Question
my massangeana
My name is Hannah Nguyen. MY husband bought a massangeana plant before chrismast. It was really green and full of leaves. After new year we repoted it to a bigger pot and put more new potting soil in the pot. The plant began to devoped yellow and brown leave. We have removed a lot of brown leaves and did some research that it doesn't like to be in big pot. We move them back into the original box when we got it. I also noticed that the root was rotted and too soft when touched. Is it because of the wrong type of soil? or wrong fertilize? We put in the indoor mirecle spike fertilizer every month. What can I do to help it reroot and back to life again? It looks like it's dying now. The stalk look wrinkle and the leave look like drying. From what I know is this plant is really easy to grow. We stopped watering every now. We try to water it sometimes in 2 weeks or 3 weeks.
Please help,
Thanks,
AnswerHi Hannah, You are correct about the pot size. It should not have been re-potted. They are very susceptible to root and stem rot from over-watering, which it sounds like has happened and it was probably stressed from lack of light also. If the stem at ground level is soft and wrinkled, the plant is dying. If the upper stems are still firm, you may be able to root them and salvage the plant, but from your picture, it's not likely.
You may have been doomed from the beginning. Many of these large house plants (especially the cheap ones found at mass merchandisers) are sun raised. They can be raised quickly and usually they are lightly rooted. That's the way you can produce a cheap plant. They need to be slowly adapted to low light indoor conditions, watered very carefully and they will lose foliage during that process.
Next time, look for a shade raised house plant at your local independent garden center. They will be at least twice the price, but worth it.
Remember this, even shade raised house plants need good bright light. So place them in or close to a window, turning weekly, or near bright flourescent lights.
The only way to know how much to water...is to check it with your finger about knuckle deep. If it feels moist, don't, if it feels dry, do. Frequency will vary by season.
Jim
