Ailing house plants
 

I have a west-facing greenhouse wall containing several large house
plants: Rubber plant, Schefflera, Dwarf Schefflera, Dracaena, and
self-heading Philodendron. I've had them all for several years but his
Spring several seem ailing.

The Schefflera is dropping leaves, but from the bottom and the new
growth seems OK. This may be normal, but I've not seen it before. The
Dwarf Schefflera, on the other hand, is dropping from the top. The
branches are bare, the stems are still green, but I can't see any new
growth.

The Philodendron's old leaves are yellowing and dropping, new growth
leaves are much smaller. Overall, it seems limp and droopy. Maybe it
needs more sun, but it hasn't in years past.

I just repotted the Dwarf Schefflera and Philodendron yesterday and
neither was severely pot bound. I've been feeding them Miracle-Gro
every two weeks since new growth started. They are neither over nor
under watered. No sign of insect activity. Rubber plant and Dracaenas
are fine.

Are these problems, or just a normal phase?

Ailing house plants
 

On Apr 3, 2:06*pm, wrote:
I have a west-facing greenhouse wall containing several large house
plants: Rubber plant, Schefflera, Dwarf Schefflera, Dracaena, and
self-heading Philodendron. I've had them all for several years but his
Spring several seem ailing.

The Schefflera is dropping leaves, but from the bottom and the new
growth seems OK. This may be normal, but I've not seen it before. The
Dwarf Schefflera, on the other hand, is dropping from the top. The
branches are bare, the stems are still green, but I can't see any new
growth.

The Philodendron's old leaves are yellowing and dropping, new growth
leaves are much smaller. Overall, it seems limp and droopy. Maybe it
needs more sun, but it hasn't in years past.

I just repotted the Dwarf Schefflera and Philodendron yesterday and
neither was severely pot bound. I've been feeding them Miracle-Gro
every two weeks since new growth started. They are neither over nor
under watered. No sign of insect activity. Rubber plant and Dracaenas
are fine.

Are these problems, or just a normal phase?

Here is the scatter gun approach with follow up questions and
opinions. Hope it helps.

Something has changed - don't think the switch to daylight savings
time had an effect. :-)

That only the Schefflera are affected says it may be normal. They do
shed some leaves I believe.

You said they are neither over or under watered, I don't know if that
means you water a set amount at a set interval or if you also have you
checked pot drainage. I killed a dwarf Alberta Spruce, because the
drain clogged up and I thought the wilting was from too little water
when I had really drowned the roots. But both having drainage
problems at once would be unusual.

What is the heat source for the greenhouse? Is the greenhouse
attached to your home or standalone?

Dropping leaves sounds like too much heat or low humidity, but most
leaf drop happens when heat is turned on in the fall.

Do you regularly feed with miracle grow? I would not go wild with
feeding miracle grow - that stuff is heavy in nitrogen and is not slow
release.

Wes

Ailing house plants
 

On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 14:29:32 -0700 (PDT), WesD
wrote:


Here is the scatter gun approach with follow up questions and
opinions. Hope it helps.


That only the Schefflera are affected says it may be normal.

Schefflera and philodendron.


You said they are neither over or under watered, I don't know if that
means you water a set amount at a set interval or if you also have you
checked pot drainage.

I gauge by sticking my finger in the soil. When it's dry about an inch
donw, I water. I used to have dozens and dozens of huoseplants and
watering was never an issue.

I killed a dwarf Alberta Spruce, because the
drain clogged up and I thought the wilting was from too little water
when I had really drowned the roots. But both having drainage
problems at once would be unusual.

I have gravel in the bottom of each pot.


What is the heat source for the greenhouse?

Heat pump.

Is the greenhouse
attached to your home or standalone?

Attached. Stays about 66 degrees year round.


Dropping leaves sounds like too much heat or low humidity, but most
leaf drop happens when heat is turned on in the fall.

True.


Do you regularly feed with miracle grow? I would not go wild with
feeding miracle grow - that stuff is heavy in nitrogen and is not slow
release.

Mostly on garden plants. Can't recall if I used it on the house plants
before.

Ailing house plants
 

On Apr 3, 5:38*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 14:29:32 -0700 (PDT), WesD
wrote:



Here is the scatter gun approach with follow up questions and
opinions. *Hope it helps.

That only the Schefflera are affected says it may be normal. *

Schefflera and philodendron.



You said they are neither over or under watered, I don't know if that
means you water a set amount at a set interval or if you also have you
checked pot drainage.

I gauge by sticking my finger in the soil. When it's dry about an inch
donw, I water. I used to have dozens and dozens of huoseplants and
watering was never an issue.

*I killed a dwarf Alberta Spruce, because the
drain clogged up and I thought the wilting was from too little water
when I had really drowned the roots. *But both having drainage
problems at once would be unusual.

I have gravel in the bottom of each pot.



What is the heat source for the greenhouse? *

Heat pump.

Is the greenhouse
attached to your home or standalone?

Attached. Stays about 66 degrees year round.



Dropping leaves sounds like too much heat or low humidity, but most
leaf drop happens when heat is turned on in the fall.

True.



Do you regularly feed with miracle grow? *I would not go wild with
feeding miracle grow - that stuff is heavy in nitrogen and is not slow
release.

Mostly on garden plants. Can't recall if I used it on the house plants
before.

Can't say I am a big house plant expert, so I am stumped already.

Some philodendron don't branch more tips, but keep growing on only 1,
some of the older leaves will drop eventually. A guy in Huntsville
had one growing in his cube around 3 walls with a tag marking the
growth of each Apollo launch.

Schefflera do drop leaves, but I don't know if it is annual or not.
The lobby of the building I used to work in had some large ones and I
noticed the plant care people and cleaning staff kept the fallen ones
picked up so there were never many on the floor.

One last hail mary. You said no insects found, but how closely have
you examined the underside of the leaf for some kind of aphid or other
non flying very small insect. Might even try a magnifying glass. to
check them.
Repotting would have agitated the leaves and revealed white flies or
other airborne insects.

Wish I could have been more help.

Ailing house plants
 

On Sun, 03 Apr 2011 14:06:11 -0400 in wrote:
[SNEEP]
Just a guess but... some of your cats ****ed in the pots.

Remedy, completely bare root the plant, rinse the roots thoroughly
with water, pot in fresh potting soil without fertilizer, and
still expect to have to toss some of them out.

Ailing house plants
 

On Sat, 7 May 2011 00:50:12 +0000 (UTC), ?
wrote:

On Sun, 03 Apr 2011 14:06:11 -0400 in wrote:
[SNEEP]
Just a guess but... some of your cats ****ed in the pots.


Whatever it was seems to have cleared up. The plants are now on the
deckt getting several hours of strong sun per day, which seems to be
causing a new problem. The rubber plant (ficus elastica) has several
leaves that appear to be scorched. Is direct sun too much for it?