Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Advice Please!, 1 by ErickMN

ErickMN wrote:
Hello All.

I am a novice Brugmansia grower who is very excited at becoming an expert at growing these amazing plants. With all the experts on this forum, I'm sure I will someday! I am currently growing four Rosamond X Ecuador Pink seedlings that RikerBear generously shared with me. They have been growing like weeds and have been very healthy. However, I must now be doing something terribly wrong.

In the last week, the new leaves have either been growing out deformed and/or curled, or simply turn black when very small and drop off. The attached picture shows the growing point (you can see where the new leaves have been falling off, and even some of their black remains). Also please notice the leaves at one o'clock and four o'clock, which are deformed/curled and somewhat discolored.

What have I done to dishonor Marc's kindness? The plants are growing under lights in a room that never gets below 60F. I keep them moist but not wet and have lately been misting them often on the chance that they have spider mites (I haven't seen any, but I have a number of plants under the lights, so it's not completely out of the question). I lightly fertilize them every couple weeks.

Any advice anyone could offer would be sincerely appreciated. These plants must bloom next summer!

Erick