( photo / image / picture from catay5's Garden ) Hi! I recently repotted this one after it got a bit mouldy after over watering. Since then it started growing new leaves but this weekend they have all crinkled up too. I've only watered it once a teeny bit since repotting and I wonder if it instead needs water? Or have I over watered again? I'd also appreciate tips for a good watering schedule. Let me know if you need a bigger picture. Had to crop. Thanks!
Do you know what the plant is? Plants each have their own watering requirements so knowing what it is will help. Also a photo of the whole plant would help too.
Unfortunately I'm not sure of the name! Here is a full picture. It used to be much thicker but now it is so stringy after lots of the leaves rotted ( photo / image / picture from catay5's Garden )
For watering of houseplants a good rule of thumb is to stick you finger down into the dirt, if it's dry up to the second knuckle then it's time to water. Is the plant in a pot with drainage? If not then the roots could be rotting from too much water and you need to change the pot. Also, watering should be until water runs out of the drainage holes, then let it sit so the soil can absorb all the water it needs, pour water out of the tray and it's good to go until the next time. The roots are usually near the bottom of the pot, so watering a teeny bit just dampened the top of the soil and the roots got nothing. Pull the plant out of the pot to check the condition of the roots, if they are super dry or super soggy. If super dry then water it like I mentioned above, if super soggy, lay the plant on a towel to dry out a bit and re-fill the pot with fresh dry soil and repot it. If the roots look okay, go ahead and cut off all the top growth down to about 3-4 inches above soil level. If the plant tries to come back, it needs it's energy for healing the roots not trying to keep dying stems and leave hanging on. If the roots survive they will start sending up new growth and the plant starts over again. It also looks like it isn't getting enough light, maybe open those blinds for some morning light and close them in the afternoon heat.
Kind of looks like my English Ivy. Probably needs water for the reasons that Toni gave. I second cutting the growth back. If you want, you can take the clippings and root them. You can fill out the pot, or have separate plants.
Excellent! Thanks very much. It gets lots of light in that window. Will do some investigating of the roots. I didn't know about clipping the growth so I will give that a try. Hopefully I can root them because I love doing that! Thanks for your help!
T agree that it looks like a Hedera type. Toni's advice is sound. I will only add that it might be a good idea to look between the leaf stem and the main stem--where they join to see if you see tiny webs. This could be spider mite and the handling of your plant will then require a different sort of handling. To do this ...try and get some backlighting from the sun or a light in your home, as it will show the webbing and mites better. Keep us posted, oké? Saving plants is always a challenge, and ruling-out all possibilities is advisable.
Thanks Sjoerd. Can't see any but I did open one of the dead stems and it was quite hollow inside. Am I right in thinking that suggests rotting?
well, it COULD suggest that; however, when some plants die, the pith and the xylem are the first to decompose. Other plants the xylem goes, but the pith remnants remain. I do not know about Hedera. Bottom line is--I do not know if your plant is succumbing to fungus, bacterial insult or if the plant has, in fact already died. The cause is difficult to determine at this point. I have had indoor Hedera sorts in the past and none of them did well for long. Eventually they lost leaves, had yellowing leaves and slowly but surely gave up the ghost. I am not sure whether the plant has not had enough light or not. Sometimes too little light can cause Si and Sx like your plant exhibits. If after trying various advice possibilities and nothing seems to help your plant-- you could; as a last resort, cut back all the stems and see if the plant will begin again. Good luck with this troublesome problem.
Only two of the stems survived. Despite the yellowing leaves they have actually been sprouting some new leaves! Fingers crossed for a come back! ( photo / image / picture from catay5's Garden )
And I rescued this one when I did the first cut back. Today it is showing the first signs of life! ( photo / image / picture from catay5's Garden )
