A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Limp plants?

I went away for the long weekend and when I came back I noticed that my Zebra plant was completely dead, and 2 more of my green leafy plants were very limp and lifeless. I threw out the Zebra, it was a pot of mush. The other two I want to try to keep but I dont know what is wrong with them. I unfortunately have no pics and I dont know what they are, the tag just says "premium foliage".

My guess was that it was too hot in my dining room for them, so I put them out on the deck for the night to see if they would perk up... nothing. They are getting the same amount of water that they had before.

Any ideas?? Could the heat have been a factor? anyone know how to save them??

Thanks!

plants become limp from dryness, excessive heat, too much water (waterlogging), diseases, high salts in soil (from fertilizer), etc.

You did move them out into the night which should have perked them up if the reason is due to "excessive heat". It's possible that the plants may have been extremely heated up and may take a few days to perk up.

And you said you watered them, which should rule out the possiblility of "dryness". Are they getting better over the watering? If not, check the next reason.

How often do you water? Too much water, pots with no holes, and/or saturated soil can lead to root rot. Check the soil. Does the soil feel soggy and wet? Rotten roots are brown and mushy.

Let's try to find the reason for the wilting before you do anything to the plants.

Good luck! Hope they perk up !

I agree with lily. Sometimes plants overheat and it takes a while to recover. I've had plants do that before. I thought I'd killed them, but held onto them and they perked up in a few days. Just be patient and keep them out of direct sunlight/heat for a few days.

Where were they in your dining room that they could have overheated? Were they in their usual spots or did you move them there specifically during your vacation?

well they originally were in my living room which is very dark and dingy, and since I knew we would be away, I moved them to a brighter room thinking they would be better off (we kept our window blinds closed when we were gone). I moved them to the dining room so they could have some light from the skylights. All my other plants love this room so I was shocked to see them doing so bad when I got back.

They're still looking bad, and this is like a week or so later. I think I will move them back to the living room and see if it helps