My Epiphyllums have rust colored spots on the leaves which grow and eventually eat through them, rotting the plant I have tried less water more water, less sun more sun, fungicides but nothing has helped. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Agree with joclyn! Indeed, in the area of plant-ailment diagnosis, a picture IS worth a thousand words. Hmm. Maybe you have unwanted insect visitors.
What you are showing is known as a cladode rather than a leaf. It is a flattened stem. The stem is correctly the central axis of the plant and not the support for any single leaf. Can you tell us how you grow the plant? They generally don't like dry conditions but need a very fast draining soil mixture which includes lots of sand since they normally grow as epiphytes (epi-FITS) on the branch of a rain forest tree. Most live on the fringes of a tropical rain forest and not in the wettest portions but still need high humidity and moderately bright light to prosper. This link will give you additional info but knowing the way you grow the plant would help to solve the problem. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Epiphyllum phyllanthus subsp. phyllanthus pc.html If this appears to be a fungus I'd try sprinkling cinnamon on all the affected portions. Cinnamon is a great anti-fungal.
I have them in pots with a mixture of potting soil, pearlite and orchid bark. It is well draining but perhaps not enough. They get bright light but not direct sunlight. It isn't very humid here but not dry either.
Your general conditions sound good. Are all the cladodes like the ones in the photo or just a few? You might want to consider adding sand to your soil mix as well as dusting any affected areas with cinnamon. Also make sure the soil at the bottom of the pot is not staying soggy. Other than that Idon't profess to be an expert in this genus, only a serious collector that talks to others that grow them well. You might try checking the website of Joseph W. Dougherty: http://www.ecology.org/ecophoto/articles/Epiphyllum.htm I've corresponded with Joseph and he is very good about giving qualified answers.
Most are like the photo but one isn't as flat, it is more of a 3 sided shape an doesn't get the rust like the flat ones do. They all have the same soil mix, water, sun and other growing conditions. I will check the site you listed. Thanks.
