dumb cane question

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pdoyle23323 Chesapeake, VA(Zone 7b) Oct 04, 2006

Hi all. A coworker of mine has one of these and it always looks like it needs water. the leaves are small and havea dull look to them. Its near a window where it gets good lite. (not direct or intense) Are they heavy fertilizers? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dawn

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bluesea23 Sanford, FL Oct 05, 2006

Dawn, I'll bet the rootball on this plant has completely dried out in the past and has become a brick. When this
happens, the rootball shrinks away from the sides of the pot, so when you water it runs down between the rootball and sides of the pot, and the soil looks like it's been wet, but it's still bone dry inside where the roots are.

Water this plant, then scrape into the top of the soil. If you find dusty, dry soil inside, that's what has happened.
Once a peat-based soil dries out completely, it does not want to accept water any longer. Kinda like water that
beads up on talcum powder.

If this is the case, I would try to get as much of the old dry soil off the roots as possible without breaking too many
roots. Then repot it into some fresh premoistened mix, water and keep the soil just moist while it's rerooting.
Proper time to water is when the top 1 inch of soil is dry but it's still damp below that.

If you find the above is not the problem, email me at chammer@cfl.rr.com and I'll try to diagnose further.
Russ
central Fla

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pdoyle23323 Chesapeake, VA(Zone 7b) Oct 05, 2006

I e-mailed you.
Thanks,
Dawn

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