amberlin,

I suggest you repost your thread to the Fragrant Plants forum. You'll receive lots more replies there as 'Michelia Alba' is considered one of the 'benchmarks' of fragrance in the 'Fragrant Plants' forum.

Anyway, to answer your question, rapid and widespread falling and yellowing of mature leaves especially when it starts at the bottom of the plant and upwards, is a sure sign of overwatering and root rot. Did you do anything to the plant like transplanting it? If you transplanted it, make sure the rootball is at the SAME or HIGHER level in the soil as in the original pot/container. Burying the rootball deep into the soil CAN kill it especially when overwatered.

I can tell you now that based from my experience, once ALL of the mature leaves of 'Michelia Alba' turn yellow and SAG or DROOP, DEATH is almost as SURE AS THE SUN RISES. Any emergency procedures you do now will be of little help.

In case however, you have that 'fighting spirit' to try to save the plant, (there is 30% probability that it could still 'survive'), you should dry the SOIL to the 'CORRECT' moisture level within 24 hours before the 'exponential' root rotting and decay becomes irreversible. If you can't dry the soil to the 'CORRECT' moisture level within 24 hours, better repot or transfer the plant into DRY SOIL and water VERY LIGHTLY afterwards. (DO NOT soak the soil especially soil near the rootball area). DO NOT fertilize a stressed plant like this. If you do decide to TRANSPLANT or REPOT, do take note of the proper way to position the rootball as I mentioned above. Avoid putting the stressed plant in FULL SUN while it is still in critical condition. (Especially avoid the NOON or EARLY AFTERNOON sun).

Michelias are *VERY SENSITIVE* to OVERWATERING and are very succeptible to root rot. Good SOIL DRAINAGE and good WATERING HABITS are of PARAMOUNT importance.

I hope you save your Michelia Alba. It hurts to lose such an excellent fragrant plant.
tropical

This is my all time favorite...I hope your's recovers!!! Tropical gave excellent advice.

I was wondering did either one of you ever hear about using hydrogen peroixide added to the water to help with root rot (of course with drastically decreasing the amount of over watering)? I have yet to try it but it sounds plausible.

Tropical,

Thank you for your amazing advice and diagnostics of my Michelia. I tilted the pot to check for excessive moisture and a bunch of water gushed out so you are right about the root rotting and overwatering. I repotted the plant, placed dry soil on the bottom and made sure the root ball is slightly higher than the original level and now I just pray. This was all done at 12:30am because I couldn't go to sleep knowing that a beautiful plant is dying outside of my bedroom ::inserts sad face again::

If my baby somehow survives I'll be sure to send your a thank you gift!

wanna run faster,

I haven't heard of hydrogen peroxide being used to help with root rot. I have however, heard it can help 'disinfect' and control the spread of fungi and is useful for 'seed germination' to deter fungal growth. I doubt if hydrogen peroxide added to the water will prevent root rot especially when overwatering is the problem. Once hydrogen peroxide is used up, it becomes plain water so the anti-fungal action is rather limited in duration.

amberlin,

One more thing I'd like to add: Don't disturb the plant's roots or stem while it is recovering. Place it in an area where there is no strong wind or breeze. Better yet, stake the plant's stem to ensure it won't rock back and forth with the wind.

Also, just let the leaves fall by themselves. Don't attempt to pull or remove all the yellowed leaves as doing so can further disturb the plant's already fragile root system. Also, allow the soil to dry in between waterings. Looks can be deceiving so what looks like dry soil at the top may still be wet deep down, near the plant's root system.

Poke your finger into the soil to determine if the plant needs watering or not. If it is moist or wet, do not water. Only water when it feels dry or almost dry.

Do update us on how your plant is doing. Progress photos of your plant will be helpful so you can adjust the corrective actions accordingly. (They will tell you if the emergency procedures you made are making progress.)

tropical

Hydrogen peroxide added to water about 5-10% in a gallon will kill the rot and it gives the plant an instant dose of oxygen. Root rot happens because there is not enough air in the soil because it has been replaced with water. All those little bubbles kill the rot and provide it with the needed oxygen. After this let the plant dry out. I have saved many a plant to hydrogen peroxide. You can hear the peroxide bubbling in the soil.

it’s just complaining about the move. Only water thoroughly when completely dry. like once a week or every 10 days. In the meantim, just lightly mist it a couple times a day, decreasing in frequency as it adjusts to new surroundings