My plant is dying! Is this it for my rosemary plant? Is it going to the big balcony garden up above? Oh wait maybe it’ll be a huge yard. What is causing my plant to die? I thought I was watering it properly and giving it all the sunshine it can handle. Even though I do those things it just won’t come back to me. On my last update, Leanne at Hanbury House said:
“I wish I could give you some good advice on how to resuscitate it, but it kind of looks like it may be too far gone. Could it have been getting too much water, pot bound, or have the wrong kind of soil mix?”So that got me to thinking what I may have done to begin its downward spiral. Could it have been when my loved one decided to water it? Is it pot bound? Is the soil mix wrong for this plant? I think it’s time to do some research.
So let’s start with some reasons that may cause a plant to die. Can it be over watering? Can it be some disease I don’t know about?
Here are a few reasons why a plant may die taken from Gardening tips and advice
- Too much water or too little
- Wrong mixture of soil
- Wrong climate for the plant
- Over-fertilizing
- Lack of protection
- Pests
- Transplant Shock
Some more reasons from Container gardening
- “When there isn't a big enough hole or holes for water to get out of your pot, your soil becomes too wet and the roots of your plants can rot which causes the plant to die.”
- “...you have to know how much light your container will get before you choose your plants.”
- “The vast majority of plants will need fertilizer added to your soil, in order to thrive.”
Here is what The Plant Guy has to say:
- "Hands down, the major reason for plant failure is improper watering."
- "One of the most frequent reasons for plant failure is poorly chosen potting mix, or a soil medium that has decomposed."
- "It is also common that people will place an indoor plant into a pot that has no drainage hole in it."
OK plenty of reasons why my plants are dying right? Now I think I can eliminate some of these reasons and try to concentrate on the ones that are most likely to be the reason. As Leanne had suggested I think the she had the best reasons. Let’s dive more into those reasons.
OK let’s dive into am I watering my plant too much? Well it did start when my loved one wanted to water the rosemary plant. Even though I clearly told her I watered them the day before. Without hesitation she started watering and explained to me that she was taking care of these plants way before I came around. That she knew what the plants needed. If there is one lesson to learn when you’re dealing with a loved one. It’s keeping your mouth shut. I learned that long ago and it has gotten me pretty far.. actually it got me a fiancé. So let’s go to the trusty web and see what we can come up with.
"The #1 killer of houseplants is over watering."
"Symptoms of a Root Bound Plant1. The plant has stopped growing. This means that no new shoots are forming, even though the plant may produce some new leaves.2. The leaves wilt a relatively short period after the plant is watered.3. Regardless of the fact that you are properly watering and fertilizing the plant, an inordinate amount of leaves are dying. No amount of adjustments to the amount of water or fertilizer seems to help."
"Plants grown in pots never reach their full potential, images of their roots show. A medical imaging technique called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used by researchers to capture plant pot root snapshots. The pictures reveal that the roots 'sense the size of the pot' and restrict the growth of the plant.”
"This means the plant has been in its pot for too long and that potentially it has not been getting the nutrition it needs from the soil because their simply isn't enough potting soil left in the pot because it has been replaced with roots."
OK that’s interesting. I better check on my plants. Bigger pots.. I do enjoy going to the local store and searching the gardening section. Now I have a good excuse.
"When discussing soil, we generally focus in on four things: texture, structure, pH, organic matter and fertility."
"Most cultivated plants enjoy slightly acidic conditions with a pH of about 6.5."
"Bad soil impedes the growth of your plants, so adding improvements before planting helps your plants as they grow."
"And a good soil structure for your flower garden should be crumbly. This type of soil allows the plant roots to get air and water to drain properly"
"If your plants are languishing, yellowing or otherwise looking sickly or you feel like you are forever feeding them, it would be worth testing your soil."zzzzzzz…..zzzzzz…. huh? No, Oakley didn’t chase the cat up tree.. Oh? Huh? Oh I dozed off for a second there. Soil information can get pretty scientific but it is really interesting. But I’ll let you read it for yourself.
As I get more and more into my balcony gardening my eyes are really opening up. There is a lot of information out there and it’s all clearly coming to me.. well in small, tiny, micro increments.
After gathering all the information my mind can comprehend. I concluded that I believe it may be the over watering. Now back to the web and find solutions… see you next post!
Hi Oakley. i dont mind if you quote from my blog wwwgardenofeaden.blogspot.com but do you mind adding a back link to it . kind regards. simon
ReplyDeleteToo bad there was never a follow up post. I'm dying to know if small rosemary has recovered and what it took
ReplyDelete