Need help with my leafy green friend.

[To Be Quite Honest]

I have this beautiful plant that needs some TLC. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thank you CP.

[Poison]

Smoke it.

[Regulator75]

[Methanolic]

You need a much larger pot that allows for drainage. Get a big pot, Put a bit of gravel in the bottom then some good rich soil.

Transplant that beast with as little disruption as possible to the root ball.

Looks the the type of plant that requires a lot of sun too. Also, If you know the species, you may want to pop by a garden center and ask somebody what type of fertilizer/plant food that thing requires.

Your biggest problem is that pot is way too small for a plant that big.

Edit: There's probably not a lot you can do about that damaged foliage.

[Sainters7]

^^^
Wow. Once you wade through all the sarcastic/jokey responses and find the good stuff, I swear CP's more reliable than Google.

[HOOT]

I thought this was going in completely different direction...

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by HOOT

I thought this was going in completely different direction...

haha exactly why I opened the thread...

[Komskies]

Found this website.

Originally Posted by http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51546.asp

Yellow Leaves
Does panic set in when the leaves on your houseplants begin to yellow? It does for me! Yellowing leaves are a very good sign that something is wrong with your plant, but unfortunately it can be a sign of almost anything. Yellow leaves can be a symptom of drought or over-watering, over- or under-fertilization, low light conditions, pests, and more. How do you figure out what the problem is and save your beloved plant? A little detective work should do the trick.

Has the plant recently been moved? Plants will often shed leaves if they are moved from a location of high humidity to one with low humidity. Even a new temperature range can cause some stress. Plants need time to acclimate to new environments, and the loss of leaves is their way of readjusting to their surroundings. This type of yellowing and leaf loss usually occurs on the lower, older leaves.

Leaves may yellow if the plant is exposed to a cold draft, so pay attention to plants you keep near windows. When the seasons change and cool weather arrives, your plants will let you know if you have leaky windows or doors. This may cause a lot of leaves all over the plant to go yellow and fall off.

If your plant inhabits the same place it always has and the yellow leaves are new, you need to investigate a little further. Watering practices are usually suspect in this case, since symptoms of poor watering can take a little time to show up. Pick the plant up: is it heavy or light? If it is very light, then under-watering is a possible cause of the leaves yellowing. If it is very heavy and soggy, especially if you haven’t recently watered, over-watering is likely.

Very high light levels can cause yellowing on plants that aren’t suited for it. Very low light levels can cause the entire plant to go yellow if the plant is one that requires higher light levels. Get informed about the light requirements of your houseplant, if you haven’t already, and you will find yourself becoming a more successful grower.

Sometimes yellowing is caused by insect pests, so you may want to look your plant over thoroughly if you still haven’t discovered the cause of its decline. Look on stems and leaves, especially the undersides, for webbing and stippling from spider mites, honeydew from aphids, or even the actual insects themselves. A magnifying glass can be helpful in spotting pests, but most of them can be seen with the naked eye.

If nothing else makes sense, fertilization practices should be considered as a possible cause of leaf yellowing. If an entire plant has taken on a light green to yellow cast and the newest leaves are very small, the plant is lacking in Nitrogen. Yellowing between the veins on a leaf is also an excellent sign that your plant is starving, and you should look into some good fertilizer.

There are a few other odd reasons why a plant’s leaves may go yellow, but these are the reasons that it usually happens. Over-watering is the most common mistake and people often love their plants to death…literally. Hopefully, this guide will make it a lot easier to nurture the leafy members of your family.

[red sky]

[mykalberta]

I figured you were dating some tree hugger chick and needed advice, not an actual botanical question

[AvsJerk]

I agree that the pot is a little small, but don't go with too big of a pot either, I bet the soil has been drained of any nutrients. If it were my plant, I'd go ahead and cut off about two of those damaged leaves and the dead leaf as well to start...use a sharp knife or razor and cut them close to the main stalk...also get rid of those dead stalks that have no leaves. The leafs also look kind of dusty, so clean them off gently with a wet rag.

Let the plant rest for awhile after doing all of the above and see if it rebounds and throws out any new growth...if it does, cut out a couple more of those damaged leaves. Don't do too much all at once.

Also, don't use plant food until the spring & let the soil dry out between waterings...especially in the winter.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Found this website.

AHHHH! This cause more questions!!! lol

Thanks Komskies.

[Doctordestiny]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

^^^
Wow. Once you wade through all the sarcastic/jokey responses and find the good stuff, I swear CP's more reliable than Google.

I'm putting that theory to the test at this very moment.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...88#post2362588

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by HOOT

I thought this was going in completely different direction...

I'm a little disappointed to tell you the truth.

[DrJ]

To be quite honest, I have no idea how to help but your sig almost gave me a seizure.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by DrJ

To be quite honest, I have no idea how to help but your sig almost gave me a seizure.

So you're saying it's awesome.

Thanks!

[Bibtin Tex]

Hmm, this thread does not deliver, at least not the way I was hoping. But, you do have a nice sig.

5 stars.

[redforever]

Now I know those decorative rocks are all the rage, but personally, I don't like to use them. They hide what the actual condition of the soil is, making it very hard to tell if your plant actually needs watering when you water it.

I never water my plants without feeling the soil. If the soil is still moist, no need to water.

I use spanghum moss instead of those rocks. It helps to conserve moisture, is a natural product, looks good, and is very easy to lift a small piece to see what the condition of your soil is.

That pot does not look all that large for the size plant you have in it. If I were you, I think I would take the plant out of that pot and check the roots. I might loosen the roots up, maybe take off a few, and repot in new soil.

That plant is not particularily tender and can take quite a bit of handling before you will damage it...... not that you could damage it much further((

By the way, I see that your plant is beside some door or window? Or maybe a furnace register? Is it getting drafts? It is a tropical plant so requires conditions that do not change much. It also needs humidity. That is a constant battle in Calgary.....giving plants enough humidity. I might try moving it to a corner that is not so close to that door or window, where it won't be as exposed to drafts and where you can provide more constant growing conditions. It will need light though, although it will grow in diffused, not direct light. It probably needs light about 60 to 70% of the day.

I also see it sort of has red blotches on some of the leaves? That can be a sign that your plant is getting too much DIRECT light. Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti behave the same way, leaves redden with too much sun.

[Shazam]

What redforever said. Pot size seems to be fine. Rocks on top aren't ideal.

Some leaf loss is normal, BTW. Try pulling on that leaf, BTW. If it comes off easily, it's been underwatered. If it hangs on, it's been overwatered.

[Suzles]

It looks like a philodendron to me so it should be in indirect light. In the wild it grows under the tree canopy so filtered light is best. As Calgary is so dry, tropical plants need some humidity. So it can benefit the plant if it stands above a deep layer of gravel (in a large saucer pot) that is kept filled with water - but not so the plant pot touches it. The water evaporates around the plant. Don't mist plants with water - it can cause water droplets that turn into magnifying glasses that can cause burn marks on the leaves. When you pot a plant on only go one size up at a time (ie from an eight inch pot to a ten inch pot) or the plant can panic and just start making roots. Cut right back on watering in the winter and only fertilise when the plant is growing.