Medinilla stopped growing

8 years ago

I brought home a tall Medinilla from a nursery about 3 weeks ago. It had some black/gray leaves on it towards the bottom which I clipped off, and I soaked it once it's soil/bark felt dry. Some of the remaining leaves have cracks in them or are broken but I was nervous to cut them off. I have it in a sunny spot in my sunroom and mist it daily, but there has been no new growth between any of the leaves.

I can't tell if it is healthy or has just stopped growing. Does anyone know how long these take to show signs of new leaves/growth? I added photos of what it looks like between all the top leaves, dark brown with no green or growth.

Most of the leaves towards the top of the plant feel sturdy and look green, but it hasn't shown any signs of growth and are dark in the middle. Anyone have any experience growing these? Hopefully I can get some new stalks and leaves growing.

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Comments (2)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
welcome to the forums ...

you have a lot of expectations for a plant you have had for 3 weeks ... during which you moved it from a nursery .. soaked it.. and removed leaves ...

one might think it is experiencing some shock ..

make sure you let it near dry between waterings ... that is one of the points of bark media .... ... and it sounds like thats how the nursery treated it .... and ignore it for a month or 3 .... to give it time to settle down.. and get used to its new surroundings ...

the only thing i wonder about.. is how you window differs from how it got light at the nursery ... and how that might work ... you dont mention what direction the window faces ... nor what if any direct sun it gets ... might it be significantly different ???

try not to love it to death ... ken
Bc _zone10b thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Bc _zone10b
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks Ken, I had a feeling I was expecting quick results. I'll make sure to let it get dry between waterings and mist it daily since I'm in NY and humidity is only high on certain days.

My sunroom windows are south-east facing, so it seems the plants along those windows get mostly morning sun until about 1-2pm. My passionflowers and succulents seem to like that window, as well as a couple of citrus trees.

I'm not sure how much light the nursery was giving it. It was stuck in a corner on the floor with a bunch of other plants, all under larger trees that were in the windows. It was also very wet when I picked it up, I think they were just soaking everything in there the same amount each watering.

I haven't transplanted it to a new pot yet, but was going to do that eventually and put it in an Orchid type medium/mix. Do you think I should wait a few more weeks to do that until it has settled in? I'm totally new to Medinillas and have a small Magnifica and Bella on the same table by the windows that are growing new leaves and were re-potted with Orchid medium/mix.

I was told to give them Calcium+Magnesium mixed with to help their young roots along with "Orchid Food MSU-Feed me Granular" fertilizer, both which I ordered. Was thinking of giving the two young plants and this taller one those in their watering on Monday.

Thank you for your help!
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