Posted:  02 Feb 2016 16:13
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling

Posted:  02 Feb 2016 23:30
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
Lots could be going on here.  Soil too wet for too long.  Watering too frequently or infrequently.  Soluble salt toxicity from overfertilization or residues from time-release fertilizers in the soil.  Or all of the above.  Knock the plant out of the pot and inspect the roots.  They will have a tale to tell.  If there are dry areas within the rootball, the plant may not have been watered thoroughly when it was watered.  If there are brown, wet, mushy roots and saturated, smelly soil, too-frequent watering and/or the plant sitting in its own drainage water may be the case.  Lots of little beige or greenish-blue granules in the bottom or top layer of the soil?  Time-release fertilizer from the production nursery is probably burning the roots.  Feel free to post more photos during surgery.  Diagnosis based on one photo is iffy at best.

Posted:  04 Feb 2016 18:58
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Thanks Clem, I know over watering is not the issue. We let this buddy dry out. so maybe not enough watering...  Maybe we'll take a look at the roots and see what we discover!

Posted:  05 Feb 2016 16:18
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
Allowing the medium to dry down is necessary with plants grown in low light especially.  Getting oxygen to the roots is very important to their health, and dry-down is the way to do that.  That said, however, drying too much can be very harmful in several ways.  The fine feeder roots of many plants cannot conserve water and must have a film of moisture around them at all times in order to survive and function.  If these tiny rootlets dry out completely, they will die and the plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients will be compromised.  Drying too much will also concentrate mineral salts, including fertilizer salts and things like fluoride, making them toxic to the roots.  You see a theme here?  It all starts with the roots.  Happy wife, happy life; happy roots, happy plants.

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