreciate seeing the good and the bad and too know sometimes everyone struggles with a plant is good but like you have I am definitely getting better

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@SkylarOrb]

Absolutely appreciate these videos!! I learn from your experiences & they give me more confidence to keep trying. 💚💚💚

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks for watching :)

[@lesliehughes9382]

Absolutely love these videos that span such a long time. Thank you for the dedication to stick with these extended projects (across all the moves)!!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thank you :)

[@MeAndMyPokok]

TBH, I loved your plant journey videos. To see you share some fumbles here and there for us to learn from, it's a valuable lesson to all. I hope things will perk up soon. Virtual hugs 🤗

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thank you:)!

[@lydia_n_au]

Love that you’re keeping it real. You still have a nice looking tree🌴😅. Thanks for another fab video.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@Pulchritudeiseverywhere]

You are definitely one my favorite plant creators and it's a short list.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thank you:)

[@itsmekeithlyn]

In love with verru💚🌿 and actually my love started with your plant, and now I have 8 of them 😁

[@sydneyplantguy]

Hehe glad I was able to inspire you!! When thriving they are sooooo beautiful 🥰🥰

[@lindaedwards4632]

I think we just like to know that everyone has struggles with plants. It is also nice to have tips on reversing the struggles 😀🇨🇦

[@sydneyplantguy]

hehe it's all about being relatable, not perfect, isn't it :)

[@xtinern]

Thanks Jan for this inspo!! Just got my verrucosum from Growing Grounds and I'm hoping mine grows similar to yours this coming spring / summer 😁

[@sydneyplantguy]

Happy growing :)

[@carolstuff]

It still looks beautiful despite the struggles! Thanks for sharing Jan!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@raewynb2119]

Bring on Spring! I want it as much as my plants do

[@sydneyplantguy]

I CANNOT wait !!

[@shahnilacebark]

Gorgeous plant and an awesome friendly kitty, great to know It’s not only me that is over coaxing back struggling plants and it’s OK so thank you for that from Melbourne and yes Spring can’t come fast enough!!!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Happy growing :)

[@corvusmonedula]

Your videos always make me want to go take care of my plants :D Plants aren't always picture perfect instagram models and it's reassuring to see that even people like you, who have wonderful mature plants can struggle

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thank you :) happy growing !

[@plantwithroos]

Heyyyy🎉 yours inspired me to get a baby veru again and it STRUGGLEDDDD! But it's finally growing now and so pretty ❤

[@sydneyplantguy]

Roos 👋👋 the first couple years of growing one I had NO IDEA what people were talking about when saying it’s a tricky plant … but I feel your pain now 🫣🫣

[@JaZmine147]

Just ordered my very first one. Waiting for it to be delivered. Wish me luck ❤

[@eelinsoh2597]

Praying and dreaming mine will one day grow to the size of yours!

[@sylviagutierrez7676]

This plant of yours is beautiful ,no matter what!!and when spring gets here it will be even better!! 👋 💚🌵🍀🌿💚

[@sydneyplantguy]

Can't wait for her to thrive again :)

[@jessied3210]

Hi Jan, thanks so much for sharing your struggles with us. I'm sorry it's been hard but you're so valid for the roller-coaster it's giving you! If you haven't already made one I can't find, I'd actually really appreciate a video on growing conditions in Australia! So many planty creators live somewhere else and I can't seem to get good advice about our dryness, South/North windows, frost, etc... I'm in Melbourne but you really inspire me and I'd love to hear your experience. :) Another suggestion, I'd love to hear about your migration story! Why choose Australia? What was the welcome like, and why stay? Thanks Jan. And lovely to see Bradley as usual. x

[@TrenchtownRocr]

Appreciate this video! I’ve been up and down with the growth on my Verru over the years, and have had mixed results with chopping too. And bugs just love to attack Verru! 🤦🏼‍♀️ Good to know I’m not alone with the struggles.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Welcome abord the struggle bus :P

[@ericaeschenbacher4921]

Thanks for keeping it real, especially when the majority of your plant collection look AI generated😹. Growing houseplants are definitely a lesson in patience and chaos searching for remedies sometimes.😻

[@sydneyplantguy]

Hehe thanks :)

[@regi985]

The more I see this plant the more I want a verrucosum for my own :D Also wanted to mention that the second plant grew more leaves because it´s 3 plants and your mother plant has only one vine left that grew at all.

[@maxchristiansen9750]

Naaah I come on here to see the beautiful plants I can't grow and have!❤ haha just kidding. I love these videos just as much. My verrucossum has slowed down a bit after the chop but I'm certain it'll bounce back!🤞🏼

[@kaybeepal]

Thank you for keeping it real! The reason it’s a little startling when you throw out a leaf is that for the rest of us, it looks like a perfectly nice leaf that we would welcome in our own collection. But for you it’s an ugly looking leaf you have to ditch! lol As your verrucosom gets really large, I wonder if you need to size up the pot size so it’s more proportional ?

[@sydneyplantguy]

I think sometimes the leaves look better on camera than they do in real life :P but yes, i’m picky :) also keep in mind I have lots of plants and ugly leaves can take up precious space & light from healthy, pretty plants instead :) verrus have a very small root system so this far from root bound :)

[@RoxanneStewart-zq3bi]

Loving the logo!!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@natalieaguero6246]

I’ve had such a hard time with my verrucosum over the last few months. The leaves kept yellowing and it wasn’t growing. I thought I was overwatering it. So I downsized the pot but discovered shortly after it was riddled with flat mites after discovering some of my other plants had them too (I bought a USB microscope from Amazon). I’ve treated it now but hoping it can make a recovery

[@sydneyplantguy]

🤞🤞🤞 hoping for a speedy recovery:)

[@jamesoconnell30]

Spider mites! I just lost loads of my collection due to these. Not sure if you've had these before, but I have advice on how to get rid of them for good. Just to give you an idea of how bad this is. They can lay up to 20 eggs a day. If you think you've killed them off but you leave a couple, you'll have another outbreak a few months later. They breed exponentially. Castile soap is just a contact killer. You'd have to spray every surface of the plant evenly to hope to kill all of them. I bought a philodendron verrucosum that had just a few on. I treated it. 6 months later I had to dispose of three plants in the same room because it spread. 1 year later I found they had spread to other rooms. All from one plant (I've never had this issue before). They travel on your clothes, in the wind or draughts in your house. The eggs and mites can go dormant for months on end. If you really, really want to keep the plant, I advise you MUST treat it in the following way... I've done hours of research on mites and spoken to multiple entomologists... There are tonnes of recipes for various household remedies. They vary massively. I collated data on all of them and averaged the ratios out as as follows: - Neem oil solution. 1L spring water, 5ml neem oil, 1.5ml castile soap. Do not use dish soap. You can add 5 drops of clover or peppermint oil per litre if you want. This very common remedy does NOT work if you mix it in a plastic container or sprayer. The oil and water doesn't emulsify, so you end up just spraying the plant with water and some drops of oil. Mix the soap and oil in a small glass bottle. Stir or shake it to emulsify. Then add warm spring water, bit by bit, shaking to emulsify. Use a glass bottle sprayer. Plastic causes the oil to bead up. Use mixed neem oil within 7 hours. Spray every three days. Spray the underside of leaves, stems, everything. Do NOT use during the day or in the morning because it'll burn the plant. Apply only once the sun has gone down. - Alcohol solution Spray 70% isopropyl alcohol on every leaf surface every 5 days. - systemic insecticides containing Spinosad. This stuff is very hard to get hold of nowadays because it kills pollinators. It takes time to work, but it is very effective against spider mites. As opposed to alcohol and neem oil, it is a systemic, so the plant will take it on board and any insects that take a bite will be poisoned. Use once a week for 4 weeks. - predatory mites. You can use phytoseiulus persimilis and phytoseiulus californicus (predatory spider mites) to kill spider mites. However, this is best done once you knock the general population down with sprays. Don't use the sprays once you apply predators, or you'll kill the predators. Lastly, if you choose to keep it, treat all of your nearby plants too, presuming they'll already be infected. You cannot really see spider mites. They only become visible when they're in massive numbers and create webs. It's highly likely they're on your other plants already. Do not use fertilisers with a high nitrogen content. It increases spider mite populations. It was my beautiful philodendron verrucosum that brought the spider mites into my home. I couldn't bin it, so I thought I'd just put it far away from my other plants and try and treat it. Biggest mistake of my life. I ended up binning 20 infected plants a year later, because of that one plant. I had to do it, to stop the spread and save the rest of my collection. All of this could have been avoided. Do not underestimate spider mites.

[@hanstera_deliciosa]

The best things in life happen when we chill the f*ck out. IMO… 😂 Thank you for your time! You’re keeping the channel fresh, somehow, after so long. 🤗

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks heaps :)

[@NaderSoltani-m3n]

Great videos. Very helpful. Was just wondering which plant you have hanging on your fence behind the Billie. It's lovely.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Cheers :) behind it is a brandtianium and a campii :)

[@jillianleblanc9370]

Beautiful plants lovely 😎♥♥🌹

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :)

[@pixidanberty5530]

Who cares about the plants, I like looking at you!! 😘

[@sydneyplantguy]

Hehe thank you 🫣🫣

[@deebeststamping8661]

I have been jumping around and looking at your videos and I'm almost ready to get my verrucosum. Maybe this weekend. Yay! But I cant help but notice the beautiful pot on the lazy susan on your table in the background. What size pot is that (diameter and height) and what plant is that in there. It is stunning!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Happy growing :)!

[@Autumn-pw2xz]

I love your videos!

[@huttongd]

Your verrucosum is still so beautiful! I LOVE this plant, but I can't seem to keep more than one or two leaves. It makes me so sad. It is one of my favorites, but it just doesn't seem happy with me. Maybe it's time for me to try another.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Maybe try a splendid , much easier to grow but you still have some of the nice verru traits :)

[@Justindouglaspeterso]

Im curious what you use when you rinse and clean your plants? I am battling a severe spider mite outbreak affecting most of my 170 plants, and it's made me realize i need to have better habits with routinely cleaning everyone. Previously, it was only done quarterly.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Just water :)

[@jamesoconnell30]

Can I please give you some advice about what will actually help? My collection isn't as big, but I did have success, eventually, after many failing approaches. I lost loads of my collection due to them. You have to make hard decisions about what to bin and what to keep. I don't know about your space requirements, but you need physical gaps between your plants to work effectively and get on top. This will help you quarantine and segment. It's a nightmare becayse they can lay up to 20 eggs a day. If you think you've killed them off but you leave a couple, you'll have another outbreak a few months later. They breed exponentially. Castile soap is just a contact killer. You have to spray every surface of the plant evenly to hope to kill all of them. I had one plant that had just a few spider mites on. A verrucosum. It was new I loved it and I didn't want to bin it. I treated it. 6 months later I had to dispose of three plants in the same room because they spread. 1 year later I found they had spread to other rooms. All of this came from one plant (I've never had this issue before). They travel on your clothes, in the wind or draughts in your house. The eggs and mites can go dormant for months on end. They can survive in empty pots and on bottles of fertiliser. Anything. I've done hours of research on mites and spoken to multiple entomologist, so hopefully this comes from a place of experience. Most important thing I've found, before any topical/systemic/predatory treatments is to maximally knock the population numbers down. Take the plants outside and hose them down if possible. Blast off all the cobwebs and get every leaf and petiole surface. Plants with dense foliage where you can't get to the soil are a real problem. I would consider heavily pruning or disposal - it's a hard call, but it's almost 'do or die'. There are tonnes of recipes for various household remedies. They vary massively. I collated data on all of them and averaged the ratios out as as follows: - Neem oil solution. 1L spring water, 5ml neem oil, 1.5ml castile soap. Do not use dish soap. You can add 5 drops of clover or peppermint oil per litre if you want. This very common remedy does NOT work if you mix it in a plastic container or sprayer. The oil and water doesn't emulsify, so you end up just spraying the plant with water and some drops of oil. Mix the soap and oil in a small glass bottle. Stir or shake it to emulsify. Then add warm spring water, bit by bit, shaking to emulsify. Use a glass bottle sprayer. Plastic causes the oil to bead up. Use mixed neem oil within 7 hours. Spray every three days. - Alcohol solution Spray 70% isopropyl alcohol on every leaf surface every 5 days. - systemic insecticides containing Spinosad. This stuff is very hard to get hold of nowadays because it kills pollinators. It takes time to work, but it is very effective against spider mites. As opposed to alcohol and neem oil, it is a systemic, so the plant will take it on board and any insects that take a bite will be poisoned. Use once a week for 4 weeks. - predatory mites. You can use phytoseiulus persimilis and phytoseiulus californicus (predatory spider mites) to kill spider mites. However, this is best done once you knock the general population down with sprays. Don't use the sprays once you apply predators, or you will harm the predators. Spindosad doesn't effectively kill all predatory mites, but it reduces their efficacy. Persimilis phytoseiulus is best for initial treatment, then use persimilis Californicus once you've got on top of the outbreak. They will not solve your problem on their own, even if you release massive amounts of them. They just tend to canibalise... Do not use fertilisers with a high nitrogen content. It increases spider mite populations. Do not use imidacloprid either! Good luck.

[@pamr9373]

Hi Jan. You mention in this video that you've made a new video about your potting mix, but I can't seem to find it.. Are you able to give the link for it please?

[@sydneyplantguy]

It was ‘new’ at the time of creating the video … which was 14 months ago :) it’s the one linked in the description :)

[@pamr9373]

Thanks Jan

[@chinhphan2429]

I love you vids, they're amazing. Btw, do you have any problems with clear pot? I've heard that the light can disturb the roots but not entirely sure since so many people are doing it.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Most roots do prefer drakness. I have most of the clear containers in heavy decorative planters anyway so it's not an issue. With the ones that are NOT in planters I haven't noticed any root issues though :)

[@chinhphan2429]

@@sydneyplantguy thank you so much 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩wish you a great day

[@bevtooth]

Can I ask what the plant is on your table? The one in the large white pot. Thanks 😊

[@sydneyplantguy]

That’s a lush pot of Anthurium crystallinum hyrbids I made myself :) I actually have a full video on it :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5O1kpebmsqLo6Msi=HR9nF0U-DPSP3NoF

[@rqn2274]

Hi Jan, I've been doing the chop and extend on my syngoniums. Both of them stopped growing after the chop. They have great thick air roots in the pole however for some reason that is not enough. Perhaps they did not develop the normal roots out of those in the pole? Hard to say but no luck with those.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Hey :) were the roots in the pole proper water roots (i.e. do you water the pole?) or were they just anchoring roots? How long has it been? You still need to wait a little bit for the plant to recover from the shock but it's much shorter than if you'd cut it without a pole :) I have done chop & extends with syngoniums before and they didn't mind it at all. Also checking if you might have changed their conditions post chop? Conditions will always set the growth potential :)

[@carryn87]

Thanks Jan!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks for watching :)

[@carryn87]

@@sydneyplantguy Always ☺Your videos are one of the highlights of my week!

[@zinebzehar2677]

I have this plant and I see that this plant doesn't like heat and strong sun. Despite that, it's a sensible plant not easy. In Paris, it's the summer and the leaves begin to be little yellow. Why? I don't know

[@sydneyplantguy]

It’s a high altitude cloud forest philon- so cooler temps & high humidity for sure !

[@emilygonzalez8005]

Hello from Texas. I have a question. You've inspired to put my monstera adansonii on a pole BUT the leaves seem to be getting smaller and not bigger. I've done everything correct and its getting taller but the leaves legit get smaller. :c it is at 3 feet rn

[@sydneyplantguy]

Most likely enough light ! Conditions set the potential, care can only realise the potential :)

[@mnj640]

Maybe some fresh medium in the pot before you cut it and see what happens? Just a thought

[@andreamwolf]

Hi Jan, you showed a screenshot of environmental conditions. What device do you use?

[@sydneyplantguy]

Govee humidity reader from amazon :)

[@andreamwolf]

@@sydneyplantguy thanks!!!

[@torquess454]

Hiya buds! It’s Nicki from BC Canada, I just sent an email about my Adensonii chop and extend, Ive watched every chop and extend vid and was hoping for some advice about the particulars of mine, 4 vines on one 6 foot pole, (plastic d backed) not all 4 are rooted all the way up, but all are rooted in spots, my mistake for not supervising where the nodes grew, one of the 4 vines has reached the top. Now, her leaves have quadrupled, should I remove one whole vine to make room for the others when they get big? It’s my first chop and extend I started the pole thanks to watching your vids last year, now, ITS TIME… dun dun dunnnn 😂 I was also wondering if I should cut my pole into 3 pieces, the pot would be given away, but putting the second 2 poles side by side making it wider… then continue to extend them, decisions decisions! Whatcha think? Love the haircut and the way you positioned your camera this time makes you look way over 6 foot tall now lol noice!

[@torquess454]

I see you add your pole extension on with dry moss, not worried you’ll get water everywhere after you install it and put your water bottle up there? I prefer pre-moistening it myself, then adding it on, I also prefer the cup method, I don’t like tipping the bottle and getting water down my walls lol the cup works great and it’s already there when you need it, just fill the cup while walking by when needed. I have recently heard that cutting off the inflos doesn’t necessarily give you more leaves, that it’s the hormonal cycle the plant needs to go through, could’ve been just for alocasias though,

[@sydneyplantguy]

Makes it much easier to install :) not worried about water at all! I mean i hose it all down with water anyway :)

[@torquess454]

@@sydneyplantguyright gotcha! I didn’t have an “outside” to do that in until recently, so that’s why I pre-moistened them inside.

[@hedgewitch59]

Yours & mine both. I'm having another go with 3 and a longer moss pole. Maybe I'll keep replanting babies as the lower leaves die back.

[@sydneyplantguy]

Third time's the charm :) happy growing !

[@Eldeirdro]

Whta is inflow?

[@sydneyplantguy]

Inflorescence

[@Yeaaaah_z]

Love the video! Personal question- are you part German? I feel like I hear another accent outside of Australian. I’m so curious 👀 ☺️ Again thank you for sharing so much your hobby with us ❤

[@sydneyplantguy]

Thanks :) yes, born & raised in Germany :)

[@Yeaaaah_z]

@@sydneyplantguy that’s great! I plan to visit one day. Thank you for answering. I’ll see you in the next video!

[@saikokoi8689]

chop and extend can lead to the loss of root mass. Less root mass.. smaller leaves. Larger root mass.. BIGGER LEAVES!

[@sydneyplantguy]

Yes :)

[@amandak4695]

💚🌿

[@vickiswanton5489]

At the first jump forward to the future, I thought you had a snake loose around your legs! 😮😂

[@sydneyplantguy]

:D

[@Digitalhunny]

Um, when did you get a snake? Why do you allow it to freely roam your house?? 😮 You recorded & posted it look! @ 0:34, you're a _crazy man!_ 😂😂😂😂

[@sydneyplantguy]

😂😂🐈🐈

[@Digitalhunny]

@@sydneyplantguy Big ol'furry snake, I say! 🤣💕

[@margyonemitsuyonemitsu3959]

❤😊

[@ShayyButter]

"one of the ugliest leaves Ive ever seen" 🤣🤣🤣

[@ellencnixon]

💜💜

[@sarahhajarbalqis]

I truly enjoyed that philosophy of failing :)

[@richardlawton1023]

Need to replace the old moss. Probably to acidic.

[@sydneyplantguy]

I have poles that are over 3 years old and no issues! When the plant started declining the pole was less than a couple months old so doubt that would be the issue :/

[@mxmaclea]

I have an uneducated theory that older mother plants that have been through multiple chop and extends become struggle plants just based on a few videos I've seen of older mature plants that have gone through this. I'm pretty new to plants though so I don't have personal experience with this. Has anyone else experienced or noticed this?

[@sydneyplantguy]

I do think plants reach ‘a peak’ and then slowly decline… but also very uneducated theory from my side :P

[@tubegoob1]

😽💚🌱🌿

[@virginiamartinez391]

😻🌱😻🌱😻✌🏼☺️

[@BreatheAirToBeBetter]

First again

[@sydneyplantguy]

You're on it :)

[@Gabuyuka-channel]

I want you to support Japanese.

[@Ksnamaste]

Everything is ugly😂

[@KhalisKhayn]

[@denisa1-k9v]

[@djcookgaming466]

Hey, if a plant gives you to much problems, you gotta give it the boot, it will be happier in the garbage anyway!!!! lol 😂

[@sydneyplantguy]

With any other plant I’d agree, but verrus are so pretty 🥹🥹🥹