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Can i save this Ceanothus?
andrearomancheuque
Posts: 2
Okey, this is the story... I got this very small ceanothus like 20 days ago. When i got it, it was mostly alive, but it was in a very clay-like soil, in a small bag... its leaves had brown edges, the lower leaves were a bit... "crunchy", like, if i were to apply any force to them, they would break into pieces. The person who was taking care of it before me, was watering it every other day and kept it without any direct sunlight
(also, i have no idea which kind of ceanothus it is. these are its first flowers, but i also don't know when they bloomed)
Then it got to my hands, and i started watering it more throughly but less often, and giving it 2-3 hours of direct summer sunlight (from like 12 to 3pm). The soil didn't stand that, though, and it dried up overnight to the point where the dirt was literally divided by a wide crack in the soil when i woke up
After that, the plant clearly wasn't thriving, lost a lot of its leaves, even one of the stems, got even drier and pale...
So i put it in a pot, a bigger than the little bag it was in with a mix of perlite, some standard soil for pots and worm hummus.
Now i water it like twice a week (or whenever the dirt 4 or 5 cm under the surface is mostly dry) and it is under direct sunlight 2 or 3 hours. Now, the little plant is better than when it had just dried up, but it still looks pretty sad. The few leaves that still persist are pale, or green on the underside but dark on the top (although the biggest one is like, trying to come back to life? it was super dry before, and now it has some greener areas that feel less dry, and i'm less afraid of it crumbling with the slightest touch). All stems except the one where the flowers are... are super grey. A little bud started forming a stem, but it hasn't grown very much either
(and the leaves zoomed in...)
So i wanna know some things:
- Any idea on which kind of ceanothus it is?
- Can it be saved?
- How often should i water it? Maybe i should insert a toothpick to the bottom of the pot and see if that was dry instead of checking just 4-5 cm deep?
- We're in the midst of summer here (with temperatures reaching 33-34°C sometimes), and the little ceanothus is getting sun from 12 to 15-15:30. Should i let it have direct sunlight, or is the summer sun too harsh?
- Is there anything else i can do to help it thrive?
Thank you in advance! Any wisdom is appreciated by this unexperienced gardener 
0
Posts
I'm afraid I wouldn't bother trying to keep it alive, it looks like it's on its way out - sorry.
It does look like the plant is dying and highly unlikely to rejuvenate unless you keep it in shade and water lightly from below. By that, I mean, keep a saucer underneath and water lightly into the saucer once or twice a week. It should also be fine outside away from sun.