Please help determine what is wrong with my monstera plant: tips of the leaves have been drying out. We keep the plant on a window ledge on the north-eastern side, not much sun. There are radiators nearby. May be the air is too dry? Or vice versa, too much water? Or a root disease? Thank you.
With its spade-shaped leaves looks like it may instead be a philodendron to me - one like P. selloum (P. bipinnatifidum) for instance. Anyway, you may be right about the radiator. Try doing something to increase the humidity around the plant, maybe even moving it to a different spot.
Can you post a full photo of the leaf along with a photo of the base of the plant? This does not appear to be a Monstera species. Heat from a raditor would be the most likely cause of damage. Unless the plant is in very soggy soil it is very difficult to over water these plants.
Thank you all for the comments. I agree that this is not a monstera, but a philodendron. Another possibility, other than the radiator, is the exposure to cold air from the open window. Will the philodendron be OK away from the window, in a darker corner?
There are several species of Philodendron that exhibit leaf blades with this shape. I'm sure Ed was asking because of a recent discussion he and I had along with other serious collectors. Some are vines and others are members of Philodendron section Meconostigma which includes the "tree Philodendron" species. As for light, all Philodendron species, especially the large leaf species, seek bright light. That is why they climb in order to reach a stronger light source. You can force them to grow in dim light but eventually the plant will suffer. In general, these species do not appreciate cold drafts nor excess heat, both of which can cause a problem similar to what you are experiencing. I would suggest you try to give the plant as bright light as possible and make sure the soil remains damp, never dry. A dilute liquid fertilizer every few weeks will also help. But without a photo of the full leaf blade and the base of the plant I can't give you a good guess at the species.
This is definitely a Philodendron and a member of section Meconostigma. Very likely Philodendron bipinnatifidum. I can tell the section by looking at the base of the plant. All members of section Meconostigma have a base that looks like this. However, there are at least three or four other species that are similar and the only way to tell them apart with any certainty is to wait until the plant produces an inflorescence. I just received today a specimen of Philodendron 'Evansii' which is a natural hybrid with Philodendron bipinnatifidum and P. speciosum as the suspected parents. The leaf is very similar but slightly more "arrow" shaped. Philodendron 'Evansii' was at one time thought to be a species until one of Brazil's top botanists did some serious work and figured out it was a naturally created hybrid.
