Hello dear plant-community,

I have some trouble with my Philodendron Gloriosum and I need your help. I received the plant as a stem cutting with roots 19 days ago. The leaf was already cosmetically damaged and there was a tiny yellow spot, but overall the leaves looked quite good. The plant was originally potted in soil but it was delivered in Spaghnum moss. I placed the cutting in a bucket with filtered water and I changed the water every day. I have a humidifier in my room and the humidity was always around 60 %. Two days ago I detected a lot of darker roots/ roots which looked like "thin hairs" or could be removed easily. I took the plant out of the bucket and cut off all of these roots- sadly there were only a few left. I decided to move the plant into a glass filled with perlite (I had some good results with perlite propagation in the past), because I was worried that the roots could rotten more/ I was not sure if it is good to put the whole stem in water (since glorioses are crawlers) and placed it on a heat mat. Because of the winter I also have a grow light (Sansi 36w) above my plants on the heat mat and because the cutting is so big, it was really close to the light.
Yesterday the yellow parts on the leaves were getting bigger and now I am really worried about the leave, because there is no new growth point in sight. Now I have some questions:

- Are the yellow leaves caused by the grow light or by the radical root loss?
- Is perlite a good option or should I transfer the plant into water again?
-Is there anything I could do to encourage root growth except from grow lights/heat mats?
-Could the yellow spots also be a sign of a lack of nutrients? Should I fertilize the water?
- Should I search for a new place? Currently I moved her a bit away from the light, but she is still very close (otherwise I could not place the cutting on the heat mat- I ordered another one, but it is not delivered yet).

The room is a nothfacing window- I could also move her in a room with a south facing window, but there is the humidity only around 40-50 & and I am worried that that is not enough. Nearly all of my plants are in Lechuza Pon/ Perlite and I was hoping to transfer the Gloriosum into Pon after the root system is established.

I would be very thankful if anyone has an idea/ suggestion what I could do with the plant- I am really desperate:(
Thank you sooo much!

This was basically a rooted plant when you received it. Placing it in water only caused problems. It would have been appropriate from day 1 to place the cutting in either damp sphagnum or perlite (I always use sphagnum but some people prefer perlite or LECA) and leave it be to further develop a good root system. Root pruning should only be done if roots are clearly black and rotted. That is a very large leaf to have for such a small root system. The plant has been through a lot...shipping in a box, in winter, being changed in and out of different mediums. It will suffer setback but hopefully should recover. You may, however, lose that leaf. I +++think+++ I see something that looks possibly like a new growth point on the meristem in Photos 2 and 4, that little pointy nub by the white line?

I would not handle this plant anymore. Do NOT fertilize this plant yet. I would leave it in a warm humid environment. If you do use the heat mat, make sure you are not cooking the roots you do have, and make sure the plant is far enough from the grow light it not bleach the leaf . The leaf loss is due to a combination of things...simply the taking of the cutting, the shipping process, the initial water bath, the root pruning, etc. The plant has been put through a lot. It needs to rest and recover now. I would treat it with a systemic fungicide and isolate it from the rest of your plants for a while.

Thank you so much Gina! You really helped me a lot. I'm new in the plant game and I heard that you should give the plant a rest in the water for a couple of days and that you should remove rotting roots immediately- thanks for making clear that this was a mistake. If I got it right I should leave the plant in the perlite, make sure that it isn't bleached from the grow light, keep it in a warm and humid space and just leave it alone, right? I've never worked with fungicide- could you recommend me a special kind of fungicide? Since I'm living in Germany I probably won't be able to buy the same that you have, but do you have a general recommendation? Again thanks a lot for answering my question!

If you were certain that the roots were rotten and non-functional, then you were right to remove them!! But be really discriminating and be sure a root is bad before you snip. Sometimes you gave to cut a little up and see if therein healthy tissue up to a certain point. You can leave the healthy root tissue and trim away the rest.

Here there is one systemic fungicides that a lot of Aroid people use...I don;t know if its available in Germany or not. Its called PHYTON. Another thing you can use is NON systemic but it is something that is bacteriostatic and a virucide and algaecide called PHYSAN20. You would spray this in the dilution recommended on the bottle let sit on the leave then rinse off.

Thanks again! Sadly the yellow is spreading continuously, so I probably have to accept that I'm going to loose that leaf.

1. What should I do, when the leaf is completely yellow? Should I cut it off?
2. When should I start to fertilize it? When the root system is established?
3. What are your thoughts on water propagation with gloriosums? Is this only a good method, when there are no roots at all? I heard that putting the plant into water could help to save the leaves but unfortunately I think that mine is not going to make it. But would you always use moss/perlite from the beginning or are there some cases in which water propagation is helpful?

Since today in Germany the shops are closed, I'm not able to buy a systemic fungicide, but I definitely will do that tomorrow.
Thanks again for all your help! In the posts I read that you are an expert in this field, so I'm feeling kind of honored for you answering my questions.

I grow a lot of aroids, over 150 species of Anthurium and Philodendron alone. I have been growing Glorious for 20 years. I have NEVER advocated putting plants, especially plants without roots, into water. I know some people do this. But I don;t agree with it. It frequently leads to rot. Having some sort of substrate is better. like damp moss, perlite, LECA, where there can be water in the presence also of AIR. That IMO leads to better root development that water alone and the roots are soil type roots, because they are having to seek water not thin fragile water roots.

You should not even think about fertilizer until you have rehabilitated this cutting, have it rooted, in permanent media, and it is growing well with at least 2 leaves.

Right now, the photosynthesis of the leaf is all that is giving the plant any energy. I would cut it in half. Cut off the part that is already yellow. The yellow is not going to stop, you will lose the leaf. It will take a lot of time and patience to bring this plant back

Hannah, come hang out on the aroid forum with us!

Thank you! I used the fungicide yesterday and I cut the leaf in half. I guess now I have to be patient and do my best to keep this plant alive. Again thank you very much !