What plant is it, why is it dying, and what can I do to save it? My grandmother gave this to me recently. She had it for 24 years and I have done everything she told me to do but I cant get it to thrive. Please help me. It would break both of our hearts if I killed it. Thanks.
That is a Cut Leaf Philodendron or Selloum, and they are very tough plants - I doubt that you're killing it, but I don't know what your Grandmother told you to do with it. In my hot climate, it's an outdoor plant, (in the ground), and needs plenty of water and shade. It dies to the ground every winter and comes back up in the spring. I think you're too cold in VA to try that.
Where are you keeping it and what are you doing to tend it? Let us know, and then we might be able to be more helpful. Also - you said it was a 24-year old plant. If so, it should be much larger and in a really huge pot by now. Is this a baby plantlet your Grandmother gave you? If so, it could just be suffering from transplant shock. Let us know more about the situation - I think it's gonna live!
She told me to water it weekly and and keep it in the sun. She told me to keep it out of the cold also. It is definately the original plant. It probably isnt bigger because of the pot. It has rained a lot lately and I dont know if that is whats causing it to die. I am telling you it was beautiful before I got it, lol. I dont know what to do.
Well, there's no way I'm going to disagree with your Grandmother!!! LOL!
If it was mine, I'd place it an area that gets morning sun/afternoon shade or semi/bright shade all day, and I'd water once or twice a week, but I'd make sure to let the water soak in well and run freely from the bottom of the pot for several seconds before stopping. I'd also be tempted to go ahead and pot it up in a larger pot - about 2 inches deeper and wider than the current pot.
I'd plan on bringing it into the house in late fall before the first frost and take it back outside each spring unless someone from your area logs in and assures you that it will survive a VA winter in a pot.
How long have you had it, and specifically how has it declined since she gave it to you?
I have had it since Christmas Day. The leaf that is dying now will be the second one to die and the others are beginning to have parts on them that color. The tips are brown also. It didnt start dying until I put it outside but the tips started turning brown soon after I brought it home. I just looked at some pictures of it online and I see now why you said it should be bigger, lol. WOW.
I'll bet it's been in that same pot/same soil a long time. It's probably got a bad attitude about having to leave Grandma's house, too.
Seriously, please consider getting it a bigger pot and some good potting soil. They like to be a little pot-bound, but I think this one could use some space. Give it some balanced water-soluble fertilizer after you repot and again in about two months, then monthly until late fall when you bring it indoors. Make sure it's in bright shade or at least afternoon shade - everyone's idea of "plenty of sun" is different, and I'll bet your Grandmother meant bright indirect light or a few hours of protected sunlight daily. Full sun can scorch the leaves.
Even if it dies all the way back, let the soil dry in between waterings, but keep it watered. These plants can die all the way back, then grow back fully. Do some internet searches on their care - I did a little bit of hunting and found that they do quite well in your climate, even outdoors in some instances. Good luck, and don't worry. I think this is your Grandmother's way of making you get interested in gardening!!!
I'm assuming you had it indoors for the winter? If so the problem could be sunburn--even if you had it in a sunny window inside, the light is not nearly as intense as outdoors so you need to adjust it gradually to the higher light conditions outdoors.
The only thing I can add to the posts above is to water from the bottom. Place the pot in a container of water, then pour some on to the soil. The plant will begin to syphon water from the container.
When soil is too dry in a pot, the soil shrinks away from the sides of the pot. When you water from the top, the water just runs down along the inside of the pot and don't penetrate the rootball.
"I'll bet it's been in that same pot/same soil a long time. It's probably got a bad attitude about having to leave Grandma's house, too."
I agree with that statement as well.
It's probably still sulking.
I was wondering maybe you are over watering it? I know your grandma said once a week however if her house is warmer than yours or if it was in a sunnier location there there, then it might not need watering so much.
When watering stick your finger into the soil about an inch and if its still wet don't water it. If it's dry, water it.
Also make sure that the pot isn't sitting in water and has decent drainage.
As someone above said it may just need some new soil to keep it "fresh" so to speak. If it's been in that soil for years and years then all the nutrients will have been used up.
dyllanzmom,
I've had a cutleaf living in a large pot year-round on my front porch for the past 4 years. It's sitting in bright shade. I water no more than once a week and I let it dry out between waterings. I treat mine pretty much like mocatmom stated. My plant doesn't like being put in too much sun. Also, mine will start pouting just like yours is doing when it needs a bigger pot. Also as mocatmom said, it will (here where I live at least) almost completely die back in the winter and come back every spring. Mine is so large now that the next time it needs a bigger pot, it will have to go into the ground. With the price of large pots being as high as they are right now, I can't afford to buy one that big! Mine is huge now.
Dipsydoodle, I love the name of your town!
Thank you mocatmom...someone else commented on it ages ago and I made a huge post about it haha.
