I love this plant but I am having trouble keeping it healthy. It requires frequent watering and some humidity. I water daily and mist. It requires PH between 5.5 and 6.5 so I add peet to the soil and use an additive to keep the PH down. But I am still having leaves turning black as if they are burnt, and I cant figure out what to do. Please help.
I have scoured the internet to find that the potting soil I use was wrong. You can not plant this in Miracle Grow, this plant is not tolerant of the extra fertilizer. It was to be planted in something with out fertilizer added. It burn the leaves. I changed the potting soil and I am hoping for recovery.
Misting may be causing a bacteria or fungus to thrive on your plants' leaves.
This link should go right to page 13, about foliar diseases:
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/landscap/pp744.pdf
Is there any chance that your over misting, I've just had another look at your pictures after Purpleinopp came onto the thread and she mentioned fungus or bacteria.
The plant you have has little hairs on the leaves and stems, therefore most plants that have a hairy growth on or around it dont like water sitting on the foliage, the little hairs act like an anchor by holding onto little droplet's of water after spraying or outside in rain.
Also have you had the plant sitting in fromt of a window that has hot sun hit onto the plant, again indoor plants (most) dont like that situation, they need bright light but not direct sunlight add to that IF you have misted the plant while sun is on the plant, the water drops act's like a magnifying glass.
Over watering causes wilting /browning on foliage too, so check out the soil by sticking your finger into the soil, IF wet, you have over watered, if dry it needs water, the pot should have good drainage holes in the bottom to allow excess water to drain away, dont sit the pot into a saucer untill all water has stopped dripping from the bottom of the pot.
Lastly, IF you have the plant growing into the wrong soil, the first thing you need to do is remove the plant, wash off the wrong soil (Gently) under running water or by dunking in and out of water in a basin, re-pot into the correct soil, add grit for drainage and please dont feed again till the plant has began to recover, that could take a week or so.
When you really do need to feed the plant, do it at watering time, an indoor plant feed should be used for now and for the first couple of feeds, use half the dosage recommended, that way you don't shock the plant by over feeding which is worse than not feeding as too much feed burns the roots and affect's the plant as yours has shown in your case, All plants require a time to settle into it's new environment before you need to feed, just a watering and light helps get it through the shock of moving from one place to another.
Hope this is a help for you.
WeeNel.
I may be over watering, I stopped misting this plant. It sits next to a Hibiscus hybrid called spin the bottle. My frequent misting gave the hibiscus fungus. When I treated that I stopped misting. I did as you instructed and removed the old soil and lightly washed off the roots, then re-potted in a fertilizer free soil. Thanks for the tips I appreciate the help. The damage has stopped progressing and it is growing slightly stunted. Hopefully it will recover and bloom again next year.
So the plant above died, and I was severely over watering it. I got a new plant started down the same path with it and finally realized what I was doing. Now my questions is, I have a bunch of gnarled and stunted growth on the tips of this plat should I leave it or trim it off and allow the plant to start over?
Maybe part of the problem is also that you are interfering toooooo much with the plant, when plants become sick, it very rarely happens over night, it takes several days/ weeks for problems to show up, to recover with your help also means you need to give a few weeks for recovery as again plants that are sick don't normally recover overnight Unless the problem was just lack of water.
IF it's only the tips of the plant that are stunted (NEW GROWTH LOOKS STUNTED) till it matures, BUT if you feel you have to remove this TIP area, just nip it off between your finger and thumb nail. I would NOT cut away more than just the growing tips of any branches unless you really have to. Make sure you don't over water and when the plant is growing well give a half strength doze of liquid feed at watering time, maybe once a week or every second week, never over feed or you can burn the roots and cause death of the plant, use your finger to check for dry or wet soil.
Unfortunately us gardeners kill more plants with kindness than neglect or even diseases or aphids.
Hope all goes well and you get many years of pleasure from your lovely plant.
Best Regards. WeeNel.
Thanks I am sure your right, I will leave it and wait to see what happens. I really love this plant and want it to thrive. I gave a little half strength fertilizer but only once. I am trying to be careful. Thanks for the tips!!
