Green thumb turning brown

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evol17 Albuquerque, NM Jun 05, 2008

I used to be amazing at keeping plants alive. Now I'm developing a brown thumb. I have a hybrid lily in a plastic pot that someone gave me as a gift in the office. (I haven't transplanted it because I seem to kill plants every time I re-pot now) It is turning yellow and brown all over and the leaves are drooping, drying out, and falling off. I tried sun, no sun, water, no water. Nothing is working! Help! It was so pretty when it was blooming and I would love to transplant it and keep it around for awhile.

I have a bunch more questions about some other houseplants but I think the lily is the most urgent issue.

By the way I live in New Mexico where the sun is HOT and the air is pretty dry but the winters are very very cold. I love to keep plants in the office that stays at a cool 70-75 degrees. My house is a little warmer in the summer months and I have a swamp cooler so it adds some humidity back into the air.

Post #5059531
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plantladylin (Zone 1) Jun 05, 2008

I don't know for sure but I think some lilies go dormant, so that could be what's happening with your plant. Just taking a rest to re-sprout later. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable on hybrid lilies will come along soon with some advice.

Post #5059824
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Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC(Zone 7b) Jun 09, 2008

You might want to post your question on the lilies forum for help. I have asiatic and day lilies but I don't know about hybrids. good luck

Post #5079118
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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Jun 13, 2008

If your lily has flowered since you got it, then that is it for this year I'm afraid, they only flower once per year, what you need to do now is repot it into new compost, a larger pot and give it a liquid feed as directed on the bottle, dont cut off the yellowing foliage as this is the plant dying down as it had done the work of flowering, but the dying foliage actually feeds the bulb and helps it regain some energy for next years flower, the bulb is like a little store cupboard and it needs all the feed and good compost for it to make new growth and flowers for next year, only when the foliage has really turned either brown or dry do you cut it off at the base, stop watering the pot once the foliage has really died down and only give enough water to prevent the compost going really dry till next year you see new growth start again, then feed it and water it as before. I would imagine you could also put the plant out into the garden if you have one where it will also flower each year, as for your other indoor plants, let us know what they are and see if we can help you get back on track again as to where you are going wrong. good luck. WeeNel.

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