My monstera is dying and killing others

[AlejandraDerri]

Hi there!
I'm having a big monsters that started developing brown spots in the leaves and other leaves became yellow. I tried to water it less, with water that was filtered and left to rest for days, and the damage started to slow down but didn't stop. Now the plant look like it's not going to survive.
After that I bought a second small monsters and placed it near the big (big mistake probably). This new monstera started to develop the same symptoms: leaves that were just being born turning brown, small leaves in the bottom turning yellow. I separated them but still don't know what is the problem with them. What can I do to make them healthy?

 

[Marck]

Hello, and welcome to the Forums.

Check drainage issues. Make certain the soil, pot, and saucer are all condicive to good drainage. Drain of any water that collects in the saucer after each irrigation. Philodendron should be watered regularly, but allow time for the soil to drain and partly dry before irrigating again.

 

[Mare]

I’m by no means a specialist; however, I had a problem with a large plant (scheflera - I never know how to spell the name) that was basically doing the same thing yours is doing. I stopped watering, which didn’t help; and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Then my ficus, which was in the same room, began losing leaves by the bushel. Finally I looked under the leaves. It was a tiny, tiny little bug, which you wouldn’t see unless you knew something was there. There was one teeny little creature under every leaf - I had discovered the problem almost too late. I tried cleaning each leaf separately with alcohol and then water. It worked a little bit, but it was extremely labor intensive, and it took forever on my large plants. Some lovely person on here suggested that I use a systemic poison, which you bury in the soil every six months. That worked like magic! I had to repeat the process twice, but the insects disappeared and haven’t come back so far. The poison was very scary to use; and I’m thinking that if the bugs ever return I will throw the plants out and start over (which is hard when you have had a plant for 20 years!). But I’m getting a lot of baby leaves on both plants now. So far, so good. If your plants are not large, I would try the alcohol & water cleansing under each leaf first (but then I’m a big chicken when it comes to poison - especially if the poison will harm you if you get any on your skin). Good luck!!