Did I kill my beloved plant?

16 years ago

I have a small plant which I keep in my windowsill, indoors. I believe it's a Myrtle. I've had it for three years (a gift from my girlfriend, recently fiance), and - while I'm a complete non-gardener - have done my best to care for it, water, prune, etc.

We went away for my brother's wedding recently, and when we got back the plant's leaves were all withered. All of them. I'm guessing my fiance left the windows closed, and the plant baked in the sun while we were gone (something I've done to plants in my distant past).

She watered the plant for a few days (I was still out of town), but its been about a week since her/our return, and the leaves seem equally withered, with no sign of coming back.

Is there any hope for this plant at all? Is it possible that there's still life left somewhere in the plant, even if the leaves are dead? (I hold out some hope, in that the Myrtle seems to drop 95% of its leaves every spring, so maybe there could be something still living inside even now?)

Is there anything I should or should not be doing in helping to bring the plant back to life? I've loved this plant these three years, it's like a cherished pet at this point, and I'm a bit crushed to see it go.

Please let me know if you think there's anything I can do at this point...

Thanks ahead of time for your help.

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Comments (3)

lucy
16 years ago
If it's going to come back, it'll do so best if you ignore it a bit for a few wks except for watering - but less ofren than normally, as a plant with no leaves can't really use water properly. It's unlikely the sun alone was the problem though, but it's even possible it got a case of spider mites (lack of humidity can provoke them) as a result of being a bit drier than usual, along with improper watering (too much all at once, and then nothing, or vice versa). As well, it's spring, and if you haven't taken it out of the pot recently to see how rootbound it might have become, that could also be a problem - the more rootbound a plant is, the less water will be taken up and held in the mix. So check that now, and if necessary repot, but otherwise just give it a chance to recover - the more you do otherwise can stress it further.
stimyg
Original Author
16 years ago
Whatever happened, it definitely happened in the 5 days that we were gone - eg, very fast. He (sorry, the plant) has been more or less perfectly healthy for three years, other than an occasional pest infection which was dealt with easily enough. So, I'm thinking it had to be the sun / heat.

Do you think repotting it now might only add stress as well? Should I take it out of the window (now that we're home, it won't overheat again - just the normal sunny area where it's thrived these past three years).

Thanks again...
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lucy
16 years ago
I wouldn't repot now except to slide it out of the pot to see if things have reached a critical stage root-wise (the timing could be incidental), and I wouldn't move it either. Myrtle are considered to be ''outdoor' plants a little further south of where you are (zone 8) and do need a cold dormant winter to rest up for spring, but it's too cold where you live to keep it outside, however it ideally should be acclimated each fall (and vice versa in spring) to a room in your house kept around 40 deg. Fahrenheit. It might just be exhausted now from never having had a chance to be dormant, which makes it hard to say if it'll come back or not. It's the same reason plants like azalea are hard to keep indoors unless you have an unheated or climate controlled place to winter them.