Candlestick Plant appears to be dying

Hello everyone. I am new here and hope you can help me. I live in Taylor County, Fl. and planted a Candlestick plant around April. It was about 3" tall and is now 3'to 4' tall. About two weeks ago, I noticed that some of the leaves were turning yellow and falling off the branch, then the branches started turning yellow and fell off the stalk. Is this normal? I've never had one before, but at this rate, it has only four to five branches per stalk before its all gone. It gets full sun from about 10am until the sun goes down, and it stays fairly moist. I have it planted in an old bathtub along with an Angel Trumpet and a Banana Tree. They are all about the same height. I soak the tub once every two weeks when we don't get rain, otherwise I leave it alone unless the leaves are drooping. I left the drain at the bottom of the tub and the hole where the faucet used to be open and Candlestick is planted at that end. The Angel Trumpet and the Banana Tree look great. The Candlestick looked great until the leaves and branches started turning yellow and falling off. I fertilized once a week with a liquid spray by Miracle Grow until a couple of months ago. I stopped because the plants were growing by leaps and bounds and I was afraid the tub might be getting a little crowded. The soil in the tub is about 2' deep, 2' wide and 4 to 5' long. I would hate to loose the Candlestick. Does it need more room? My mom started it from seed and I sure would love to have it around for a long time. Any ideas and help will be greatly appreciated.

Zenoba

I have no idea what a candlestick plant is, do you know the Latin name? I'll venture a couple of guesses anyway even though I have no idea what plant it is. My first thought is that it's being overwatered. I'm not sure that the two holes you have in the bathtub are really enough to provide good drainage. If you have plants in there that like a ton of water then they may do fine, but maybe candlestick plants don't like as much water. I think the soil in the bottom of the tub probably stays pretty wet most of the time, and most plants aren't going to like that in the long run, some may take longer to develop problems though. It's also possible if the plants grew that much that the candlestick's roots need more room, maybe it's become "tub-bound". Once a plant's roots are all twirled around themselves, then it becomes hard to get them enough water because there's lots of roots and not much soil to hold the water. This is less likely in a large thing like a tub than it would be in a regular size container, but still possible.

I dont have one but here is a link for ecrane.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/371/

chris

I am leaning towards too much water. I heard at the roundup that I went to that they kinda like it dry.

This message was edited Aug 2, 2007 9:23 PM

I don't know if it's the Latin name or not, but I believe the "Proper" name for this plant is Senna alata, or Cassia alata. I do not know much about plants, but thought I had planted the three together because they were all plants that needed a constant moist soil. Your comment about overwatering and the ratio of soil to root mass makes sense to me though.

Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your input.

Linny

Okay, too much water seems to be the advice here, and I thankfully accept it. Can I replant the Candlestick at this stage? If I can't and it dies, will it come back from the root and allow me to transplant it at that time? I am thinking at the rate it's going I will not have any seed from this plant to start over with.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I sure need it!

Linny

I am in zone 9a in south Texas...............it grows wild down here as big hedges, etc..........they seem to only get the rain water...............and stay happy...........

I bet if you pull it out of the tub and put it in its own container that has proper drainage holes it'll do much better. You could definitely do that now, but I would keep it in a somewhat shady place for a little while after you transplant it to let it get settled. If you're planning to put it in the garden instead of in a container, I would put it in a container for now and then put it in the garden in the fall or spring.

Thank you all for your help. Looks like I am keeping it way to wet. Better save the bathtub for a bog garden. I am pulling it out of the tub this afternoon ecrane. We are getting rain here day after day so I need to rescue it immediately. I will follow your advice in replanting. Thanks again.