A friend of mine has a philodendron vine. Recently, she noticed the rots were beginning to show as a result of watering and compacting soil. She then top dressed the soil with some new soil and now has mold on the new soil. She hasn't watered for quite a while, so I don't think it would be from that. Any ideas?

Hi Sam! Is it MOLD-like green fuzzy stuff-or is it white? I made the mistake of confusing mold with the harmless white-stuff. It's actually salts and stuff from the stuff in the soil & the water (am i getting too technical here for ya? <img border="0" alt="[perplexed]" title="" src="graemlins/confused.gif" /> ) If it's the white stuff, you can just water thoroughly a couple of times and it should wash out. Hope this helps, and hopefully, someone who knows a little more than me will be by soon. Good luck to your friend!

Actually, I asked her the same questions. (I do know about the soluble salts...from experience) She said it was grey mold. I haven't actually seen it, so I'm not sure exactly...

Thanks anyways!

sam, if it is indeed mold, then she isn't letting the soil dry enough between waterings. if the soil was compacted and/or the plant root bound, then she probably didn't do it any favors by just top dressing it. sounds like it is time to either pot it to a bigger pot, or root prune it (something i am not fond of, but understand the need for). also, some philos put out something called air roots. that is a different ball game all together.

Thanks Jiffy!
It appears that it was the overwatering that was the problem. I noticed I had the same stuff my friend described and called her up. Thanks!