Congrats on your survivor! That's awesome! :+)

I have too many stories to pick one to tell (probably again, I would have posted something around this site at the time), but as a general observation, plants that don't wilt when thirsty have the best chance of surviving a drought, and seem to be the best candidates to successfully propagate as a means of saving what's left from an instance of rotting roots (or in the extreme drought situation, roots that have shriveled and died from extreme drought).

Bill, what a great thread and story. I love that when many plants survive after everything even when we just hope they do well after looking completely dead.

I remember one of my jades dropping an entire piece off in the basement a couple years back. I brought all my plants up outside that summer and did not notice that cutting until the fall when I brought all of them in again and in the dark dusty corner on my basement, it held on and sprouted roots after it almost shriveled up. It's now a thriving plant. A pic to come soon.

You sir win the award for "never give up"! There should be such an award for plant people. We have all had those sticks that get relegated to a corner or outdoors and then dang if they don't decide to resurrect themselves.

Mike - have your Jade plants bloomed? I have one that has to be maybe 30 years old. It's bloomed a couple of times for me but it seems to do it on it's own, not something I can say I contributed to. Now Snake plants - they bloom reliably for me every year. I even have some in bloom now! I own several different types and they are reliable bloomers. In fact, one of them, Fernwood I think the name is, or something along those lines, it grows like a weed and blooms profusely too.

Mike - I also placed the Ponderosa lemon outside. It gets full sun maybe 6-7 hours a day. I keep it moist now after just repotting it. I haven't seen any new growth yet, but I would expect something in a week or so to begin showing up. I will keep you posted.

Found the old discussion I was thinking about! It's on a different site. I still have almost all of the plants I posted there. https://garden.org/thread/view/30255/Whats-your-best-back-from-the-dead-plant-s/

I said it there & I'll say it again with more experience behind it, putting a struggling plant in the ground while it's warm enough outside usually gets a plant back to vigorous health.

And some things, like most vines, aren't worth the trouble of repotting if they get tired & unhappy, just snip everything & start new. If it's early enough in the season to bother, you can plunk the old root ball into the ground and it should send a whole new crop of vines to harvest.

Hi Bill, yes all of them at one point or another depending on how I treat them. One in particular flowers evert year. It's quite unique and can not be found in this country unless someone I shared cuttings with will share it or ask me for a cutting. It is over 39 years old and very very colorful all year long. It's a noid and no one ever gave it a name. It seems our noids are some of the best plants we have, right? I will find a pic from last fall and share it here if that is ok with you.)

Bill, which snake plant flowers for you? I never have luck with those flowering for me. You must give them high light? Any nicely fragrant ones? you know me. Ha

Really? That sounds like great conditions for that ponderosa...Don't forget to fertilize it and use vinegar often if you are not using rain water. It will keep that tree green and well fed. You should see blossoms real soon. I am still waiting for mine.

Darn, I wish I could post pics off my computer when posting here, but I have to use my phone for that. What a pain. I will post a pic of that little tree too for you)

Bill, in case you did not know,

Tiffany has been such a staple here for great advice and beautiful plants for years. A real pro in my eyes and for her to take the time to visit us, is just awesome. Enjoy her company while you can as I always do.

Tiffany, happy to see you a part of this forum and the citrus one too. Fragrant too.

Mike - your ponderosa looks to be about the same size as mine (actually my sons). It does seem to enjoy the sun. I still have that second stem that I need to decide what to do with. It looks like Logees clipped it for themselves to propagate. I will probably let it grow out for a few inches then clip it again to propagate it for myself! you mentioned vinegar - why? What does it do and what ratio? Any particular type?

I really like that jade plant - the colors are incredible. If I ever see one like it around here I'll be sure to pick up a plant.

The snake plants all bloom. I have no idea what types they are as I've collected them for years. There is one that creeps, Fernwood I think? Another with cylindrical leaves, another tiny one with small round leaves, the common ones found in every store (that one is in a huge pot. I need a hand truck to move it around. It must weigh 50+ pounds dry!) Another called moon something or other and several others. They all bloom reliably and all drip nectar! I've never had seeds form though.

As you can see - I grow them for the enjoyment and their leaves. Names aren't too important to me since I don't sell them.

Thank you for your kind comments, Mike! Good to "see" you!! :) That Jade of yours with the pink edges is spectacular - and the other one is right there with it.

Mike, I love that first jade. Is it a variegated Blue Bird? Mine are still pretty small.

I have a good example. Dieffenbachia. Here it is looking gorgeous in 2018.

Everything went well until it came inside for winter in fall of '19. I had put it in a big wire thing that it loved because I was watering it a lot but it was airy all around. It was hard to find something to put under that when it came inside so I was watering in little sips in the middle. I know, right! Of course, that resulted in shriveling at the base of every stem. I put it in a corner to dry out & I was going to do cuttings but I forgot all about it. Some things got stored in front of it for a time, and I found last fall, 2020, looking for something. I was surprised that the stems were still green. I figured I might as well try and all of the stems took root, about 9 of them. Here's one I put in the ground until it gets too cold:

I gave a couple away, and the rest are in various pots.

Tiffany, makes ya feel good when they recover doesn't it?

Absolutely!

This is a Hoya globulosa that was unhappy and it’s three leaves yellowed and died. I took it out of the grow tent, tried to almost neglect watering, and kept it in lower light. Soon I noticed four new growth points, put it back in the grow tent, and now it has a growing green leaf. Hopefully this time I can keep it happy.

That puppy will not only survive, it will thrive in that tent. Keep us posted on its progress. Best of luck to you both.

Where was I when you all asked me questions or even added to this thread? My e-mail never notified me Ugh

I will be back.

If any of you want a cutting of any of my jades let me know, ok.

And Bill,

Bill, I use vinegar to acidify my watering solution which will make all the nutrients in my fertilizer available because my water , tap is much to high in pH not allowing the nutrients to be taken up at times. Acidifying your water safely makes them available and your trees do cart wheels.

I use rainwater Mike. Does that need vinegar too? If so, what ratio? Thanks.

BTW, I enjoyed speaking with you the other day.

Stay well my friend.

Bill, sometimes I use use it anyway for the reason that it does no harm at the ration I use. But if I use rainwater, and drench the plants, I use at least a tablespoon in a gallon at once. Our mixes are very porous so we have the luxury to do that without rot or salt residue damage)

Stay well too))

Globulosa update photos: so far, so good