The philodendron Mayoi plant is an excellent plant for beginners. It is easy to care for and has strong stems and a strong immune system.
With some care hacks, you can grow a healthy Mayoi Philodendron in plant pots.
Bright light, Moderate fertilizing, Controlled watering applications, and regular inspection are the secret to success. Neem oil is recommended to prevent pest infestations and fungal diseases.
Below is the complete care and troubleshooting guide for Mayoi.
What is Philodendron Mayoi Plant?
Philodendron Mayoi is a close relative of Philodendron Xanadu. Mayoi is a moderate-growing climber plant.
The young mayoi plants grow 8 to 10 inches long leaves. Whereas the mature mayoi plant grows 14 to 21 inches long leaves.
The stems are green in color and produce air roots only when there is sufficient humidity for them.
The normal height of this plant is 3 to 4 feet. But you can encourage it to grow a little extra long by using a moss pole.
My philodendron mayoi plant is 4.3 feet long and I am using a bamboo pole to support its structure.
Light energy also plays an important role when it comes to the growth and size of the plant.
It also produces flowers but unfortunately only when grown in jungles. Indoor growing mayoi philodendrons never grow flowers.
Moreover, its flowers are not very beautiful.
If you are looking for flowering plants there are many easy-to-grow species available.
You can Grow:
How to Grow and Care for Philodendron Mayoi?
Pay close attention to the below part and make notes of important tips. This will make it easy for you to remember important points and care hacks.
Philodendron Mayoi Light Needs
The interesting part is P. Mayoi’s light needs changes as it matures.
In the initial stage of growth, it needs low to medium light and extra bright light as it gets matured.
You can grow it outdoors in zones 9 to 11 without worrying about light and humidity.
But in other zones, the sunlight is highly intense and can burn its leaves.
Therefore, to grow it safely always place the plant in indirect bright light. But if it is necessary, you can expose it to direct sunlight in the morning and evening.
2 hours of exposure in the morning and evening is enough to deal with low light problems.
An east-facing window is the best place to grow it. If there is no sunny window at your place.
Then you can place it in a bright place. Where your plant can easily absorb bright light for 8 to 9 hours.
Don’t forget to rotate the pot to evenly distribute light and encourage even growth of all sides of plants.
Potting Soil
Do not try to make potting soil at home by mixing different ingredients just for growing 1 or 2 plants. It is a costly idea and you cannot use the same soil for different species of plants.
I prefer Miracle-Gro’s general potting mix. This is a ready-to-use formula that has everything that a philodendron plant needs to grow healthy.
The good news is you can use the same soil to grow Alocasia plants, Monsteras, and Orchids.
This way you are not wasting your money on collecting different ingredients. In fact, you are buying a soil formula that is perfect for growing multiple species of plants.
You can also add it into the pots of already growing plants to improve drainage.
Note: Do not order potting soil online to avoid receiving contaminated soil. It is best to buy it from the local garden store. Where you can open the bag and check the soil and return it if it is infected with pests.
Benefits of Using Miracle-Gro Potting Soil:
It has perlite, bark, peat moss, nitrogen, potash, etc. All these ingredients are costly and but you can get them at a low cost from the miracle gro.
Excellent drainage
Lightweight soil means good room for the root ball to grow.
Helps in blooming
Key nutrients
Hold a sufficient amount of moisture without being wet.
Balanced pH
Inexpensive
I am using it for 7 years.
Watering Philodendron Mayoi
Firstly, use filtered water for watering P. Mayoi. It is easy for the root to absorb from the potting soil.
Moreover, filtered water does not contain unwanted chemicals like chlorine and fluorides.
Next, you should check the plant soil before watering it. There is no hard rule for watering plants. You have to wait until the top 2 inches of soil become dry.
This is the best way to prevent overwatering plants.
Be careful while watering your plant and make sure you do not wet its leaves. Wet leaves increase the chances of bacterial leaf disease.
Water it well because water pushes oxygen into the soil. This way the roots get enough amount of fresh air.
This keeps roots healthy and reduces the chances of root rot.
In the summer season, you need to water more than in the winter season. The high temperature increases respiration in plants.
This directly affects the rate of transpiration and we all know plants use lots of water for both these processes.
Ideal Temperature for Philodendron Mayoi Plants
Always keep the room temperature above 50 degrees F and below 85 degrees F for Mayoi Philodendrons.
Below 50 F is too cold and the plant starts losing warmth. This results in shrunken leaves and stressed plants.
By reducing the size of its leaves, it tries to maintain its internal temperature.
Do not place it near heat vents to give it warmth. Just remember this can kill your plant.
Move it to a warm place and put a warm cloth under the pot.
In the winter season, I change the location of my plants. I move them from large windows and doorways. Use grow lights to full fill their light requirements.
I have more than 65 plants growing in plant pots.
Humidity Requirement of Mayoi Philodendron
Above 65% is recommended to keep it thriving like crazy. But this is too high for humans and is not possible to maintain throughout the year.
The good news is this plant can grow in moderate humidity. Keep it above 45% and take care of light, watering, and fertilizing.
You will never face problems with humidity levels.
In my experience to increase general home humidity, a humidifier is the best solution.
But if you only want a quick solution for your plants. Then buy a plant humidifier from amazon. These humidifiers are less expensive and designed for plants.
You can also use a spray bottle to mist water on your plants. This technique is useful when there is a slight drop in humidity levels. Not more than 5 %.
Fertilizing Philodendron Mayoi
It is a foliage plant and produces green color leaves means there is no variegation. This clears that it needs a supplement that is high in nitrogen.
You can use any general-purpose houseplant fertilizer that is designed for foliage plants. Do not buy flowering plant fertilizers.
They are expensive and less useful in this case.
Once you buy the fertilizer carefully read all the instructions and dilute the solution accordingly. Every brand has its own formula.
Some brands make highly concentrated nutrient solutions while some are ready to use and do not dilution.
Therefore, reading instructions is important before using them.
Use filtered water only and mix a nutrient solution in the water that you are going to use for watering your plant.
Fertilize your plant once a month and you are done with it. Stop feeding it in the winter season to prevent overfeeding problems.
Let it take some rest in winter.
Pruning
Mayoi philodendron is a moderate-growing plant and does not need frequent pruning. It would be best if you pruned it occasionally to keep it in good shape.
Trim the yellow and brown leaves to keep your plant thriving.
It’s up to you, you like to use a knife or shears. But the mandatory thing is sterilizing the tools before and after using them.
This type of pruning is called maintenance pruning
Repotting
This palm-like philodendron plant does not need frequent repotting. It takes 2 years to grow a large size root ball.
Once you see roots are visible over the top surface of the soil. This means it is the right time to repotting it.
Use a large size pot and fresh potting mix.
Discard the old soil or you can mix it in your outdoor garden soil. Wash the old pot and store it for future use.
Toxicity
Toxins are in the veins of its leaves. Philodendron Mayoi foliage contains toxic called crystals of calcium oxalate.
These crystals are toxic if ingested. This makes it toxic to humans and animals.
Some of the warning signs are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, swollen lips, etc.
Propagating Philodendron Mayoi
We have two most successful methods of Mayoi propagation. One is a famous stem-cutting technique and the second is Air layering.
How to Air Layer your Mayoi Plant?
- This method of propagation is best for matured mayois philodendrons.
- Choose a healthy node with shining and healthy aerial roots.
- Grab some moist moss that you have, find the node that you want to propagate, and get it very close to the moss pole.
- Wrap the node, sphagnum moss, and pole together.
- Now use clean plastic wrap paper and wrap it around the node and moss.
- Do not seal the top and bottom of the wrapping paper.
- Use a spray bottle to mist water from the top to keep the moss moist.
- You will see new roots in 15 to 20 days.
- Remove the plastic cover and gently remove sphagnum moss without damaging the roots.
- No need to remove the moss completely.
- Cut the stem below the new roots and plant in the pot using potting soil.
Stem Cutting Process:
- Choose a healthy stem with one or more leaves and with a healthy node.
- Cut under the leaf node and dip it in the rooting hormone.
- Take a plant pot and add some potting mix to it.
- Plant the stem cutting and spray water to keep the soil moist.
- Place it in indirect bright light in high humidity.
- You can wrap the pot with a plastic bag to increase humidity
- Within 2 to 3 weeks, it will develop new roots.
Troubleshooting
Pest Infestations
Scales, Aphids, and Mealybugs are the three types of insects that are found on mayoi Philodendrons. These are sap suckers and drink all the glucose made by the plant.
Your plant goes out of energy and becomes weak and droopy.
Pests also make tiny holes in the leaves and lay their eggs. These holes develop into dark spots on the leaves.
The larvae slowly eat up the entire leaf and your plant eventually dies.
Once you see the pests on your plant, the affordable solution is to use rubbing alcohol and wipe them manually.
If this is time-consuming for you then use insecticidal soap and rinse your plant.
Do not use commercial pest-killing chemicals on houseplants. They are very strong and can burn your plant in minutes.
Root Rot
Overwatering is the main cause of root rot. Yellow leaves are the first and early warning signs. Root rot is a fungal disease that decays the philodendron roots.
Learn the right watering technique to prevent root rot in philodendrons.
But in case your plant leaves are turning yellow. Immediately smell the potting soil if it smells like rotten eggs.
Then you need to fix the root rot right away.
To fix root rot unpot your plant and cut the damaged roots.
Then discard the soil and wash the pot with soap and warm water.
Use fresh soil and re-plant your plant in the washed pot after cutting the infected roots.
Brown Crispy Leaves
P. Mayoi leaves turning crispy brown means low humidity or underwatering. Plants use water to make their food and for respiration.
They also absorb a good amount of moisture from the air like they absorb light.
When you do not give sufficient water to growing plants. They start using moisture stored in leaves for respiration.
This results in brown and crispy leaves. But at first, these leaves turn yellow and develop brown tips.
The only solution is to give enough water to your thirsty plant. It will heal itself in 5 to 7 days.
Dark Spots on Leaves
This means your philodendron leaves are infected with leaf bacterial disease. At first, you see tiny dark spots.
Then slowly these spots turn into large dots.
The fungal bacteria present on leaves start eating them. The solution is copper fungicides. Choose any well-known copper-based fungicide for indoor plants.
Use it as per the instructions and get rid of this disease.
Philodendron Mayoi Rusting Leaves
It is not a common problem with mayoi plant. But unhygienic growing conditions and wet leaves increase the chances of rusty leaves.
It looks like actual rust on plant leaves. But in reality, it is the fungus bacteria.
The solution is using fungicides.
Conclusion
Give it proper light and water to grow perfectly fine. Occasional fertilizing is a must to keep it thriving for years.
For more information on philodendron plants see our philodendrons section.
