Hey everyone! I need help with my philodendron xanadu being top heavy and very unstable. It refuses to produce air roots to support itself. Is there a way to force the plant to produce air roots?? Plz help!

I have never seen one do that. It looks old. It also looks to be in an extremely small container. Did you do anything to discourage roots from growing down in the past, like start cutting them off? Or only cut them off after they began to die off?

If it were my plant I would probably repot it into a deeper container and bury the trunk some to encourage it to produce new roots. Also, what do you feed it? Perhaps it is not getting the nutritional support it needs to form roots. These are mine, in the ground, they are elderly, were all growing together in a small clump and I decided to separate them

It has gone through a rough repotting, it has recovered from it and just put up 4 leaves. I only cut browning or dead roots. I feed it with a palm fertilizer, it seems to be responding well to it. The roots have not gone through the drainage holes yet and seems to be a lot of space still left in the pot.

To my eyes, the bucket that your Thaumatophyllum xanadu (formerly classified Philodendron) is planted in, appears a bit small for the size of the plant but that may be the camera angle or my perception. I'd be a concerned as to why all of the adventitious roots are dying but I don't know what the cause may be, whether it's a soil issue, fertilizer issue, something leaching from the plastic?

I've had a T. xanadu since 2006 or 2007 and it's never been fertilized but I have to admit, I don't fuss over any of my plants. I'm a neglectful caretaker most of the time and I've always said that to survive under my care, a plant has to thrive on neglect. I find xanadu to be a fairly hardy plant; mine has suffered abuse from under watering as well as sun damage from being left out in the sun too long. The growth was greatly stunted for quite some time, likely because it stayed in a really small pot for many years but since it was repotted two years ago it seems much happier and has put on growth. My plant doesn't exactly have an upright growth habit, it's more of a sprawling manner and the adventitious/aerial roots shoot out of the stems and eventually find their way to the soil.

There are air root buds forming but not growing. Maybe its a humidity issue? I have it in a 1 gallon container, i will try to repot it into a 3 gallon to see how it does. I will keep you updated!

Lin, do you have yours in a pot?

I have the Golden Xanadu. It produces tons of air roots but only during the humid summer months. I think your plant needs to be misted more to encourage air roots.



Can't seem to find a more current picture. It is a lot bigger now.

Yes, I went out and measured the pot, it's 20 inches across the top and 18 inches tall. My plant has been in this pot for at least 5 years and it stays outdoors year round. Our property is heavily shaded with many trees and it sat in dense shade beneath trees in the yard for about 4 years before I moved it to the pool deck. It doesn't get any direct sun but at least it receives much brighter light now. The sprawling/sideways growth habit is likely due to it reaching for more light when it was out in the yard. I just dragged it out of the flower bed by the pool and took a couple of photos so that you can see the pot and the plants growth habit:

John, I notice you are in zone 10b Florida; does your plant stay indoors year round?

plantladylin said:John, I notice you are in zone 10b Florida; does your plant stay indoors year round?

no, I leave it out year-round

Stush2019 said:I have the Golden Xanadu. It produces tons of air roots but only during the humid summer months. I think your plant needs to be misted more to encourage air roots.



Can't seem to find a more current picture. It is a lot bigger now.

sure, i'll try to do that more often

plantladylin said:Yes, I went out and measured the pot, it's 20 inches across the top and 18 inches tall. My plant has been in this pot for at least 5 years and it stays outdoors year round. Our property is heavily shaded with many trees and it sat in dense shade beneath trees in the yard for about 4 years before I moved it to the pool deck. It doesn't get any direct sun but at least it receives much brighter light now. The sprawling/sideways growth habit is likely due to it reaching for more light when it was out in the yard. I just dragged it out of the flower bed by the pool and took a couple of photos so that you can see the pot and the plants growth habit:

thanks!!

Lin, have you had your pot tip over? It seems heavy on one side.

No, it's never tipped over or even blown over in high winds but it's in a corner of the pool deck with other potted plants.

plantladylin said:No, it's never tipped over or even blown over in high winds but it's in a corner of the pool deck with other potted plants.

Wow!

Here is the top view

John, Using chicken wire or mesh could you wrap peat moss around the stem and use the wire to hold in place? Kept on the moist side it has to form air roots in the moss then after a few months, remove the mesh and moss.

You mean sphagnum moss?

Us old timers just knew it as peat moss. Pretty much anything that can hold moisture for a month or two. Sphagnum moss has anti fungus built into it.