Since I've been a rather horrible plant mommy, I've done some research into finding out what some common things mean. Like when leaves turn yellow, or drop off. From my digging I have learned how to be a moderately good plant doctor. Plants lose leaves or turn yellow This means that your plants are likely suffering from low humidity. Meaning the air itself is too dry. Grouping plants together helps keep the plants feeding off eachother moisture. Otherwise if you can get a humidifier to up the humidity in your home, you and your plants should benefit. Also if you happen to have any open containers of water around will help. Most plants need between 50 and 70 percent humidity to thrive. Plants have cycles Plants usually have active cycles and dormant cycles. When they are dormant, they pretty much need less of everything, this is good for you. But it is at these times you could potentially over-water your plants. While they are dormant, they use less and therefore can drown. Their active cycles are in the late spring through to the early fall, and their dormant phase is in the late fall to early spring. However with other plants, their dormant phase can be the opposite of others. This is why you should get to know your plant. Over-watering is the biggest killer Most plants actually die of being over watered. I suppose this is mostly because of our lack of understanding of the plant we usually have. When your plants are dormant, check 1 inch below the surface and if it's dry only give a minimum amount of water, if it's in it's active phase then thoroughly water. It is always more important to keep your plant on the slightly dry side then being over-watered. Lackluster looking foliage Often times the plant we want may just not be suited to living in your home. Insufficient light can make your plant look unhealthy, and unhappy. If you have your plant in a window that get's lots of direct sunlight but, your plant looks unhealthy, move it to a more moderate lighted part of your room and see how that works. If at all possible, take a look at your plant label and read it, if there are no instructions, do a search for it's name. If you can't get any info look for houseplant images on the web, and see if anything looks like yours. Plants are dusty Your plant needs to get it's nutrients from the sun, this is because in order to grow and be a big plant it needs it's food, and the sun is part of it's food. It is possible that your plants can get too dusty, and just like any other thing in your house, it's needs to be dusted. To clean large leaved plants it's simple -- dampen a good quality paper towel, or rag and gently wipe down the leaves. For finer leaved plants, take a little more precaution and be as gentle as possible while wiping. These are the biggest reasons most of my plants were unhealthy, apparently nothing to do with disease, just neglect. Below are a bunch of common reasons for certain symptoms your plant my be experiencing. Entire Plant Droops - You plant has most likely rotted, and suffered from over-watering. Plant has Sticky Spot - Aphids usually cause this. Fuzzy Grey Mould Covering Plant - Neglect of plant being left with too much dead matter on it, be if flowers or leaves. Fuzzy or Cotton Like Mounds - This is something caused by mealy bugs. Flower Buds Drop before Blooming - Temperature has fluctuated, it's experiencing a draft or is having a lack of humidity. Edges of Leaves Brown or Dried - Your plant is too hot, or too dry and needs humidity. Tiny White Spots on Leaves - Spider mites, this is what happened to my ivy plant, I bought the plant and bugs directly from the store. So check your plants before purchasing. |
