Witness my Plant killing skills

[martyllian]

Schefflera Aboricola, Golden Schefflera, was bright green and yellows 1 week ago.

I
S U C K

In better news, the Gardenia I had in there for a month is recovering.

I moved it further away from the light even. Notice how bright green my fake leafy vines are.

This was right after his lights turned on this morning, so he was basking. I was so annoyed at how brown it has gotten. He does like climbing on the green solid stems though.

I reaaaaaaly need a Ficus. Spring needs to come now

 

[BocaJan]

That is pretty dead.

 

[Jason4045]

Get that fire hazard out of that cage!!! I'm sorry but I dont think I could have killed it any better if I used a microwave


Ok....ok... enough jokes. What temps are you running in the cage? Are you watering it other then the mistings? Rotate plants when they show signs of wear and tear by removing them and placing them outside for a while, they last alot longer that way. I dont really know if theres any hope for that thing. Plant disease mabey? Im not a botinist (plant guru), but I will say time for a new tree in there

 

[dodolah]

3 reasons why we killed plants in our chameleon enclosure:

1. over water or under water.
2. not enough light.
3. pot sit directly on the PVC board or sit on a tray with water in it.


3 ways to deal with this problem:
1. Deal with misting session. if over water, don't water the soil too much.
if under water, water the soil more.

2. Get a plant light at your local wal mart or lowes.

3. Raise the pot with pot feet or plant stand.

 

[martyllian]

Nope, plenty of drainage. It is on a plant stand and drains into a covered "pan" that is emptied every night.

Its not a fire hazard, the leaves are rubbery and moist. Ill remove it when I can get a replacement

I didn't have a chance to rotate it out. this was literally 7 days, the gardenia at least lasted a month.

Most of the stems are still green...

Im trying to find a new tree.

Temps are 80-85 at basking spot, 77-70 ambient at different levels.

It was either A: overwatered or B: too much light. I wonder if the stupid thing was dying when I bought it.

 

[Jason4045]

Its not a fire hazard, the leaves are rubbery and moist.

I meant that jokingly...

 

[dodolah]

Nope, plenty of drainage. It is on a plant stand and drains into a covered "pan" that is emptied every night.

Its not a fire hazard, the leaves are rubbery and moist.

I didn't have a chance to rotate it out. this was literally 7 days, the gardenia at least lasted a month.

Most of the stems are still green...

only a week?
how much you water the guy? my guess you over water it.
let see the bottom and check if the soil has gnats' larvae.

Is the root stinks?

 

[alhickabee]

Its probably not totally dead and it may very well come back if you cut off the dead leaves and what not. My schefflera dropped 90% of it's leaves and is just now starting to come back. Most plants will drop their leaves if there is a drastic change in its environment. Also Dodolah has some great tips there. Good looking veiled you got there too

 

[chamelisa]

If a plant is packed properly in soil in a ceramic or other fired pot, then there is no way to overwater. Bonsai a ficus or shefflera and you cannot kill it by watering it too much. But same plant will die fairly fast if underwatered. A bonsai pot is shallow. The root ball of a plant is spread out into the pot and soil is packed in carefully using fingers and a chopstick. Any stick really. I have used a branch cutting too.

I learned very early in my cham keeping experience about hydration, hydration, hydration. To me it is more useful to have a tree that can handle that much water without rotting out the roots from oversaturated soil.

I think Marty's plant may have been sick to die that quickly. It shouldn't have been yellow at all. If it was variegated, then maybe a cream color with brighter green. But yellow doesn't sound so good for a new plant.

 

[Calavera]

PWNT!!!!

 

[Sancho]

WOW you killed that sucker!

I will order me some of those Defeet's looks like a awesome product

 

[martyllian]

I trimmed a ton of dead stuff off it already, and Norman has pruned it some too. Ill remove the rest of the wilted leaves and see if it comes back.

It was a variagated sh
Schefflera, so the golden yellows were normal.

It could very well be the repotting process and drastically changing its environment caused it to go into shock.

Roots do not stink, just sent a probe down to the bottom of the pot to get a core sample. Not seeing larvae either.

Btw, the pwnt! Comment made my day

 

[chambabysitter1]

If a plant is packed properly in soil in a ceramic or other fired pot, then there is no way to overwater. Bonsai a ficus or shefflera and you cannot kill it by watering it too much. But same plant will die fairly fast if underwatered. A bonsai pot is shallow. The root ball of a plant is spread out into the pot and soil is packed in carefully using fingers and a chopstick. Any stick really. I have used a branch cutting too.

I learned very early in my cham keeping experience about hydration, hydration, hydration. To me it is more useful to have a tree that can handle that much water without rotting out the roots from oversaturated soil.

I think Marty's plant may have been sick to die that quickly. It shouldn't have been yellow at all. If it was variegated, then maybe a cream color with brighter green. But yellow doesn't sound so good for a new plant.

Gotta agree with Chamelisa's usual sensible advice. I had a shefflera that fell apart at the root ball when I got it out, and I had no idea what I was doing.
After some advice from Elisa, I put it in a shallow bonsai pot, packed it tighter than tight, and haven't had trouble since. If anything the shefflera has been flourishing. I was worried about the roots being over saturated, but I haven't had trouble yet.

 

[Orchidartist]

Did you just buy that plant? It looks like it has been frozen, sometimes it takes a few days for the plant to show the damage.

 

[laurie]

Man you need to take that plant back to someone. Where did you buy it? Even home depot would take back a plant that died that fast. hope you have the reciept.

What bad thing did the plant do to deserve to die that brutally????

 

[blackbetty]

Yea, most places (except walmart) have a 1 year guarantee on their plants with receipt.. I only buy mine at places like that for that reason.

I have a Schefflera drop all but one leaf..and then I realized it was high light plant and stuck it in some sun and its doing better..Not totally full, but got about 3 dozen leaves on it now.

Yours looks..uhm..sad and starved...

 

[Lille]

Oh wow, when I opened the bigger view to the pictures I started laughing, pretty loud. What did you do?!?!?!?! I mean, I have the black thumb of doom, but !!! Wow! I agree, if you bought it not too long ago I'd try to return it. Although it being dead doesn't seem to mind your cham very much

 

[Snarfit]

Martyllian -

You definitely have my sympathies - I am working my butt off right now trying to save one of my scheffs, and when I saw what lousy shape it was in I said the exact same thing - " I SUCK!"

I would be interested to hear more about how one should properly repot a scheff actually. I am going to have to do that soon, and I have already proven that I have a black thumb.

 

[blackbetty]

I stick it in a larger pot and use organic soil from my worm compost. I water thoroughly and stick in high light area. Mine are thriving really good in the cage.. I also use a grow light in there. My one previous wasnt doing so hot as I stated, but that was because lack of light. They are high light plants. I also rarely water mine as the misting of Leos cage seems to suffice. I do check them every wednesday as thats my watering plant day to make sure. Just because the top might be dry, doesnt mean the bottom is, so i make sure to check 2 inches below the soil with a finger. If its dry, then I will add 1/2-1 cup depending on plant and pot size.

My mom swears by those Aquaglobes...

 

[Vince]

My scheff did the same thing once. The problem was i took it out side from my apartment to my car (4 yards) in the winter. It don't take much to kill the leaves on one of these. I would trim it and see if any new leaves start to shoot out. After mine quit dropping leaves it came back stronger than ever.

I dont know, I just thought that maybe this could be your problem as well since you just got it a week ago. Took mine about a week to look like that as well.