need pix please ... including the pot..

what happens when you water ... does it soak in.. or just run out the bottom????

media is a water management system ... and it wears out over the years ... and when it wears out. it fails.. and when it fails.. the plant shows leaf damage ...

who did you buy it from.. and why were the leaves already browning..

show us the pot.. see if we can tell how recently it was repotted ....

your plant is extremely stressed... it in not hungry .. NEVER FERT A STRESSED PLANT ...

ken

Hi Ken. Thanks a lot for your comments. I bought it from a small plant and home wear shop that was closing down. I've attached some photos to give an idea of the leaves and pot. I would say that the water does soak it. It only runs out the bottom if I water it a lot.

Your miracle grow will very likely lack calcium, magnesium, and some of the micro nutrients. Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is a complete nutritional supplementation program from a single source, and would be a perfect fit for your plant. FP 9-3-6 doesn't derive it's nitrogen from urea, like MG products do. Urea tends to promote lanky, coarse growth - big leaves and long internodes. This is generally undesirable especially in low light indoor settings.

The grow media won't wear out. As soil biota break soil hydrocarbon chains down, some of the nutrients are used by the plant. Most of the carbon in the hydrocarbon chains is lost to the air as CO2 - it gasses-off. Too, as a planting matures to the point where the entire soil mass is colonized by roots, the roots become a part of the soil structure. It's not uncommon to find horribly root bound trees being watered daily because almost ALL soil has gassed off.

If we only acted when a plant is stress free, we'd never be able to act. Stress is cause for action, not cause for adopting a hands-off policy. Plants seldom fix themselves, so being proactive should be a normal modus operandi for growers.

Was the plant in that plastic storage container or a similar set-up. If yes, that might be the source of the problem. More details once I find out about that storage container. Any chance you might know if the previous owner had been fertilizing the plant?

Al

Hi Al. Thanks a lot for your advice. The plant has been in the storage container for around 2 months since we bought it. I have now taken it out. We were planning to get a slightly larger and heavier pot as the plant is quite top heavy. Any advise on next steps would be great. I will try and find out it the previous owner was using fertilizer and look at getting some FP 9-3-6.

Will

Before you repot or pot up (there is a significant difference between the two) it would be worth flushing the soil thoroughly with a garden hose (if temps allow). There is significant potential that the plant was watered in small sips; or, if the plant was in a collection saucer, was allowed to sit in the effluent that exits the drain hole. Both cause all the dissolved solids (salts) in tapwater and fertilizer solutions to accumulate in the soil. Eventually the increasing level of salts in the soil limits nutrient uptake. It can even reverse the flow of water into cells so water is pulled out of cells, this, by the same mechanism curing salts pulls water from the cells of meat. As the level of salts in the grow medium becomes more concentrated, the plant starts having difficulty moving water to its most distal parts - (leaf tips and margins), resulting in random areas of necrosis at these points. I usually suggest a grower should pour a volume of water equal to at least 10X the volume of the pot be poured slowly/evenly through the soil. This will flush out almost all dissolved solids - sort of like hitting the fertilizer reset button to 0. A day or two after flushing the soil, you should fertilize at the production rate.

Unfortunately, over or under-watering causes the same symptoms as a high level of salts in the soil, but it's not difficult to determine what interval between waterings is appropriate. For that you can use a wooden dowel rod that can be pushed through the soil to the bottom of the pot. This will be easier after you repot/ pot up. More on that below.

You might find this Overview of Good Growing Practices to be helpful.

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al