Plant Problems

I was recently sharing photos via text with an old friend who lives half way across the country, when I noticed she had become quite the indoor plant “whisperer” with lots of large big green specimens of all sorts. I complimented her. She thanked me and acknowledged they were not too shabby—looking good, EXCEPT for two, that just won’t cheer up like all the rest.

I asked her to send me photos in case I could give her some long-distant advice. After looking and thinking about their general appearance via photos, I had a feeling something was bugging them (literally or figuratively). I looked a little longer and asked a daring question (not wanting to offend someone who clearly knows how to take good care of her plants): ”I hate to ask this, but the pots each of these two plants are in… they have drainage holes, right?” I felt bad asking something so silly, but my friend immediately admitted ”oops, they do not.”

The mystery was solved. They need drainage! Cute pots, but, from experience, I have learned that the cutest planters almost never have drainage holes, and drainage is up there with light and temperature as basic requirements for happy ones.

My guess is that they have root rot because they simply sit in water without a drain, which makes for a very unhappy plant. So, I insisted with confidence how sure I am that she can make them better:

Take them out of those pots

Gently clean up roots and trim brown leaves, looking for any dead parts to trim off

Preferably replace all the soil (might be bugs or eggs)

Repot with LOTS of drainage (aka HOLES in the bottom ; )

I bet you will give them another chance to thrive!

Psst. I’ll nudge her in a month or so to see how they are doing. ; )