Beginner Gardening: Droopy Dumbcane, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Kg - you're right in that it should be strong enough to stand on its own. That it isn't is strong testimony to the fact it was grown in inadequate light. I realize that those just getting started tending houseplants might be a little less bold than those of us who have been used to manipulating plants for many years, but I wouldn't stake the plant. Instead, I'd look at what you have now as a great chance to start over with a fresh slate. By that, I mean that I would prune the plant back HARD, each stem to within a few inches of the soil. This will eliminate the floppy stems that aren't going to become self-supporting any time soon.

Height is not something that is especially valued when it comes at the expense of the plant's ability to support itself. Additionally, the long bare stems are not very appealing to the eye. If you cut the plant back, get it into good light, and get started on a pinching program that will ensures a more compact and bushy plant, I think you'll end up with something that has greater eye appeal than what you'll have if you stake it up and take the passive role.

I would bare root the plant, get it into an appropriate fast-draining soil, cut it back hard, and move it into a bright spot.

I'd like to talk about bottom or wick watering for a second. I never use it for two reasons. The first is that in order for wick watering to work well, the soil has to be water-retentive to the point that by its very nature (its physical properties) it has to be limiting (to growth and vitality). The best soils for containers are those that need watering very frequently. These soils ensure there will be lots of air in the soil and very little perched water, which is the water that occupies the soggy layer of soil at the bottom of the pot that always occurs when you use heavier soils. Second, watering by immersion or wicking ensures that all or a significant fraction of the soluble salts in the water remain in the soil. This inhibits the plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients dissolved in the water, and also contributes to the probability of spoiled foliage.

Properly watering from the top, on the other hand, ensures that you're flushing accumulating salts from the soil each time you water. It also ensures that the ratio of nutrients YOU select and want to supply remains unskewed because you'll be replacing nutrients with regular fertilizing instead of simply adding to what is already in the soil.

The best advice I can give to new growers (and I've taken a LOT of new growers under my wing, both in forum settings and in the lectures/demos/presentations I do for various clubs and organizations in the community) is to make sure you build on a good foundation. Your SOIL is the foundation of EVERY conventional container planting. If you learn to avoid the commercially produced, water-retentive soils primarily based on peat, and learn to make your own soils using pine bark or inorganic gritty components like Turface & chicken grit (crushed granite), it will provide a MUCH better opportunity for your plants to grow to their genetic potential within the limits of other cultural factors, and provide you with a MUCH wider margin for grower error.

I've talked long enough, but if you have questions .....

Al