Hi,
Our office plant is a very large diffenbachia (I am told. I thought it was a rubber plant - I am much more an outdoor than indoor gardener.)
In any event, it was doing very well, looking very healthy and lush, although it obviously needed more soil in a larger container, but Monday morning was lying on the floor.
I put it into a larger pot and this morning am taking in more soil for it but it is very limp and certainly very unwieldy, with 3 large trunks. It doesn't get any outdoor light and I am wondering if this is the cause of its collapse. Although it has been watered, I don't believe there has been enough water to keep the soil moist. Mostly, the water went right through and collected in the pan below. So, maybe that is the issue?
What I am wondering is: does it make sense to repot, prop it up, etc, or should I just cut it back and let it begin anew? And, will this happen again if it is subjected to only regular office lighting?
Diffenbachia (I guess) too limp
Can you post some pictures? Overwatering can make plants go limp too, and if people weren't emptying the water out of the pan after they watered the plant then the roots could have been sitting in water even if the top part of the soil was dry.
I can't post a picture.
I had thought about the possibility of overwatering. It doesn't get watered often but maybe needs even less. Actually as far as root growth goes, there isn't that much - for the size of the plant - so not sure how much the roots would have been sitting in water but that is a good point.
So, I guess I can just let it dry out and see what happens. Unfortunately, I work in a downtown office so don't have all the gardening necessities I would have at home - stakes, etc. and I can't just get things all messy. When I got in this morning I discovered that I'd underestimated the amount of soil I would need that I grabbed from home!
I have lots of outdoor things in pots and know how long they can stay there before being moved up.
Maybe I just miscalculated with this and pot size was not an issue, after all.
Did you find out for sure which plant it is to be able to give the proper care? You say it has three large trunks? What about the leaves? Both the Rubber plant (Ficus elastica) and Dieffenbachia have large leaves but the Ficus has thick succulent like leaves, whereas the Dieffenbachia foliage is thin and softer. It might very well be three Ficus trees in one pot. I've seen many of them grown and sold at garden centers like that. The Rubber plant can take some full sun, but the Dieffenbachia prefers bright light and no direct sunlight. Both like warmth and humidity. If it's in a cold and damp office and watered a lot that might be the problem.
Here are photo's of both plants, is it either of these?
Dieffenbachia: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=dieffenbachia&cp=3&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=taFMTd7wG8bpgAe6_JU-&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC8QsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=726
Ficus elastica/Rubber Plant: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=ficus+elastica&cp=7&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=WaJMTbaWH4XqgAfjlxU&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=726
With the plant going limp, it sounds like an over watered Dieffenbachia to me ... been there, done that. ^_^
If water runs right through it could be that the plant is root bound and indeed in need of a larger container, or it could be that the roots are unhealthy and not taking up water for some reason. I'd remove the plant from the current pot, remove any and all soil and check the condition of the root system ... do they look healthy? If there are dead and rotting roots they can be pruned and cut away. Are the roots completely filling the container, is there little soil remaining around the roots? You don't want to re-pot in a container that is too large .. the general rule of thumb is to go up one size larger than the original pot but if there aren't many roots the original container may have been too large. After re-potting, water thoroughly and then again only when necessary ... which depends on how quickly the soil around the roots dries out. Many stick their finger an inch or so into the soil to see if it's damp or dry. If it's still damp there's no need to water because there's still enough moisture down near the roots for awhile. The Ficus is more drought tolerant than the Dieffenbachia but neither should be over watered. Being an office plant there may be more than one person being "nice" and supplying water to the plant in question ... I've seen that happen many times too, LOL.
Lin is pretty right with this. Dieffenbachia will develop multiple stems, and they're pretty bullet proof, except for too much water. Not enough water and they decline slowly and look ratty. But if it was standing in too much water the plant was probably reasonably okay until the roots rotted out. Then, ironically, the plant couldn't get enough water and went limp. It definitely looks like an overwatering situation. One of mine is flowering now, not that there's anything noteworthy in their flowers.