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What’s wrong with my Fittonia

HeyawcHeyawc Posts: 34
in Problem solving
I have this nice little Fittonia since this summer and it has flourished in the past months on my kitchen island. It has drooped once (the whole plant) but I soaked it for half a day and it revived. However since two or three weeks ago, there has been a drooped stem one after another. The stem didn’t come back to normal after soaking so I removed it. Then another stem nearby started drooping. Yesterday one-fifth of the plants went drooped. The drooped leaves are all soft not crispy. I put the pot in a dish of 1 inch water in the morning but it seemed worse when I checked it out in the evening. I moved it to the window sill in my bathroom hoping to let it try a more humid environment, but it doesn’t help either. Could it be the recent change in cold weather , or have I done anything wrong?


Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited November 2022
    @Heyawc I don't grow them but I would tip it out and check the roots. You can get 'pockets' of compost that remain dry and it can be difficult to rehydrate. You will also have the chance to check that it is not overwatered too. Not so likely but collapse can also be due to vine weevil grubs.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2022
    I agree that watering may be the cause of your problem @Heyawc .  As with many houseplants, it's best to place your plant on a sink drainage area, water it until water runs from the pot and then let it drain before placing it back in its decorative outer pot.  (I'm assuming your plant is in a smaller plastic pot inside your outer pot - this makes watering and drainage easier to control.)  Avoid using cold tap water, tepid filtered water is better. Fluctuations in air temperature are best avoided, keep your plant in a well lit area where temperatures are above 15 degrees but not in direct sun or close to a radiator.  This GW article gives more information which may help you: How to Grow and Care for Fittonia | BBC Gardeners World Magazine
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • HeyawcHeyawc Posts: 34
    Thank you for the advice. I normally water it until water comes out from the drainage. I use cold tap water, so I sounds like part of the reason! Will try lukewarm filtered water. The article is very useful. Drooping seems to be related to dryness, but I have watered it two days ago and the soil feels moist now. Unfortunately the drooped leaves haven’t come back to life yet. Anything else I can do to revive it apart from watching it dies:(
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Heyawc The one way to try and rehydrate compost is to stand the plastic in a bucket and add water until it covers the compost. When air bubbles stop the compost will be moist. This I suggested as a last attempt at saving it.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • HeyawcHeyawc Posts: 34
    I couldn’t resist my curiosity to find out why it is drooping so I took out the stems concerned to check the root. The soil and the roots appear fine to me (I’m a beginner in gardening so not very sure though). I found a tiny snail in the soil too. Could that be the reason? I know snails eat the leaves but can they cause the drooping? I repot these two into a new pot and water thoroughly to see how they react. 

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Heyawc I don't think it is the tiny snail. I can only think that at some point part of the compost dried out completely as a result one part of the plant has flopped. Dried out compost in part or all of of a pot can be impossible to rehydrate and that would seem to be the problem. You may not be aware thar this had happened until it was too late.

    @Plantminded has given some good advice on watering plants in pots which I would follow.
    Vine Weevils can cause a plant to droop but you would have found tiny cream grubs with a reddish head feeding on the roots.  This can cause part or whole collapse of a plant.Sometimes there are no roots left at all.

    You could try some cuttings in water [not the drooping leaves] as I doubt that the leaves that have drooped will recover. You are new to gardening don't be discouraged but use this knowledge when growing new plants in the future.  


    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • HeyawcHeyawc Posts: 34
    Thank you @Plantminded and @GardenerSuze for all your generous and helpful advice! It appears that I’m really losing those drooping ones… I’ll take your words and try to care better for the remaining part of the plants. Glad to have learnt something new everyday in becoming a better gardener!
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    I hope you are able to revive your plant. Don’t be deterred, they are known to be tricky so you’ve done well so far!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Plant roots need both water and oxygen.  Too much water, especially standing water, drowns the roots.

    A plant that has dried out has probably had some or all its small feeder roots killed.  If you over-water this, there will be no roots to help wick the excess water away. This will complete the death of the plant.

    Moral: care with both over and under-watering.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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