Question
Hi
I am trying everything I can think of to help out my poor Ctenanthe Setosa - it started letting me know there was something wrong about a week ago by rolling up all it's leaves. When it did this in the past, it was just due to needing more water and it revived once I had taken care of it.
This time however, the leaves are completly rolled up (except one or two) and no amount of TLC has brought them back out (including moving to a warmer spot, increasing water, giving more light) - would you have experience of this and if so how was the plant rescued? I realise that it is probably a light/water/heat issue of some kind but can't pinpoint which as nothing I do is helping.
Thanks in advance,
Denise


Answer
Denise,

No, I have not had this problem becaus I have only raised this particular plant once and then gave it away when it was still healthy. I am wondering however if it might have been underwatered but then you paniced and immediately you overwatered it. Tropical plants heve very touchy roots that can quickly rot. To find out if root rot is all or part of your problem you need to very gently unpot the plant on a table that you have covered with several layers of newspaper. Carefully examined the roots and see if the rooots sre intact or if the plant has developed root rot. If you find some mushy roots you will now you need to cut back on the amount of water and the frequenzy of watering it. If the roots look fine and wiry you may need to step up the amount of water you are giving it. Good luvk.

Darlene  plantlady6@yahoo.