# Episcia cupreata leaves turning brown



## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

Hi. I have an Episcia cupreataplant that I purchased, that in general is doing pretty well. I keep it in the foreground, and my frogs love it, and I love it. Lately though, the leaves on part of the plant are turning brown, and then sort of melting over time. Any ideas on what might be causing this? I thought perhaps standing water, but I've increased the ventilation in that area of the viv to fix that, and it's still occurring. Most of the runners are ok.

I've been clipping the leaves as I see them turn brown, but I left these so I'd have some pictures. 

I really love this plant, so I appreciate any suggestions for saving it.


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## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

Well, I've clipped all the leaves in the middle part, hoping to stop the spread, in case it's some kind of fungus. The rest of it seems healthy still, luckily.


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## dirtmonkey (Feb 10, 2007)

How long have you had it where it is now? A lot of the Episcias go through an adaptation phase, losing older leaves faster as the new ones change to new conditions. 
That can happen from about any change in temperature, humidity, or light, at almost any time, even if you haven't actually moved it. 
Your plant looks healthy to me, and once they get going they can go fast. I'd expect it to start taking over there before long.

edit: The sections on the newest roots are going to be the vigorous ones. Older roots (like the center part) sometimes never recover. Episcias (and many other gesneriads) are actually easier to establish from unrooted cuttings than transplanting because of that.


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## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

The leaves in the center of the plant are basically all dead now. That was the oldest part. 

It's been there for a few months. It's been hot lately, so maybe that's what started it dying off.

Thanks for the advice. I was afraid it was a fungus or something.


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

These kinds of plants will "walk" and move in the vivarium. It's fairly typical for them to do what yours is doing.

Episcia cupreata have new roots always emerging from their stem base nodules. When the top part of the plant grows and gets heavy enough to lay on the surface, these nodule roots will attach to the substrate and eventually become the new main source of water and nutrients for the plant. When the new plant area is established well enough, the old part can die off, as it sounds like yours is doing. Out with the old and in with the new. At least your new plant looks healthy and is doing great!


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## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

SirGunther said:


> The leaves in the center of the plant are basically all dead now. That was the oldest part.
> 
> It's been there for a few months. It's been hot lately, so maybe that's what started it dying off.
> 
> Thanks for the advice. I was afraid it was a fungus or something.


Episcia is one genus that is not only heat tolerant, it is heat requiring. Meaning--unless you live in Arizona--they like warm temps. Think South Florida (yes, that is actually warmer than preferred by most PDF species).


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## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

Just as a follow up, I changed the setup of my mister nozzles to reduce the amount of water sprayed onto the plant and increased the ventilation. Now the leaves dry out quickly after misting, and it's doing much better. It appears that standing water on the leaves will quickly cause the leaves to rot.

Edit: Thanks to all who replied with information. I appreciate it.


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Glad to hear that it's doing better for you now!


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