Mystery diseased houseplant needs serious help

This image is of the sorry houseplant my coworker owns. The plastic ID pick in the soil just says "tropical plant," and we don't know what kind it is. It has fine webbing throughout with tiny white particles and super tiny black particles, but no observable insects. Its mature leaves have a dusty-looking coating that doesn't wash off, and lots of them are dried up and dead on the edges.

It seems to have had a growth spurt recently and put out tons of spikey new leaves, but they never opened and growth halted. Lastly, it is really gangly and unattractive, but we don't know how much to cut it back. For all you houseplant experts: if this was your plant, what would you do? We need a plan of action!!

Thank you so much!
Heather

It's being over-watered, and/or there is a high level of soluble salts in the soil, and it's not getting nearly enough light.

I would develop a plan to thoroughly flush the soil immediately, Fertilize with a half-strength dose of a popular 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizer, get the planting into a brighter and warm spot, keep my watering properly under control, and repot into a fast-draining and well-aerated soil in June. After the plant has regained some vitality and has some stored energy reserves, I'd cut it back hard.

If you would like elaboration on any part of the suggestion, just ask - I'll be happy to explain.

Al

Thanks Al. We have taken immediate action and moved the plant to the windowsill. We're pretty sure it isn't over-watered since it gets neglected for weeks at a time, so perhaps it's the salts in the soil?

I do have a few questions if you'd be so kind:

How do you recommend doing a soil flushing? Do you mean putting it outside and pouring water through it and letting it drain?

For repotting, would you rinse off the roots and place in all new dirt, or just set the whole thing in a bigger pot with new dirt in it?

And lastly when it's healthy enough to prune, how much of the plant would you leave and how much would you remove?

Looks like an Aglaonema. The tips can take root, as well as leafless sections of stem. One or more new tips should emerge from the severed stumps. About a dozen years ago, the plant below looked just like that one, but with less stems. It's been through a lot, but this is the latest incarnation of it.

To flush the soil, pour room temp water at least = to the volume of the pot the plant is in through the soil 5-10 times or more. Let me know if you have reservations because you fear the soil remaining wet for to long after you flush the soil. I'll offer tips on how to get the excess water to drain.

I don't pot up - I repot - they're different. Repotting includes removing all or almost all of the soil, root pruning, and replanting the plant in a fresh soil ..... and hopefully it will be a soil that is well-aerated and drains freely.

After the plant regains some strength, I'd cut those long stems back to just a couple of inches long, measured from the soil surface. They'll back-bud and it will be nearly as though you bought a new plant. You can air layer off the tops, or treat them like cuttings, if you like.

Al

Thank you, Purpleinopp, for the plant ID, and thanks for the additional info, Al. We'll give it a try, and hopefully we can reform Frankenplant into an upstanding office plant.

Well said, as expected, (and why I didn't address those questions, Newyellow.)

Forgot to mention, at the left edge of my pic, you can see a stump of a leafless section that developed roots and a new top coming from the right side of it, at the soil level. (Ignore the pecan leaves I never removed after they blew into the pot. It's not a good idea to leave those there, truly a case of "do as I say, not as I do.")

Hope you are as excited about the potential for improvement as I am, would LOVE to get to play with this! The healthy leaves are so pretty, and the thick stems would make incredible already-large plants. It looks like there's enough mass there to make at least 2 more full-looking pots, to keep or share with someone else, or 5-6 pots with one great plant each.

I hope so too, we were typing at the same time (and I was walking around making more coffee...)

And, btw, the only thing preventing that plant from looking spectacular is the brown leaf edges, from root issues. That's a perfectly respectable form for an old, gnarly Aglaonema. If it had been in more sun, its' appearance would be different, but that's a very common look because the plant will grow anyway... and why these are great low-light and pass-along plants. Better than having a spot with no plant at all.

Have a blast!

...Fine webbing, black specks, white specks, all over dusty look...

There sure might be more than one problem going on. These are all symptoms of Spider Mites.

The browning edge of the leaf is not typical of spider mite.

Good point, Diana. A shower would probably be good for both the dusty leaves, and to get rid of mites, if that's what the webbing is from. Could just be a little "regular" spider.

The browning edges are likely because the roots are unable to do their job well from being squished so tightly in the pot.

Any updates to offer, Newyellow?