sagging leaves, mites and mold

9 years ago

I have two house plants suffering the same affliction, flaccid leaves. The first is a fiddle leaf ficus that sits in a sunny, south facing window. The stems and trunk do seem a little dried out. I water it once weekly and when I do, the soil seems to suck up the water fairly well. I think the planter to about 24", well drained. I clean the leaves every 3-4 weeks and get a fair amount of dust off when I do. It's been in the same spot since I bought it about 6 months ago. What am I doing wrong? How much water should I give it (i.e: 1 cup, 2 cups) and how often? Should I try a less sunny location?
The second house plant I think is a coleus, but please confirm. I have two, purchased at the same time. Both I water once to twice a week and both sit sunny south facing window. The first has a case of the blues and the other has fantastic, perky, bright leaves. (see photo). What could I be doing wrong to one at not the other? How much sun light is too much sun light for an indoor location?
In other news, my plants are under attack. Big fluffy mounds of powdery mildew and some plants have more mites than leaves. It's serious and I've tried everything I can buy from a store. I've also tried using a splash of milk in the watering can. Part of the problem is that I hate to spray any solution in my home. Organic or otherwise, it smells awful and leaves a film on whatever is next to the plant.
So, what's the thing you've done that has been the most effective? Is there something I can add to my watering can? I'm also considering it might be an issue of grouping my plants too close together. How far of a distance should I have inbetween and is there really an issue of too many plants for one room? Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

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Comments (3)

heatherjwalter
Original Author
9 years ago
Here's the healthy plant to contrast the first image.
MrBlubs
9 years ago
I'm pretty sure the plants pictured are a type of Croton.... Not sure on the exact type but someone else will defently know...
Most plants can't handle full southern exposure as the glass really magnifies the heat and can burn certain plants. I think it would be best if you moved them to either a west or East facing window as they'll still get a fair amount of direct sun yet it won't be hounding down on them all day.
If your plants have spider mites it usually due to a lack of humidity in the room and can cause serious damage on plants and can even kill them if given the chance. If one of yours has mites I'd separate from the rest of your plants as soon as possible so there no way to transfer them to one plant from another
When my Palms had mites I made a mixture of environmentally friendly dish soap and water and put it in a spray bottle and sprayed the heck out of the leaves. Then I turned on the shower and let the water remove the soap then I'd repeat. And I did that practically daily for a week and no more mites! But my spider mites problem wasn't an infestation. There's also other options such as neem oil but I've had no experience with that. I'd also stop putting things in your watering can as mites live on the leaves of plants and not in the soil.
Could the big fluffy mounds possible by mealy bugs? Can you get a picture of them and the ficus? And also a close up on the leaves of the Croton

Also, it's never bad to group plants close together (unless if one has pests) as they often help raise the humidity around each other. And you can never have to many plants for one room ;)

Someone more knowledgeable will come around just thought that I should try to help someone for once!
Howd I do gardenweb?
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
HJW - if the leaves are losing turgidity, it's a drought response indicating root function is compromised to the degree they are unable to move enough water to the plants distal parts in order to maintain internal water pressure. Prime causes are a high level of salts in the soil inhibiting water uptake, under-watering, or over-watering, which leaves the soil lacking in O2 roots need to drive their function/metabolism. Water and nutrient uptake is an energy-driven process, and O2 is required to support metabolizing of the fuels that drive the process.

Insects and disease prefer plants whose metabolic rates are depressed by an unbalance in their systems. Weakened plants are the first to fall victim to predation my insects/diseases. Adopting a soil that allows you to water appropriately w/o having to worry about consequences related to the soil staying soggy for prolonged periods probably represent the largest step forward you could make at this time.

Let me know if you want to explore some of these ideas in more depth.

Al