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frank325

Leaves shooting up after wicking

frank325
14 years ago

I've noticed at night my AV leaves are standing almost straight up on some of my plants since I have started wicking them 2 weeks ago. Would the extra moisture cause that?

Comments (29)

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    Hi Frank.
    I think it would be more likely that a lack of light would have made the leaves stand up straight. Do you grow in natural light or under flourescent light. Many times plants that grow vertically are said to be reaching for light.
    Fred in NJ

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Light conditions haven't changed, they're still under the same flourescent lights.

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Here is what I'm talking about... also, this is how inconsistent they are. They are all in the same place, yet one is content while the others are reaching up. What the ?? It makes no sense to me.

    {{gwi:364827}}

  • nwgatreasures
    14 years ago

    I think that's a light issue.
    Can you move the plants closer to the lights?

    Dora

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    It's strange though because they've been this distance for the longest time. I'm not sure why now they'd all of a sudden have an issue... and why that one seems to not mind at all. I'll lower the light a bit.

  • sabrebuddy
    14 years ago

    Hi Frank, How old are your lights?-Terri

  • avkristy
    14 years ago

    I am just getting into AV's and have brought a few from a local gardening store and have this same problem and was wondering how to fix it.

    I am just keeping mine in a window where they receive natural light.

    I grew some from a leave which I have just seperated from the mother leaf and they do not have this problem.

    Do I cut away the ones that are growing up? They are covering a lot of the new little leaves that are growing

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Terri -- somewhere less than 2 months old I'd estimate.

  • nwgatreasures
    14 years ago

    What has changed is the amount of light that your plants need.....I don't mean that to be sarcastic; however, they aren't baby plants anymore with just a bottle and they're ready for table food (so to speak).

    Dora

  • bspofford
    14 years ago

    Frank,

    It's those scary movies you watch at night.......lol

    Barbara, agreeing with Dora

  • sabrebuddy
    14 years ago

    Hi Frank, If you don't think it is the light, as you showed as the one is happy what I did to mine that did that,is gently push down on them I did this every day about once a day until they were finally laying flat. I hope this helps if not do try to bring them up a little closer. -Terri

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks everyone for the advice.

    Terri, I'll also try your suggestion using one of these:

    {{gwi:364828}}

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Okay, so update on this... I've lowered my lights as low as they can go with the setup I've had for almost a year. They've never been this low, and they've been at the lowest setting for almost a week and nothing has changed. They are still standing up. They're about 8" inches from the bulbs now.

  • m3rma1d
    14 years ago

    Maybe they just don't like you.

    :-(

    (haha just kidding!! Maybe? LOL)

  • jenrookie
    14 years ago

    So are they doing any better now? Did moving the light or gently pushing them down work?
    My violet is doing the same thing and I was told it was the light. It also needs to be repotted as well. I was also wondering, as avkristy did, if I should remove some of the leaves growing around the new leaves in the middle?

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Moving them closer didn't help a lot. They are still sticking up quite a bit and not laying flat. Plus almost all of them are blooming right now so the blooms are blocking some light too.

  • quinnfyre
    14 years ago

    Just out of curiosity, what is that cute little AV with the blue flowers with white tips? Is it named or NOID? Is it standard or semimini? I like it : )

    As for the leaves, I don't know, some of mine were doing that over the winter. I don't grow any under lights, they're all in a south facing window. Have you had any temperature changes? The reason I ask that is because I actually get more direct light through my window during the winter because of the angle of the sun, and less during the summer. But the temps are a lot warmer now. The one that was the worst now has lots of blooms and flat leaves. The difference between now and then: longer days but less direct sunlight (well, through a sheer curtain, that is), warmer days and warmer nights, more humidity.

    As for cutting off any leaves, I wouldn't do that. The leaves might be blocking the baby leaves, but the leaves are part of the plant as a whole, and therefore contributing to the plant as a whole. So the leaves that are sticking up are still getting light that provides energy to the whole plant, which will then continue to make those baby leaves grow bigger. In any case, I never had any problem with baby leaves not growing because they were blocked by the other leaves or blooms.

  • dognapper2
    14 years ago

    I'm curious if you've tried taking one or two of the worst examples doing this off the wick...tested it's weight to see if it's gettting the right water? Did it's wick work properly? Do you need to prime them again if they're dry - or are they too wet?

    Are they too close to the light compared to where they were before you wicked them? If they were never on wicks before they're now a couple inches higher than they were before... If you adjusted shelves - did height change much from before?

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    quinn,

    I wasn't suggesting to cut off any blooms or leaves. The purple/blue with white tips is just something I got from walmart. The white tips appears to be a baby thing, they grew out of it :)

    dognapper,

    I haven't taken any off the wick. The wick seems to be working properly. They don't feel so heavy as if I would have just watered them in the past. They feel like it's been a couple days since being watered completely. I never had them on my shelf with the light as low as it could go. Now the light is as low as it can go, plus they are on wicks and on top of VHS tapes to give them another inch or so. See.. VHS tapes do serve a purpose still.

  • dognapper2
    14 years ago

    Maybe they're getting too much light and their little outer leaves are trying to give themselves some shade :)

    I have read in books that certain leaf types want to be in center/middle for the highest level of light and others should be placed on the outer edges where light from fixtures is weaker. Try rearranging their shelf placement?

  • quinnfyre
    14 years ago

    Sorry Frank, I lumped my reply all together. It wasn't you that was thinking of cutting off leaves, it was a couple other posters. I was addressing two issues at once. And about that white tipped AV? That's kind of disappointing, it was neat looking. I see a lot of white edged, or white with some color thumbprint, but don't recall seeing white tipped. Oh well.

    Glad you're finding a use for your VHS tapes ; )

  • bspofford
    14 years ago

    Plants with dark green leaves want/need more light, so the center of your stand is the correct placement for them.

    A longtime grower shared with me that gently pressing down on the leaves can help flatten it out, just don't use so much pressure that it snaps leaves.

    Barbara

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Well, I have 6 less of these to worry about now... sold some on craigslist for $1 each. The time and care I put into these babies for a year was worth more than that to me, but what can ya do! I don't need 12 of the same AV.

  • quinnfyre
    14 years ago

    Oh, so you're just passing the problem off to someone else? Cheater. Ha ha, just kidding. You had 12 of the same AV? I never had that many of one kind, but I start mine in 2oz condiment cups, with the idea that with less space I'd have fewer plantlets to deal with. I've been trading mine away. I want them to go to homes where they'll do well for someone who knows AVs. I start to feel like I'm adopting out kittens or puppies, ha. You don't want them to go to just any home.

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    quinn,

    I bought my first AV last summer, and took a bunch of leaf cuttings so I could try propagating for the first time. Well, lucky me, every single leaf rooted and had many babies, thus, tons of the same plant :) I was new to AVs, I didn't realize how easily that plant would propagate. I've already given some away to my sister-in-law, so I probably had close to 20 of these when I first separated them all into their own cups.

  • glorybea
    14 years ago

    What's wrong with the leaves standing up? I think they look good that way. I'm new to AVs and to GardenWeb, and it's a lot of fun. I live half mile from the Pacific Ocean in So. Calif., and some of my plants leaves stood up after transplanting them. Bought at lowes. They are all blooming beautifully. What is a wick? I have some in 6 in pots and no problems yet. (That's before I knew about small pots. Thanks for your post, Frank.

  • frank325
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    wick watering. essentially the pot has a wick in the soil (acrylic yarn) that goes out the bottom and into a container of water. the water is wicked up the yarn and keeps the soil consistently moist. prevents you from having to constantly check your plants to see if they need watering... they take care of themselves. all you have to do is fill the water in the container. you can search here and on google wick watering for more info.

  • lucillle
    14 years ago

    This is a long shot, but check the bulbs and make sure they are not dusty. This can happen if you use a sander to refinish something in your home.

  • glorybea
    14 years ago

    Thanks, Frank, for your answer to "what is wicking." I tried to find an answer on this site with no luck -- so thanks for taking the time to answer a very basic question.

    Glorie

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