Philodendron Selloum rot??

[John2468]

I recently bought a philodendron selloum 1 month ago, it came with 3 offshoots and I divided all of them and left the biggest one. I covered up the wound with paraffin wax to prevent it from releasing moisture and letting insects and diseases from getting in. After about 2 days, 2 of the lower leaves seemed to rot and broke off, both of the leaves were mushy and full of water. I kept it in shade and haven’t watered for 1 and a half weeks. The trunk is still hard and not mushy, what is wrong with my plant? Thanks!!

Edited March 27, 2021 by John2468

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 3/27/2021 at 5:04 AM, John2468 said:

I recently bought a philodendron selloum 1 month ago, it came with 3 offshoots and I divided all of them and left the biggest one. I covered up the wound with paraffin wax to prevent it from releasing moisture and letting insects and diseases from getting in. After about 2 days, 2 of the lower leaves seemed to rot and broke off, both of the leaves were mushy and full of water. I kept it in shade and haven’t watered for 1 and a half weeks. The trunk is still hard and not mushy, what is wrong with my plant? Thanks!!

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John2468, Welcome to the forum,

Sounds normal ( old leaves maturing/ shedding ) but a picture or to would help, if something else might be going on..

[John2468]

Here are the pics.

[John2468]

It turned out that it was bacterial blight. Leaves are turning into mush and falling one by one. My plant has a remainder of 5 leaves including the newest one. Is there any way I can save this plant? I was thinking about defoliating the plant and leaving one leaf on it, would this work??

[Merlyn]

I'd squirt it with regular household hydrogen peroxide, anywhere that looks rotten or blackened.  If it bubbles up you've got a fungal infection.  This is a common anti-fungal treatment on palms, squirt a little into the crown of an infected palm.  It attacks the fungus but won't affect healthy tissue.  A copper-based fungicide might help, if you get a lot of bubbles with H2O2.  I use Banrot systemic fungicide on my plants, a combo of Etradizole and Thiophanate-Methyl.  Sulfur powder could be a good choice too, though I haven't tried it on a philodendron.

[John2468]

It doesn’t show any rot or blackening, the trunk is still nice and firm, it’s a bacterial infection and different from a fungal infection. The leaves don’t rot, it just fill with water and turn into mush, and then fall off. I did some research and it says that there is no cure for this disease.