Identification: Help Identifying Indoor Plants So Save Them

I have 5 indoor plants and have been worried as to their "health" so I have decided to find out what they are in order to give them proper care.

1) One is, well was, a very large vine that my mom had gotten back in the 90's. I moved it from her house when I left home and many of the vines seemed unhealthy and just broke off when I tried to untangle all of them.

I figured out a couple of them, which I won't bother picturing (they were a Peace Lily and a Croton). I thought I had figured out one of them, but because I am unsure I decided to ask anyway.

2)The one that is a tall, green plant, used to be more full. Many of the leaves have fallen off and it doesn't look like it once did, but I hope you can still tell what it is.

3) The other I haven't been able to find on the internet, and it has been looking less healthy than it once did and I was needing to know what it is to care for it properly. Green leaves, with yellowish centers.

Thank you all in advance!

Kayla

 

Oh, and I should add about the vine, it had some quite thick vines, but they were broken when moved.

 

1. Looks to be a Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens)
2. Chamaedorea elegans (parlor palm)
3. Croton

I have plant 1 and 2, so I can tell you what I do....

The Philo should almost dry out between watering, but not ALL the way, then it gets a soaking. Indirect bright light with some dapple sunshine. Stems that break can be planted back into the pot and If you give it a hair cut and plant the cut pieces back in the pot, it would make it look more fuller.

The parlor palm gets the same kind of bright indirect light, but it's kept a little more on the moist side at all times letting the "top inch" almost dry before watering.

 

I was looking in my two Croton plant pots and saw bugs! What do I do?? I saw little tiny tiny bugs crawling around.. And also spotted a couple small, thin, worms?!

What do I do and what are they?

 

Okay.. The worms look like typical really small worms in soil.. but the bugs are very small, you can hardly seem them unless you really really look. They appear to have tiny wings and have a grayish appearance.

 

Just a guess... could they be Fungus Gnats I wonder? I've had these around before and the larvae looks like small translucent worms.

 

The worms have the coloration of earthworms, I just took them for that, but I don't have a clue.. They're very small though and thin...

 

Technically, the Philodendron is Philodendron hederaceum. The name Philodendron scandens is certainly acceptable but is a synonym of P. hederaceum.

Philodendron hederaceum has many known forms and as a result, has many scientific names. It has confused field botanists for well over 100 years. Aroid botanists such as Dr. Tom Croat at the Missouri Botanical Garden have now determined them all to be the same base species (basionym) which is Philodendron hederaceum. That confuses a lot of people but think of it like people. People have many body shapes, sizes, and skin colors, but there is only one species of human. To a botanist, the determining factor for an aroid species is the shape of the spathe and spadix (inflorescence) produced by the plant. And all 20 plus of the scientifically named plants that are now P. hederaceum produce the same spathe and spadix. Those include favorites like Philodendron miduhoi, Philodendron acrocardium, Philodendron Philodendron scandens, Philodendron micans and many other names. It takes on different forms depending on where and how it grows in the rain forest. The same vine can produce leaves with several different shapes and sizes depending on where they grow on the vine and their relative position to the ground. Many produce leaves that appear to be velvet on the upper surface, but not all.

The care advice offered is certainly good, however since this plant is a rain forest species it can tolerate a lot of water. But since the species is an epiphyte growing attached to a tree, it does not like to be in wet soggy soil. Just make sure the soil drains very quickly. And keep it away from bright, direct light.

 

Thanks so much for your help! Now I know how to adequately take care of them.

 

Also, it looks as if the palm there needs a bit of work. Is it really as root bound as it looks to be? And the soil looks knackered! From what I can see of it, you could probably pop it out, give the pot a bit of a wash and a good rinse, and put it right the way back in with some fresh soil, potting it with 1" or so of room on the top, rather than the 3" or so that you look to have now...