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christi1996

Is there any hope?

christi1996
13 years ago

My father-in-law got an AV from my mother-in-laws funeral 2 months ago. He said it seemed to be doing fine and then in a couple of days it turned brown. When he gave it to me, there was only a tiny strip on the edge of one leaf (about a mm wide) that had any green - now the whole thing is brown.

The roots are brown and there is no green on top, is it too late?

Comments (5)

  • nwgatreasures
    13 years ago

    Probably.......

    Can you answer the following:
    1-is the soil soggy/thick/compacted?
    2- is there ANY green/life coming from the crown of the plant? ( I did see your description)
    3-are the leaves/stems limp/mushy/dried up/etc?
    4- you said the roots are brown, if you shook, rinsed, etc the soil off, what do they look like then?

    It sounds like root rot or sunburn.

    Based on your answers, we will be able to make recommendations on how to care for the plant to increase the possibility of it coming back.

    Please be forewarned;however, if it is already past a certain point, no amount of effort will bring it back. Bottom line is that you won't know till you try. If you'd rather just be done with it, it can always be tossed in the trash.

    My sympathy for the loss of your loved one whose funeral the flower came from originally.

    Dora

  • christi1996
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for the help and sympathy Dora,
    1 I think the soil was soggy, he changed part of the soil but didn't wash it off the roots. Now it is pretty dry.
    2 not any healthy green, it does still have green in it (not all brown and crackily) - I would say fairly close to the deep green of cooked spinach.
    3 there was on leaf on it and it felt wilted but not rotting, but it fell of when I was washing the roots.
    4 the roots looked better than I thought they would, there were some brown but not root rot brown. The fine hairlike ones were still there and looked like dried corn silk.

    I hate to throw it away, I would rather try and have it die anyway than just give up on it. Then again it may already be dead.

    I can see it I can get a picture of it tomorrow - I am just not sure anything will show up.

  • nwgatreasures
    13 years ago

    If you've got some white in those roots, there may be hope.

    Sounds like you have an emotional connection to the plant and I'm in favor of trying to make it work.

    Order of business now is to get it out of that soggy soil. (Sounds like that has happened) We recommend 1:1 ratio of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. this helps the soil to be airy/light and to transfer nutrients to the root system from the fertilizer that you use.

    Pot needs to be SMALLER than what it is probabaly in. If you had some leaves fall off, then the plant is probably smaller than it was. You may want to pull off some more so they aren't draining the energy from the crown, if they are soggy/very wilty (is that a word? LOL) then pull them off and repot the root ball into a pot that is only 1/3 the width of the plant diameter. The root system needs to be "hugged" and it will do better.

    Keep us posted and I'll look back tomorrow for pics. There will be many here who will be able to help. I've got 20 people + at my house this weekend for my son's birthday celebration so I don't know how much time I will have to 'steal away' to the computer, lol.

    I'll pray for you (and your plant).
    Hugs,
    Dora

  • fred_hill
    13 years ago

    Hi,
    If you have any leaves that are in decent shape, I would try to start a new plant. Other than that I would try to rejuvinate the plant. I have a few sheets on culture and plant rejuvination that I passed out to groups when I spoke to them. If you would like to have them, email me and I will send them to you.
    Fred in NJ

  • christi1996
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Well, I got it nicely potted in a medicine bottle (that I put holes into) in the peat/perlite mix. I went to water it - from the bottom - and then I saw itsy-bitsey tiny spiders. I called my 7 year old in and he could see them too (about the size of a pepper flake but they moved around so it made them more noticable).

    I then potted up some of the same potting mix and watered it the same way to see if it was in the potting mix. No such luck.

    After doing a bit of research, I am pretty sure that they are mites so I put the pot in the microwave and then in the trash.

    Thank you so much for all your help Dora. I just don't want to risk any of my other plants, especially since it is so iffy that the AV would survive the treatment.

    I hope you have a wonderful time with your family!

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