"Coryadaurus Rex" wrote in message
. 4.21...


Thanks for your response. It is helpful.

I've had this plant for three or four months.
That isn't very long - plants do not like to be moved, but sometimes the
effects of moving, transportation through changing climates, mishandling
during transport, being in a crowded plant shelf in a store (like a Walmart,
etc), pest infestation.do not show for a few months.

Are spider mites visible to the human eye?
Depends, they are very tiny but if you know what you are looking for you can
see them. Look on the undersides of the leaves for small dark moving spots -
if you take a magnifiying glass you may be able to see them. The surest sign
is very small webs formed between the base of the leaves. If your new shoots
are coming in brown and dying I would treat the plant as if it is infected.
Cut off all dying leaves, scrape the top of the soil and discard - making
sure there is not leaf litter left behind. Spray as I mentioned before and
keep it away from any other plant because they travel.


At what point do you think I should cut top of the plant off? Right now
there are some decent leaves (more than I would want to count). Would it
be
safe to wait until there were enough leaves to count on a hand and then go
drastic?

The longer you wait, regardless of what is affecting your plant - the more
stress you are putting on it. But it is up to you. To be a houseplant owner
means sometimes having to take drastic risks and hoping for the best. You
can try what jammer suggested - look for wher the brown meets the green on
the stem and cut the plant right in half there..
If you want you can take sections and dip each one in rooting hormone and
plant in a new pot - see how many plants you can get.
Or.. you can try air layering. I can explain this but it is easy to google
air layering and there are sites with step by step instructions.

Good luck!