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cherrylemonade

Why is my fittonia drooping

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

So I just got a fittonia a few days ago, and it looked great! it looked alive and perky. But just recently ive noticed it's been drastically drooping and going limp. It's been watered, so that's not it, and I was worried that it wasn't getting enough dum, so I moved it to a sunnier location, though they told me that they prefer low lights. I was doing Research and saw that people were saying that they like moisture and a terrarium would do it some good. Is this true? And if so how would I go about making one? I have never messed with terrariums before, and I only know of the succulent kinds.


Comments (16)

  • 8 years ago

    Hi Karen, thank you, and sorry I'm a complete noob here and have no idea what I'm doing. I had actually attempted to add a pic of it twice but for some reason It simply didn't show

  • 8 years ago

    Oh! It worked now, odd. And yes, I was referring to the trendy terrariums you see on the internet, and thank you for telling me about them, I was considering getting a few, but won't be now. But those are the only things I can find when I look up terrariums, and I couldn't find anything useful for my plant

  • 8 years ago

    One method for increasing humidity without making a drastic change in environment is to place the plant on top of a humidity tray. Simply place pebbles in a tray and add water so that the pebbles are not submerged completely. Then place your plant on the pebble surface, so that the bottom of the pot is not touching the water. I'm not sure that this will completely solve your problem, but it is a quick fix that can be applied easily and will help improve the conditions somewhat.

    cherrylemonade thanked Lantana zone 5b/6a
  • 8 years ago

    Thank you lantana! I will try this!

  • 8 years ago

    You're welcome! Also, others use tenting but I don't have experience with this method - you can read a thread where tenting helped save a fittonia here. Good luck!

  • 8 years ago

    Hi Cheryl,

    Thx for giving your name. Pls answer 2 things, still important, is the soil hard to your touch?

    Does that pot have a hole in it? Otherwise a humidity tray won't work (aka pebble tray). It happens I use a lot of them, under all my Hoyas, Spaths & Epiphytic cacti.

  • 8 years ago

    Karen,

    No, the soil is slightly damp, but I had just watered it a few days ago. And as to the pot, it does have a hole, Its still in the pot that I bought it with. I'm honestly a little nervous to repot it after all this


    And I currently have a makeshift humidity tray terrarium right now.

    I have been noticing a bit of a difference, so that's good.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    That arrangement should be fine, I have a couple done like that myself.

    & yes, it does look better.


    However, I keep asking for a reason is the soil hard to your touch?

    Not whether wet or dry, I'm asking: hard or soft to your touch?

    IMPORTANT:

    If hard to the touch, the water is going around the rootball, not into & thru it. That can be why even tho' you'd watered, it still wilted.

    This was just explained elsewhere on another thread (about Sans).

    "It is possible the water is just running along the outside of the rootball and draining out the bottom without ever really saturating the plant."

  • 8 years ago

    Oh, I apologise, I have never heard of that. The soil was soft if I remember correctly, I'm currently on vacation this weekend for labor day. But Im pretty sure it was not hard, though if it was, how would I fix it.

  • 8 years ago

    As long as it was soft it's fine, otherwise, let us know when you get back & otherwise enjoy!

  • 8 years ago

    Thank you

  • 8 years ago

    Another possible issue is root rot -- if the media is staying too wet for too long.

  • 7 years ago

    The soil is not hard, it's quite soft. Ive been watching it this week and it's been doing much better


    Paul, how would I tell if it had that specifically?

  • 7 years ago

    The only real way is to uproot the plant and check the roots. If the plant appears to be doing better, then either the other conditions may have improved or -- if it was suffering from root loss -- then it may have regrown new roots.

  • 7 years ago

    Update* I was keeping an eye on it the past week, and everything was looking great! Until I noticed something strange with the stems. In certain areas the Stem is super skinny, like it's being pinched. Is this something of concern? Everything else is seems fine.


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