I rescued a mature Phil Selloum, but the trunk is getting rotten and smelly and the 1 air root is dried and I am worried that soon the whole thing will die. It is still very healthy looking on top, still sprouting new leaves, but the bottom half of the trunk is mushy and shriveling. Can I cut off the shriveled part and regrow a mature root structure? Will one air root keep this guy alive? I will try to post some photos later. Please help! Thanks,
Perhaps it would be best to try to duplicate what happens in nature. Given the above perhaps a modified form of air layering can be used. How about this? Cut off the rotting section; wrap a number of nodes at the bottom with sphagnum moss (to retain moisture); mist them well; wrap the end of the cutting with a large clear plastic bag (?from a dry cleaner?); mist the inside of the bag; seal the bag at both ends, expose it to bright light, then wait for roots to develop. Make sure to not over-expose the cutting to very bright light such that high temperatures develop inside the bag. Also, if the intent is to grow an upright plant, then perhaps prop up the bagged cutting so that roots will grow vertically downwards. Pot up once the lowest node has rooted, moving the sealed bottom end up so that roots higher up continue to develop, then plant them once they've reached the soil. More information on this plant: Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Endl, Philodendron bipinnatifidum does climb trees, Philodendron selloum, Exotic Rainforest rare tropical plants
Don't forget to check the moss regularly, misting as necessary to maintain moisture level. Good luck. Please report back on how it turns out.
Sadly, it did not work for me. I kept it on the window sill in the sun with the bag/moss regularly moist. I think it had suffered too much trauma already.
I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps it would have been better to not have given it so much light; after all the cutting would have dropped to the forest floor in nature where it would receive filtered light.