Madison
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  • 2 followers
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  • 11 posts
  • 21 comments received
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About Me
  • Birthday September 27th, 1997
  • Plant Knowledge Level
    Beginner

Posts

  • Rattlesnake not doing well
    My plant does not stand erect anymore, and the soil always seems so moist. I’ve also noticed a lot of dry/dead? Leaves growing in. 
  • What am I?
    What am I? And how should I be cared for??
      • 2
      Sam Its definitely a Dracaena marginata. I leave mine outdoors in the summer, it's probably around 4 feet tall. It gets bright, sometimes direct light while outside. I'd let the soil dry around 50% before watering, they can be sensitive to overwatering and root rot. They are very drought tolerant. They are also sensitive to fluoride! I water mine with filtered water. Water with room temperature or warm water until water starts draining from the bottom, don't leave water sitting in the saucer. If you notice the tips of the leaves are brown, it may be overwatered and/or having a reaction to fluoride in the water; if there are yellow leaves, it could indicate it's not getting enough water. If your space is dry, a humidifier can help the plant, or misting lightly a few times a week. I'm not an expert, but it looks like maybe the stems grew too tall to support the leaves, so they bent. Very cool! Oh, and please know this plant is toxic to cats and dogs! If you have either, get help right away if they ingest any of the plant. I was told it produces chemicals that dissuade animals from trying to eat it, but every pet is different.
      • 1
      Pei SO FUN!!! I love how dracena can go crazy like this, so much characters!!
      • 1
      Paris Lalicata It looks like you have a Dracaena marginata! They prefer medium-bright indirect light, and the soil should be allowed to dry out completely between waterings.

      I also have to ask- did you purchase this plant how it's currently structured? Or is this something you noticed the plant developing into over time?
    • 3 more comments
  • What is this?
    This thing is coming up from the soil? It looks like a rock but is very soft
      • 2
      Paris Lalicata Hi Madison! What you see coming out of the soil is actually the plants modified roots- also known as rhizomes or tubers. These store water and nutrients for the plant making it more drought tolerant, and you can also propagate the plant using just these! I would recommend re-positioning the plant so those are no longer exposed, and the plant should be good to go :)
  • Calathea rattlesnake
    hi guys! What do I do if my calathea is losing the purple color under her leaves?
      • 1
      Erin Hi Madison! Do you have a photo? How much sunlight is the rattlesnake getting?
  • What am I?
    Hi guys! What kind of plant is this? And how do I keep it alive???
      • 2
      PlntNrd As Berna said, it’s an Anthurium and, I must say, it’s quite beautiful! The leaves almost look like wax.
      • 1
      Berna y Alba Hi Madison! This is an Anthurium and it's a tropical plant, so you need to apply with it some tropical plant's ground rules. First, never direct light, they prefer medium to low light. Then, the envirenment should be as humid as possible (I know sometimes is hard!), so you could help it with a humidifier or putting a water vase or something near it. Get it confy in a place with other plants near, as in a plant gang, is very helpful to mantain humidity levels. Last but not least, you have to avoid overwatering it, so wait untill the soil is dry to water it.
      Those are the rules that I have for my tropical ones! You could go to my ig @bernayalba if you want to see more tips that I've posted already there.
      Hope my comment was helpful!
    • 1 more comment
  • Fruit flies
    hi guys! I’ve been having a hard time with getting rid of fruit flies? Do I need to change the soil? 
      • 1
      MALINDA The little flies are most likely fungus gnats. You can take care of them by adding mosquito bits to the soil. Summer Rayne Oakes just did a whole video about them on YouTube. She lists several different ways of dealing with them at different stages of their life cycle.
      • 3
      Plants_Armstrong Safer brand makes a sticky strip that you attach to a stake and put in the pot. I got those and it certainly seems to be helping. It also helps make it clear which plants they are going after. The apple cider vinegar trick works, too, but the sticky strips are collecting way more gnats than the vinegar did when I tried it.

      I've read that changing out your soil is technically the best thing to do; however, you may be like me and have 40+ plants so its not an option OR it just might not be the right time to change out soil on your plants due to existing stress, etc.

      You can also do soil drenches with different natural solutions that will kill the larvae. For example, you can do soil drenches with a hydrogen peroxide mix:

      https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/how-to-control-fungus-gnats-organically

      I'm no expert but I do think the best approach is to try and deal with both the adults and the larvae simultaneously.
      X
      How to Control Fungus Gnats Organically - Small Footprint Family
      Fungus gnats and damping-off can seriously harm growing seedlings. But the solution to controlling fungus gnats is safer and cheaper than you would expect.
      • 2
      Sarah First I would try to identify which plants the fruit flies are congregating in the most.



      The best thing I've found to do with fruit flies is to leave a few glass jars of apple cider vinegar (definitely don't have to fill it up - just maybe an inch or two of vinegar within the jar) and place it near the plants that have flies. Within about three days you should notice the jars filling up with dead flies.

      Gross but it works!
    • 3 more comments
  • Bugs:(
    hey guys! Tonight I noticed a little white bug crawling around my monsterias soil. 
    Is that bad?
      • 1
      Pei do you have a photo [293343,Madison]?
      • 1
      abcactus Hi Madison! Could you please include some photos of the bugs because there are different bugs and some may be harmful to your plant. There are also different treatments based on the bug! Wishing you the best!
    • 2 more comments
  • Cutting plants question
    Hi! 
    I recently purchased two Monstrea plants, and during shipping some stems snapped in half and have broken off.
    Do I leave the stem long or should I cut it off too? 
    What is better for new/regrowth?
    Thank you!!

      • 2
      Plants_Armstrong Commenting in here because I am also interested to hear other opinions. No expert but my guess is that if you have a stalk without a leaf and it's broken, it will naturally die off.

      I have read that it is usually better to remove badly damaged leaves / limbs because the plant exerts more energy trying to deal with it rather than trying to repair a spot where it has properly been cut. It allows it to focus energy on growing something new rather than maintaining something that is problematic.

      I wouldn't take this as gospel, but something you might validate if you do other research.
      • 2
      Pei I would suggest to snip it as near as the base (soil level) as possible. But I have definitely heard different theory that it's best to let the leaf runs it's course and die off. Honestly, I think it's more of a personal preference!
  • Pilea stems turning red??
    Hi! Is this normal? I don’t think I over water her as I use my moisture meter to check if the soil is completely dry.
      • 2
      Pei it's normal, [293343,Madison] ! you plant do seem a bit thirsty to me though :)
      • 2
      PlntNrd Newer Pilea stems will sometimes be reddish. This is very normal and eventually, with age, they will usually turn the green color of the others.
    • 1 more comment
  • Calathea rattlesnake trouble
    Hi guys! Did I burn my calathea ??
      • 1
      PlntNrd sunburn only affects leaves that actually get direct sun touching them, so it is possible that only one or a few leaves can be affected. If you only have one leaf sticking out and getting too much direct light, it could be burned, while the others are fine. If your rattlesnake was getting too much light, the colors of the other leaves would be faded and if even one leaf was sunburned, that would be too much light for the plant. Yours seems to have very deep purple undersides and and nice bright markings on the top of the leaves, so it seems like it’s in a good light environment. Too much light also causes Calatheas leaves to curl or cup and yours aren’t showing signs of that. I totally understand why you thought sunburn, based on the way it looks, because sunburn either causes blackening of leaves or bleaching, which kind of looks like yours, but the rest of your plant looks so vibrant, I’m skeptical that it’s getting too much light. I would consider issues with inconsistent watering, which can cause yellowing of leaves. It’s also possible that this is an old leaf dying off.
      • 1
      Pei Nope - a burned plant would look more like black/brown bruise on all the leaves, not just one leaf!
    • 1 more comment
  • Pilea trouble
    Hi guys! I just received this little guy yesterday, and noticed some of his leaves have started to turn brown. Any tips??? Some leaves look black at the tip
      • 1
      Pei [293343,Madison] Your plant looks fine to me! Those are probably the old cosmetic damages from delivery or etc. Nothing to worry about!