Philodendron fibrosum is one of the easiest philodendrons to grow at home. Being an expensive plant, many people are scared to mess it up.
This guide was crafted to help you with precisely just this. You will find that this plant is quite straightforward to grow and propagate.
What Is Philodendron Fibrosum?
The Philodendron fibrosum king plant is a native of Colombia and Ecuador. Like most Philodendrons, it has large and broad dark-green leaves. It is easily recognizable by its super hairy petioles, which sets it apart from other members of its species.
Philodendron Fibrosum Care
The plant care for this Philodendron is quite easy, even for beginners. It needs bright indirect light, lukewarm watering when the top two inches of the soil dries out, and more than 70 percent humidity. The temperatures need to be moderate and in the range of 64 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
– Water Requirement
The watering needs of this plant are quite easy to figure out and fulfill. You will need to water it every week, once in the summer but at longer intervals in the winter.
When the soil of your fibrosum plant dries from the top two inches, then you must water this plant. Usually, in the summer, this will take about one week. It takes longer for the soil to dry from the top in winters. You will have to water it less.
That is why you should always check your soil first. We just insert our finger in the soil up to the knuckle. It should feel totally dry and not moist at all.
For those who love gadgets, a moisture meter is a godsend. Its sensory end is buried into the soil, after which it gives out a rating. Your plant is ready to receive water if the rating is below seven.
Watering philodendrons is almost an art. Don’t just take much water and simply dump it onto the soil. What you need to do is to take only a moderate volume of water. Pour it only on the soil near the stem at a moderate pace.
How much water should you give your plant? It would be best if you kept pouring water until it started to come out of the drainage hole. This is how much water this plant needed.
Whatever you do, don’t bathe the whole plant each time. This has been shown to lead to mildew and other fungal infections. Do not use very hot or cold water, only lukewarm.
– Light Requirements
Philodendrons love the brightest light they can get but never in a direct manner. On the other hand, they will tolerate low light conditions for a few weeks but not longer.
Find out which windows provide the best Philodendron light indoors. Philodendrons are extremely popular indoor plants, and one should know which windows in the house provide the best light for them. Given below is a breakdown of how each window works.
- The window this plant loves being next to is the eastern-facing one. It receives mostly indirect light all day long except for three to four hours in the early morning.
- The eastern-facing window is the second-best window when placing Philodendrons next, too. It is safe as it lets in only indirect light except for a few evening hours. Even during those few hours when direct lights come in, it is not intense enough to cause sunburn to its leaves.
- The window you need to be cautious of is the southern side facing one. It receives direct sunlight all day long, which is intense during the noon and afternoon hours. Either move your Philodendron pot three feet away from this window or cover the window using curtains all day long.
LED lights are far better for Philodendron fibrosum type of plants. They are far cheaper to buy and maintain on a long-term basis. A major plus point is that they can be placed close to the plant because they don’t heat much.
Fluorescent lights, on the other hand, are more potent when growing plants. However, they are more expensive and generate more heat. They are also heavier on the pocket as compared to LED lights.
– Soil Requirements
The soil can make or break a plant. The soil should be alkaline for philodendrons, with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 7.1. Other primary requirements for this soil are adequate drainage and rich in nutrients. Our experts always recommend that you make your soil.
For starters, take any ordinary potting mix for Philodendrons. Then make it more porous by adding balls of perlite and bark pieces. This creates air spaces and water channels, improving it a lot.
For the nutritional content, we suggest you go for moss. Both peat and sphagnum moss work equally well. Additionally, coconut coir works quite well with moss too. Cover your soil with mulch, so it also breaks down over time to deliver nutrients to the soil.
– Temperature Requirements
Your Philodendron fibrosum should be kept in the 64 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit temperature range. This shows that it thrives under moderately warm temperatures the best.
It tends to suffer when the temperature goes under 50 degrees. This can happen in the summer too, when the plant is kept indoors. That is why it is imperative that you keep it away from direct air basts from vents.
It will also suffer if the windows to the room are kept open at night time. A sudden, rapid leaf loss is the only thing that happens when a plant suffers from cold shock.
– Humidity Requirements
This Philodendron needs more than 70 percent humidity around itself. Such high humidity is important to save its leaves from drying out and crumbling. Most houses have humidity levels around 50 to 65 percent.
Check your indoor living space’s humidity levels using a hygrometer. If it falls short of 70 percent, there are ways to improve it. Misting is one option but not recommended. If not executed right, it can lead to fungal problems.
That is why we suggest opting for a pebble tray under the plant’s pot. The easiest option is to buy a humidifier and keep it in the same room as the plant. Don’t worry; most humidifiers are quite reasonable to buy and run 24/7.
– Fertilizing Requirements
Both growing and Philodendron fibrosum mature plants need regular fertilizing. This is food for the plant as it grows and produces new leaves. It’s okay to fertilize only during the growing spring and summer months. The plant is in rest mode during winters, so you can lay off on fertilizing.
If you want to use commercially made fertilizer, there are two main options. One type comes in the form of pellets. You need to bury them in the middle layers of the soil. They work their way slowly over a period of three months.
Liquid fertilizer is manufactured as a rapid-release formula. That is why it is important to decrease its concentration by mixing water. Apply it to the soil monthly.
Natural fertilizer takes a while longer to provide nutrients to the soil. However, they are free from chemicals that all commercial fertilizers contain.
If you are into composting, there is nothing better than your homemade fertilizer. You have to take only a small amount and mix it loosely within the top layers of the soil.
It is a lot safer to dilute the fertilizer and only apply it on a set schedule. Another useful tip is watering the soil before adding liquid and pellet fertilizer. This saves your roots from chemical burns and makes nutrient availability easier.
You should also deep water the plant with chemical fertilizers every second or third month. This practice flushes away all accumulated toxins from the soil. With compost, you have to care that your pile doesn’t get infected constantly.
– Pruning
Keep your plant clean and spick and span. Remove dust from the large philodendron leaves so that they can breathe properly.
When they turn brown or yellow, the old leaves are better cut off. You can then recycle them as mulch or add them to your compost pile.
If the new branches are growing in random directions, keep pruning them to keep them in shape. It might even be necessary because pruning has been shown to promote further growth.
Propagation
Propagating a plant yourself is so much fun and fulfilling. Instead of going for Philodendron fibrosum for sale, you can grow new plants yourself. Fibrosum is the easiest Philodendron to propagate and has the same success rate.
Find out how to propagate it in just five simple steps given below.
You must begin with taking an appropriate stem cutting. The first step is to get an appropriate cutting for your propagation. For the fibrosum Philodendron, even a small four to five inches long cutting is sufficient. Cut the stem of the parent plant right under a leaf node. This is so that your cutting has at least two leaf nodes.
The stem that you take the cutting from should, of course, be healthy. Your cutting gardening instruments also need to be safe and clean. We rub alcohol over our instruments and then wash it off with water. This practice increases the chances of success for your propagation by a lot.
After you have taken your perfect fibrosum cutting, it’s time to dry it; wrap it up with a piece of newspaper and store it in a dark and dry place. This place could be a cupboard or a drawer. Every day check your cutting to see if it has dried. The cut end needs to develop calluses on it. This process may take anywhere from around two to five days.
After your cutting has dried and callused, dip its cut end in rooting hormone. Rooting hormone serves to help the new plant grow from your cutting. It also serves as a protective agent against fungi and other harmful agents.
We think carrying out the initial propagation in a water-filled transparent jar is best. You can also use a plastic Tupperware container instead of a jar. The water you use should preferably be filtered to be safe.
Place your cutting inside this container and cover its top. Please keep it in an indirectly lit, bright, and warm place. Every day lift the lid so that the cutting gets oxygen for itself. Every week, drain the water out and refill the jar again. Over the next four to six weeks, you will see new roots emerging and growing from your stem cutting.
When the new baby roots have grown about two to three inches long, you can transfer them to a pot. For this, take a small pot in the beginning. Fill it with the perfect Philodendron potting mix, as discussed above.
Create a hole in the center of the pot by digging it up a bit. Then insert the stem cutting in with the roots going into the soil. If the cutting is too small initially to support itself in the soil, you can provide one yourself. Simply use any ordinary stake or go for a moss pole instead.
The cutting needs the best possible conditions, especially at the start. Take the pot to the same place you had kept the transparent jar and container. With a pot, you will also need to water the soil when it’s time. Maintaining the right humidity levels is again important. If you cover the pot with a transparent sheet, this will help with humidity.
Problems
Philodendrons become problematic only when they are not being taken care of properly. Read ahead to find out what to do if your plant suffers from yellow leaves, pests, and fungal root rot.
– Leaves Turning Yellow
It can be devastating to see this plant’s huge leaves losing their dark green colors. These leaves can turn yellow for three main reasons we have explained below. Overwatering is among the top reasons why leaves usually start turning yellow. Overwatering is when you don’t allow the soil to dry out and keep watering nonetheless.
When leaves turn yellow because of this, they will also be swollen and plump at the same time. If you touch or squeeze them, you will be able to feel their squishiness. The soil of this plant will feel properly runny and wet. Whenever you lift its pot, it will feel heavier than usual.
Underwatering can also cause the leaves to lose their green color and become yellow instead. However, it is easy to differentiate yellowing from overwatering from yellowing due to underwatering.
Underwatered yellow leaves will be dry, thin, and paper-like. Sometimes they can be so brittle that they break into pieces if you try folding them. They even start turning brown around the edges if not corrected early on.
If you are neither over nor underwatering your plant and still find your Philodendron leaves turning yellow, this could be due to magnesium deficiency. This is the most probable cause, but if you want to be sure, you can send a sample of the soil to a laboratory.
The good news is that treating a magnesium deficiency is a piece of cake. Take a gallon of water and mix a tablespoon of Epsom salt. Then water the soil slowly with this Epsom salt solution. You should be able to see a difference within a week.
– Root Rot
Root rot is a problem many first-time Philodendron plant owners face. It happens when the soil is constantly allowed to remain wet. Several fungal species might be responsible for it as they proliferate abundantly in the moist soil.
Root rot can be hard to miss for any attentive plant parent. It develops and spreads quickly from the roots to the rest of the plant. The leaves become soggy and droopy and develop rot spots over them.
Rot spots are small initially with irregular borders. They start yellow or brown and then eventually turn black. These spots then grow larger and even merge to form large portions of rot.
When these rot spots appear over the leaves and stem, you have a narrow window to take action. Otherwise, the plant will begin to die by losing leaves.
If your plant is suffering from root rot, don’t panic. We have you covered in a few simple steps.
- The first thing is to take the plant out and get rid of the soil and the pot.
- Since the plant is waterlogged at this point, lay it down on a piece of newspaper. This is so that the newspaper absorbs all the water from the plant. You might have to change it a couple of times when it becomes completely moist.
- Now, carry out a thorough inspection of your plant. All those completely black and necrosed parts need to be cut off. In any case, you cannot cut off more than one-third of the plant.
- Buy a strong enough anti-fungal spray and spray it all over your plant, including the roots.
- After the plant has dried completely, you need to repot it back. Continue spraying anti-fungal spray every week for as long as its package prescribes.
– Pests
Aphids, mealybugs, and scale bugs are Philodendrons’ most common household pests. All of these feed on the sap of your plant and live in clusters under the leaves.
You can see them crawling over your plant. They produce yellow spots on the leaves. In the long term, your plant suffers stunted growth and leaf loss.
To get rid of the pests, you need to wash these pests off from your plant first of all. Just take the pot to a sink and have water running through the plant from top to bottom.
Also, use a toothbrush to scrub your plant thoroughly, especially under the leaves. Afterward, apply pure, authentic neem oil directly on the leaves and under them every week.
FAQ
Why is my Philodendron Fibrosum getting leggy?
Philodendron Fibrosum may become leggy due to insufficient light. Consider providing brighter conditions to promote compact growth.
Will misting regularly cause root rot in my Philodendron Fibrosum?
Regular misting can increase humidity for Philodendron Fibrosum but avoid overwatering to prevent the risk of root rot.
Does Philodendron Fibrosum like plastic pots?
Philodendron Fibrosum can thrive in plastic pots as they retain moisture, but ensure proper drainage to prevent waterlogging.
Conclusion
It is about high time we summarize this fibrosum philodendron care guide as a conclusion.
- It is recommended to use only filtered water at a lukewarm temperature for this plant.
- When watering, allow the water to dry first but only from the top two inches.
- Place its pot someplace humid, warm, and bright within your house.
- We suggest you propagate this plant yourself by using stem cuttings.
There is no time to waste, dear readers. Just go online and do one for yourself. Trust us; this plant is so easy to look after and worth it.
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