I think yours may indeed have needed repotting...how did the roots look? They grow fast here in summer and take full GA sun and heat so I think your sun lights would be great after a few days rest from the repotting. Good Luck. Post again to let us know if repotting helped. josh

I have grown P.Sheild for the last three years. They
do best in bright light with shade part of the day. The color of the leaves is more intense in bright light. They
annot stand to dry out and will wilt really fast if dry. I
have a canopy of Oaks which give my garden dappled shade, the P Shield apparently love the conditions. I had one planted where it recieved shade only in late afternoon, and it wilted everyday. I never try to save the previous years
plants. I just get new ones at 2.79 each year. I do the same with my Dragonwing Begonias

Has anyone heard of this? I've lost leaves to too much or too little water, but I have say signs that the leaves were gnawed off or even gnawed upon.

Anyone have that experience??
thank you
cynthia

I watched a squirrel stand up on it's hind legs and pull leaves off one of my Persian Shields and eat them. This was the first time in years i had seen a Squirrel do this. The same Squirrel also sat on my fence and ate dead leaves off my Clematis. Go figure must have been a real picky eater.

Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian shield*) is my favorite PURPLE plant, and is quite the attention-getter, even for non "plant people." It shows its' best color when in dappled light from mid-morning to afternoon, then direct sun earlier or later in the day, like under a large tree with pretty high lowest limbs. Just early morning or late afternoon sun is the next-best thing. When in doubt about its' placement, lean toward more shade. Too much sun will turn the leaves green and/or gray, while less than optimal amounts of sun will just result in smaller leaves and slower growth, with no affect on the color. This is also a thirsty plant, but a bit more forgiving than Coleus, and usually rebounds well from even profound wilting, although that would ideally be avoided. Easy to propagate via water-started cuttings. Roots take 2-5 weeks to form, depending on cut location and weather factors.

Hardy to zone 9 although it will die back to the ground when frosted, or easy to save as a house plant over winter if you don't mind it's nakedness. A potted plant takes up a lot more space and I usually only have one and save the rest as cuttings in water. Even though it's plenty warm in your house, the change of sunlight combined with the dry indoor air almost always cause this (potted) plant to go semi-dormant (sleeping.) If you are going to bring one inside, I recommend removing almost all of the leaves first, because that's easier than picking them up off of the floor later, and they can get crumbly when dry. Leaving 3-5 leaves at each growing tip will be plenty. Let it get a bit more dry than when it was outside actively growing. When frosts are no longer a danger, you'll have a LARGE plant to put outside, and it will fill out with beautiful new purple leaves within a few weeks, especially if repotted when replaced outside. Don't be shy about trimming the roots.

Your plant sounds perfectly normal. HTH!