Houseplants: HELP

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pantera Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) October 22, 2009 03:45 PM	I took my two Gardenia trees in a month ago ,and already losing leaves turning yellow , same with my Hibiscus. I;m seeing the grants by soil sometimes. My ferns ,think it is called birds nest, the leaves are drying out and falling all over . I mist everyday . SOMEONE PLEASE HELP This message was edited Oct 22, 2009 3:45 PM
barhea7 (Bre) Sellersville, PA (Zone 7a) October 22, 2009 05:34 PM	The trees will naturally loose their leaves this time of year. Do you mean fungus gnats? If so, I would stop misting your plants - keep them on the dry side until the gnats die off. good luck!
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) October 22, 2009 08:26 PM	Can you post some pictures of your plants? I would check the watering on your gardenia and hibiscus...Gardenias are evergreen, and if your hibiscus are tropicals then they are evergreen too and shouldn't be losing leaves (unless you left them out too long and they got hit by weather that was too cold for them--in that case they can lose leaves). I suspect too much water though--if you are talking about fungus gnats, you generally only see them when you're keeping things too wet. Check by sticking your finger down a couple inches into the soil and see how wet things are--if it's really wet then you're watering too much. The surface of the soil will often look dry fairly quickly after you water, but just underneath the surface stays wet a lot longer, so if you water when the surface looks dry you will end up overwatering many types of plants. I would also check and make sure you don't have them directly under a furnace vent or near a cold draft from a window--overwatering is more likely in my opinion, but those things can cause problems too.
3jsmom31 zone 6a, KY October 23, 2009 09:13 AM	My hibiscus lose lower leaves when they come in, too. They do okay for the winter and when it warms up, I put them back out, they flourish again. They like more humidity, put them on a humidity tray or group plants together. Also, mine love a shower (I get both sides of the leaves, so from the top and then from the side a little) and that will help if you have spider mites. Did you treat them before you brought them in? Make sure they aren't getting blasted by dry air, and I tend to keep them on the floor (it's a little cooler and more humid). I don't water unless I pick up a pot and it's lost weight, but don't let it get completely dry, either. I just read that bird's nest ferns (asplenium nidus) are epiphytes, which means they would be found in crooks in the trees, high up off the ground. If you can provide warm and moist and humid and indirect light, you should do great with this guy. I haven't grown gardenia's so don't know, but I think they like sun, humid, and maybe a little cooler temps at night. Keep moist but not soggy. I let my plants dry off a little (lose weight) then water deeply. If the soil is moist, like a squeezed out sponge, then step away from the watering can :). I use a well draining mix so a deep watering isn't a drowning. I am going to try Al's growing medium on a few plants to see what happens.
pantera Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) October 23, 2009 10:07 AM	Barhea7: I don't know what kind of gnates they are, every since I moved to DE. I lost a lot of pants to these bugs . Only when plants are in the house, I don't see them when they are outside. I only mist the ferns because leafs are drying out. 3Jsmom31: I will move the ferns in to my bathroom I guess. and no my soil is not that wet it's moist under the top layer. Ecrane3: I am posting some pics I think I can only send one at a time so look at my other post. Oh and the plants came in sept. weather was still in 80's Thank you everyone This message was edited Oct 23, 2009 10:48 AM This message was edited Oct 23, 2009 10:50 AM View Larger
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) October 23, 2009 10:21 AM	I would still doublecheck your watering especially if you're seeing fungus gnats flying around, but this one doesn't look bad. Hibiscus are a bit temperamental and will sometimes lose a few leaves when you change their conditions (like moving them from outside to inside). As far as pictures--you can only upload one at a time but it's easiest if you post a new reply in the same thread rather than starting a new one. Each time you reply, you can put in a new picture.
plantladylin East Central, FL (Zone 9b) October 23, 2009 11:22 AM	I agree with ecrane3, if you are having a problem with fungus gnats it's most likely your soil is too saturated. It may feel dry within the first layer or two when you stick your finger into the soil but if it's a heavy soil it's more than likely holding too much moisture at the root level. The gnats are usually evident when plants are over watered or there is poor drainage in the soil. You can use an insecticidal soap to spray your plants, which should kill the gnats, but that is only a temporary fix if the soil continues to remain too wet. You can buy insecticidal soap in a spray bottle at Home Depot or Lowes garden centers, usually found on the shelf right inside the store near the entrance to the garden center where they have fertilizer and insect control stuff. Here's some information about Fungus Gnats. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus_gnat Scroll down this page for information: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2114.html
pantera Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) October 25, 2009 02:10 PM	My hibicus I topped off in spring with some soil because it's root bound. So can you over water root bound plants? oops I did open a new thread with the pic of my gardenia tree It says more pic. Sorry I'm new at this thanks for all your help with the plants, and how to work this site. Okay so I'm not watering for awhile , can they be saved? Oh and as far as my passion ivy I'm going to try to bring it in again ,hope it works this time Thanks you
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) October 25, 2009 02:31 PM	I'm a little concerned about how you "topped off with some soil because it's rootbound". Adding soil to the top of the pot can cause the plant to be planted too deeply and that can cause problems with rot. The appropriate remedy for something that's rootbound is to pot it up to a larger size pot--adding a bit of soil onto the top is not going to help with the rootbound part, and it can hurt you because you end up with wet soil piled too high up around the base of the plant. If you do now have your plant planted too deeply because of the soil you added, and underneath of that the plant is rootbound I expect that you will continue to have problems--I would repot ASAP and make sure when you plant it that it's at the depth it was originally before you topped off with soil. Once you do that, as long as you keep an eye on the watering by doing the finger test I suggested above then the plant should be fine.
pantera Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) November 04, 2009 10:12 AM	ecrane3 I topped a 25gal pot it had 3in i could put some new soil . Was that ok? I think I found the reason for all this ,I found like spider webs at the joints of my branches. Now i love spiders and always leave them be, but I wasn't seeing any baby spiders on the trees .So I spray the trees down with soapy water on the gardenia trees i changed the soil and sprayed .One tree i cut back other tree happy to say is looking good again ,as well as my hibicus looking good too Thank you all so much 3jsmom31 thank you for your info I can't pik up the pots to check ,they are trees in 25to 30 gal pots. but I really going to keep an eye on the watering thank you
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) November 04, 2009 11:09 AM	Do you now have soil piled higher around the trunk/base of the plant than you did before? If so then it can definitely cause problems. Even if you didn't end up with the soil piled too high, if your plant is rootbound adding a bit of soil to the top of the pot is not going to do much to help you. As far as the spiders--they don't hurt your plants at all and will help you out by eating bugs that might hurt your plants so I doubt that they were contributing in any way to the problems you were having. Spider mites are a different story--if you've got a bad infestation of those then you can see some webbing, but the spider mites themselves are very tiny and very hard to see--if you flip the leaves over and look at the underside, if you have good eyes you may be able to see tiny little brownish dots. (in the pics that you've posted in some of your other threads I haven't seen the telltale stippled yellow pattern on the leaves that is usually the first symptom you'll notice with spider mites so I really don't think you have those)
pantera Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) November 07, 2009 03:53 PM	Thanks again ecrane3, oh I love spiders I keep them in my house my boyfriend says don't you think you have enough spiders in this house can you get their eggs out .ahah Well the one gardenia isn't doing good at all, other is iffy. I'll keep you up to date . Thank you so much

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