My streps leaves not looking right,before i left they was so pretty now there getting hard and drawing up and wrinkel.whats wrong with them
any one have a idear.
thanks Eunice
whats wrong with my streps leaves
heres another one
Just a guess as I have no experience with Strep's but to me looking at your pictures I would be worried that your soil is retaining too much water or you are overwatering too much after coming back from being away. Also as you have noticed the problem you may be inclined to increase water which is making the problem worse. I am only guessing this by the fact the soil appears very moist and there is clear moisture running up the planting stakes.
They don't appear diseased though and they don't appear to be scalded by light. Too my eye this appears to be symptoms of oxygen starvation due to excessive water. It appears to be in the very early stages and I would think allowing the soil to dry out or repotting would be sufficient.
I am sure someone with more experience with strep's will be able to help you out though. =)
This message was edited Jul 16, 2007 6:15 AM
thanks westocast73
you could be right,when i got home most was laying down but came back ok,just a few like these.i will check the root systen and see if there soggy,thanks again
Hopefully that is all it is. At this early of a stage they should bounce back fine if the situation is remedied ( either change the soil or let it dry out if it does it quick enough. ) However as I said earlier I have no experience with strep's so there may be some variables. Also do not expect these leaves to completely heal as the damage will most likely remain until new leaves come and replace them. They should however perk back up and have some of their resistance back. Worst case would be if the main leaves continue to die but do not fret as the new young ones will grow to replace them if it was over watering and you have fixed the problem. Plant's can be surprisingly good at bouncing back when given the chance.
westocast73
well i repotted my plants ,they wasn't very wet at the roots ,but around then was.,i keep my house pretty cool cause i can't stand the heat,could they be getting to cold?
i was told that they like it cool............i think they look good...........even my big ones sometimes get the edges bad and i just cut the bad part off............
gessiegail
well they sure have it cool here,about 68 in my liveing room
does the leaves suppose to be hard and drawed up,no bad spots on them
maybe you can tell on this one
They look like healthy leaves to me too Eunice .... but I am not real good with Strep's at all. Mine seem to get too dry and the leaves shrivel up and get crispy and die. I can't seem to give mine enough water. I probably should repot my little ones and wick them. Mine are in the coolest room of my house .... we keep our air at @ 74 all the time. I was thinking maybe that was too hot for them but someone said that temperature was okay. I just need to learn more about Streps I suppose.
Keep us posted on how yours do Eunice!
i really don't know .................but I have noticed that when I overfertilize on the small ones, they sometimes get crispy and curly looking.......?????????????????????
Good morning, starfly. Are these photo of your plants after you re-potted?
What kind of soil did you use? Did it have fertilizer already in it like so many do now?
The only thing I notice right off the bat is the pots seem to large/wide for the small plants. What size are the pots?
plantladylin
the leaves on them not dyeing yet,they just get hard and wrinkel
i sure don't no alot about them
gessiegail
i fertilize once a week and thats when i water them
Snowrose
yes this is after i repotted,but i put them back in same size pot they came in from bluebirds.i use african violet potting soil with no fertilize ,i use half soil and half perlite
you think they need to go in a smaller pot,these are 4inch
starfly, I hate to tell you this, but i only ordered 2 streps from Bluebird and they are much worse than yours..................in terms of being brittle.............i have had them for months........they don't grow and they stay just like you are talking about..............i don't know why??????????????????
Well I be darned - I thought I just didn't have the right touch for streps. My streps do the same thing, the start out nice and green and smooth, get all brittle and crispy and start shrinking until nothing is left. I do think the last potting soil I bought had fertilizer added so you may be right on with that one Snowrose. Do streps do better with less or a lower number fertilizer?
I think for that size plant which looks from the photos to be about 6" across or so, a 4" pot is too big. Look at the rootball (minus the loose excess soil) and judge by that. You only need a pot a little larger than the rootball for now especially at 68F which is okay.
A couple of my plants in 4" pots are about 14-16" across. My temps run around 72F in my living room where the streps are. They are not in the direct air flow from the AC vents.
Any plant I have ever received from Bluebird's in the past is always way over-potted as they send everything in 4" pots, even small starter plants.
Do you know the variety names of these streps?
So glad you are back...
Susan, I've not had that to happen. Truthfully, I don't know why some of yours do that. You asked about fertilizer. So much can be said on this subject.
Small starters newly potted in soil w/no added fertilizer....maybe something like av drops (8-14-9) at the rate of 7 drops/quart. Also good if not sure on larger newly re-potted plants as is so weak. Can't hurt them with this.
Or 15-30-15 for any variegated or green at the rate of 1/8 teaspoon/gallon for newly potted plants. 20-20-20 is fine for green streps at the same rate 1/8 teaspoon/gallon for newly potted plants.
Established plants can take 1/4 teaspoon/gallon. Alternate with plain water now and then.
Some growers use fish emulsion once in while and like it. One tablespoon per gallon on established plants. Can be used as a foliar feed also on green streps. It smells awful but I think it's good. Natural.
On potting. Don't over-pot. A steady incremental increase in pot size is best as the plant grows.
Lately, I tried an experiment on some green streps. I added some all organic Espoma Plant-tone (5-3-3) to my soil-less mix when re-potting. It contains:
Dehydrated manure, Feather Meal, Crab Meal, Cocoa Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Blood, Sunflower Meal, Kelp Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Greensand, Rock Phosphate, Potash, Magnesium, and Humates.
Snowrose
before i had to leave they really look good, but when i got back they was in bad shape, with no air far a little while maybe done it. i will check what you said and see ,and if need to i will repot in smaller container.now does a ceiling fan hurt them,they do get the circulation from it.your right everythings in 4in pots from bluebird
the name of these is christmas morning,and when i got it from bluebird it was in bloom last year,the other one is (streaker and it says sport what ever that means
gessiegail
i have a lot from bluebird and never had no problems with them untill now,
the only ones i had problem with is the 10 streps far so much i got from robs
most of them died they was so little.but all the other plants i bought from him is great.
Oh, I see. The temps must have gone up a lot, right? Now that you are home and giving your normal care to your plants, things should straighten out.
Christmas Morning went out in a box to a 'good' DG friend............it is the prettiest i got from Gary out of Africa....................
It is a Beautiful Strep! You should have posted a pic in Plant Files! DG'er Plantcrazi has two photo's there, but that's the only ones of S. 'Christmas Morning'.
I think I have an old picture of her blooming.............let me take a look........
here she is 'Christmas Morning' but she looks pink here............i have learned to take pictures of plants since..............I sent this one to Gary Mitika..............
I could take her in the photoshop and fix her to be the right color but too much trouble
heres my christmas morning ,this is how it look last xmas
sorry wrong one
This message was edited Jul 17, 2007 6:20 PM
If they had hot temps while you were away, I would agree that they are just heat-stressed. Mine (when I had more streps) always grew like that during the summers, when I oblige my hot-growing tropicals.....