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Overwatered Rex - is it too late?
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Posted by toob z6-7 NV (My Page) on Fri, Mar 13, 09 at 21:14
| How late is too late to discover that a Rex has been completely overwatered? My Rex sits beside a wonderfully showy azalea in my office. The azalea frequently dries out, and as it is fairly new, I have gotten into the habit of watering it rather frequently. However, i noticed the Rex dried out, so I gave him a healthy dose of water -- well, now, the Rex is seriously unhappy with me. I actually wrung its pot out earlier to try and get rid of the excess water. I have removed the entire soil ball from the pot now and it is on paper towels to try and wick away the excess -- but as it has been wilty for two days, do you think it has a chance to recover? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Overwatered Rex - is it too late?
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| I've done the same thing, more than once, and sometimes the plant will produce a new set of leaves from another point on the rhizome if you give it time. It might not be "office worthy" for a while, and you may lose the leaves and growing points which are now looking "wilty". I'd let the rootball dry until it's barely moist, cut off any foliage that's still wilted at that point, and enclose the plant, pot and all, in a plastic bag to maintain humidity and moisture without having to wet it again. Put it somewhere out of direct sunlight and hope for the best - you may eventually see new growth pushing from adventitious buds along the rhizome. Watering is a perilous business, isn't it? |
RE: Overwatered Rex - is it too late?
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| It sounds like you did the right thing by removing the plant from the pot and wicking away the water. Bubba gave some good advice too. Depending on the condition of the leaves you could try to propagate those for a bit of insurance. |
RE: Overwatered Rex - is it too late?
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- Posted by toob z6-7 NV (My Page) on
Tue, Mar 17, 09 at 23:36
All right, several days after my lovely overwatering. . . .
All leaves are still wilty. There are 2 new leaves which had started before the overwatering, and they still seem 'perky' but they aren't too far from the rhizome. It's almost completely dried out, so I put it back into the pot (I did that before I read Bubba's reply, perhaps I should wrap the root ball/soil in a baggie?). Definitely *not* office worthy right now! It's a sad sight indeed. Thanks for your advice; I do not want to throw this plant out as I'm too stubborn to simply give up. I don't know how long it will take for it to start coming back, but I'm willing to give it whatever time it needs to recover! |
RE: Overwatered Rex - is it too late?
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That's the trouble with office plants, they have to survive when you are not there to care so the tendency is to try to give them too much, to compensate.
Unfortunately, that's the wrong thing to do. As long as you are allowing the soil to dry out....why not instead, unpot it, examine the roots for any sign of damage or rotting, and then give the plant some fresh potting soi---making sure there is something between the roots and the drainage holes so it can drain without excess water (when you do it again) hanging around them. Light is another factor. What sort of light are you providing. Office lights --up on the ceiling--are not near what they want---the lights too far away to do anything. A light, placed on the desk, or on a shelf, and the plant is only inches away, is what they need. Direct light, from a window with a south, west or eastern exposure is much better. If the roots appear dark, black or otherwise smell, then a change of soil is a must. A few drops of "No Damp" in its first watering, a fungicide, may help |
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