Damaged Paddle plant leaves

by Katen
(Englewood FL)

Started like this

I live in FL andI recently repotted my paddle plants and changed their location.

They were previously located where they get bright light in the morning and part of the afternoon on my porch. Now they are located where there’s full sun til about 1pm.

My problem is it has been raining (like it does most afternoons in FL) the rain has come down hard at times and most all day it has been cloudy.

Most of the leaves now have a big reddish splotch on them, pretty large in size. They were only green and no red edges. That was why I moved them to were they would have more sunlight,which hasn’t happened yet.

Do the large red splotches mean the leaves are damaged? Should I remove them? I’m going to move them back where I had them as I’m afraid with our mostly rainy afternoons they are getting too much water. I have had these for 20 yrs and would have them stay green then lose them.

Comments for Damaged Paddle plant leaves

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Jul 24, 2020

Yikes!
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

You say that you're not getting much sun, but this looks like sunburn to me. Sadly, they won't recover from this - the leaves, that is.

If you cut them off, the plant will bud out from the axillary bud (the one just inside the leaf petiole) so in time it will make the plant more bushy.

As the leaves are very pale, this indicates that the plant needs more light.

If it was me, I would do some experimenting to see what kind of conditions suit the plants best. Now that you know, the conditions you've most recently moved them to is too hot.

This damage is typical if the plant is kept in a low light area, then suddenly moved into a brighter place. Ideally, you would introduce the plant slowly, in small increments, to the brighter place - ie: harden them off.

What I find interesting is that you aren't seeing the brightness - maybe you could get a light meter and see for sure how bright the sky is, even with clouds.

So for now, the leaves with the highest percentage of the damage should be cut off. Leave any that are 50% or more green, those will provide the sugars that the plant needs. I would give them a little bit of shade, especially when the light is really intense, until they acclimate to the light levels.

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