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Help Me With This Plant Please?

So, over the last week the leaves of my plant turned like this. It was kept outside where it got sun for half a day. I watered it only when the soil got dry.

imageimage

For reference, a few weeks ago, it was like this

image

So what happened? What do I do?

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Posts

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601

    Well, it's a lily and it flowered beautifully for you and I think it may just be dying down for a rest. However, I seem to remember that you do not live in the UK so you may be experiencing conditions that I know nothing about.

    One thing: I think it would be a good idea to work towards getting all your container plants into good quality compost.

  • Posy says:

    Well, it's a lily and it flowered beautifully for you and I think it may just be dying down for a rest. However, I seem to remember that you do not live in the UK so you may be experiencing conditions that I know nothing about.

    One thing: I think it would be a good idea to work towards getting all your container plants into good quality compost.

    See original post

     Oh okay. When will it sprout again?

    Yes, working on it! Already got some bags of compost!

  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254

    Hi Durendal,

    There is absolutely no need to quote another member's post if you reply to it immediately under it.image

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601

    Mine flower in mid summer, die down slowly and are  just showing leaf growth now. You may need local advice on what yours will do.

  • If you want it to flower again for you, it will need food. It can make some for itself if it has healthy leaves and you can feed it during this time too.

    If the leaves are dying early because of drought, it may not manage to flower next year, but if you feed it, it may do so in the following flowering season. There is no point in feeding it when it is going into dormancy.

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    Posy is spot on, you really need to get decent compost if you want your plants to flourish, old soil dug up from the garden is not good enough. Even then there‘s only 6 weeks of feed in them so you will need to feed them. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Yes, on that note...

    I'm always afraid of bare-rooting plants since the clay here is the very heavy alluvial type. The get really hard packed after a while and make me fear I'll tear the roots if I try to dislodge them from the rootball.

    Do I have to bare-root them before mixing compost with the soil? Can't I just spread the compost on top?

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601

    Don't mix compost with the soil at all. Buy all purpose compost for bulbs and perennials and John Innes 2 for young shrubs. Take your plants out of the pots and if the soil is hard, stand them in water until you can gently ease it away. You don't have to get off every bit. Then you can plant them back in their pots. Some plants do better in a mix of these two composts, some need a special ericaceous type, so Google any you are unsure about. Water them in and then  treat as normal.

  • Posy image  ... Durrendal lives in India and it seems that the sort of compost growing mediums that are available to us are not available in India ... I've suggested that he makes his own growing medium with a mixture of good soil, organic matter such as composted bark and home made garden compost, and maybe some added grit.  

    It's difficult to know what else to suggest as we don't know the country and what is available to him ... 

    image

    Last edited: 03 February 2018 13:56:03


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601

    Oh crikey, Dove. I have no idea how they manage in India. I wonder what commercial growers do.

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