Question
Dear Darlene,

I hope you will be able to help me. I bought a big house plant called "golden leaf" it's got green leaves with some yellowish color in the middle of the leaves. I bought it about a month ago and when it first came it was doing real well, but as of late it's been shedding a lot of leaves. The plant is about 38"wide by 50" tall.I repotted it about a month ago in a new pot that's 18"wide & 17" tall.

My house faces south, so it gets south morning sun. The instructions on that plant were to put it in indirect sunlight and to water it 2x a week and that's what I did, but it's been shedding so many leaves to the point if I shake the tree I think I'll be left with just the brances with no leaves....Please HELP ME!

I spent quiet a lot of money on the plant not to mention the store I bought it from is going out of business this month.What do you suggest? HELP!

Thanks  

Answer
Becky,

You have not given me a very good description of the plant so it is very hard to identify it. You need to describe the size off the leaves and shape. First you said it was a plant, then you said it was a tree. If it is a tree it is probably a type of ficus tree and it needs more sun, if it is not a ficus tree it may be getting too much sun.

In either case, this is not the time of year to repot it, plants should only be repotted between April 15th and jULY 15th when the roots are actively growing. Also, when you repot any plant you should put it in a pot with no more than a 2 inches larger diameter than the old pot.

Watering it twice a week you are overwatering it. The soil needs to dry out between waterings so the roots have a chance to breath. Do not water as long as the soil feels moist and never leave the plant with water sitting in the drain tray under the plant.

I do reccommend that you call the store before they go out of business and find out exactly what you have and let me know.  If they can't tell you then you can send me a picture to [email protected] and I can identify it for you. In the meantime do not water it again until the top 3 inches of soil feels bone dry. If it is possible you would be better off putting it back in the smaller pot that it came in, if that is not possible at least make sure it drys out very well between each watering, even if you only water it once a month.  Good luck.

Darlene