I have a large porcelain flower vine that frames a window about 4x6 ft. It has a SE exposure. Some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. There are shiny spots on the back of these leaves. The large vein on the underside has turned brown and is softer than the rest of the leaf. It looks like a disease?
Please help. I love my plant. Thanks.
Porcelain vine leaves yellowing
It sounds like it might be rot. Is it getting mushy? Have you maybe overwatered? If the plant is that big, you must have had it for a long long time. Have you done anything differently lately? If it starts to go downhill fast, you may want to take a bunch of cuttings from any healthy ends just in case you are loosing it.
Marcy
Arden...can you take any pictures?... what are the growing conditions? How often do you water? Does the rest of the leaf feel "crisp" and "turgid"(is the word that comes to mind)? Are all of these symptoms on one leaf? one vine? random throughout the plant? Have you had any major change as in weather/sun/heat/drafts?...
Inquiring minds want to know....
It could be different things and here are perhaps the frequent ones :
- either over watering or under watering ; how often do you water? check the plate under the pot to see if the pot and plant arent sitting in water. I don't think its underwatering, since you've had it for a long time already and you know how to care for it. But if the plant has overgrown the pot, my guess is that the roots dry way faster and you'll have to water more
- underfertilization
- a disease as you say. In this case the contaminated leaves turn yellow and fall off. It's a sacrifice the plant makes, prefers to get rid of several leaves than get the disease to all parts. Can you take a look at the green leaves and see if the vein is doing the same thing?
Naz
Dear Marcy, Alohahoya and Nasouk,
Thanks for your thoughts and advice.
I've tried to send pictures, but can't get them to send (perhaps in the wrong format? I have them in a Word file.)
The dark spot starts on the main vein on the back side of the green leaf, then the leaf gradually turns yellow, and the dark part get soft. The rest of the leaf is turgid. The symptoms are random throughout the vine, but there are more bad leaves toward the bottom.
Is is fall here in DC, so possibly it is getting less sun than in summer when it grew very fast. I haven't fertilized it in a while. I water when the soil gets dry, and now I am withholding water for a longer time. I will transfer the vines to larger pots.
Any further thoughts from any of you will be welcome.
ArdenS
What hoya is it? Often the Eriostemmas will 'act out'. Were you over watering in the summer?...I would give it some fertilizer in a weak strength. My gut reaction is to always check the roots if it gets worse and then if not a root problem I spray with Tinactin aerosol (anti fungus)... But that's just me and what I do AFTER I am sure it it not a watering problem. Is the stem at the soil level healthy?...can you squeeze it and it doesn't give?
Looks like a fungal rot. As the symtoms are "random" , and the vine long, I would suggest you to get a good systemic. Probably at some point it got a bit chilly and there was too much water sitting in/on the plant. As you have many yellow leaves toward the bottom (I'm suspecting root and stem rot) , try to get some cuttings from the top, just in case.
Also ,( this is at teh experimental stage but..) there's a conversation about adding hydrogen peroxide to root rotted plants (hydrogen peroxide is a naturally occuring substance in plants that helps combat disease). If you want more detail you're welcome to e-mail me.
Naz