Tightly curled leaves are unique to the Shangri-La Money Plant 

What is this plant? The leaves are always closed.

Mary Ann Chan

The Money Plant (Epipremnum aureum) cultivar you have is likely a mutation called Shangri-La. It is part of a series of Money Plant cultivars bred by the Terunoworld business in Japan. Due to its curled, crinkled leaves, this cultivar is also known as the Sleeping Pothos and Spinach Pothos. 

Papaya has undergone vivipary

When I cut open this papaya, I found no seed inside except for an embryo-like growth. The plant it is from was growing in a pot for months with minimal attention. As it grew, I replanted it in the ground. Is the papaya safe to eat?

Chong Toh Kuan

This phenomenon is vivipary, where a plant’s seeds or embryos germinate prematurely. It can be caused by environmental stress such as fruit development during hot and wet weather. However, the fruit is safe to eat.

Grow your papaya plants in a well-draining growing mix. Keep future plants in large pots or raised beds if their current soil can get waterlogged during the wet season.

Banana plant suffering from boron deficiency

These banana leaves are deformed. What is wrong?

Ivan Ho

From the “pleated” appearance of the new leaf, it is probably deficient in boron, a plant micronutrient.

You can feed your plant with a water-soluble fertiliser that contains boron, but soil conditions need to be improved first to improve plant health and nutrient absorption. You should also avoid overfeeding your plant with nitrogen and calcium, as these nutrients can interfere with the intake of boron.

Ensure your soil is well-draining and aerated. It should not be compacted. Incorporate good-quality compost into the root zone and mulch the soil surface around the base of the plant. Keep the root zone moist and do not let the plant dry out completely.

Brinjal plants may be sick and infested

I have planted many brinjal plants in my community garden. They fruited well over the months, but one by one, they wilted and died. I removed the plants and found a white substance on some of them. What killed my plants?

Chris Koh

This is a common issue in brinjal plants, which need a fertile, well-draining site to grow well. During the wet season, their roots may be infected with a fatal soil-borne disease or become waterlogged and rot.

For future crops, ensure that the growing mix is properly aerated and that the base of the pot is elevated. You should also practise crop rotation – where you grow different, unrelated crops in the same spots – to minimise the chances of disease.

The death of your plants may also be due to damage from snails or slugs. Check the stem and lower branches for any signs of pest-related damage. Slugs and snails strip off bark from plants, which can damage vascular tissue and impede water intake. Clear away any potential hiding spots for these pests and set up traps to control their population.