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themadething

Dead Fittonia Comes Back to Life?

themadething
9 years ago

I've had a Fittonia for a few years now and have had success raising it inside as a houseplant.

I'm not a very good plant person and sometimes would forget to water it. It would wilt but firm up in just 15-30 minutes after watering.

However, one long weekend away, I forgot to water it well before leaving and came home to it completely dried up with curled, dry leaves. I kept watering it, hoping that it might relive its past magic of coming back to life.

After a few weeks, I gave up hope and grabbed a shopping bag to put it in to transport it to the trash�but lo and behold, I notice tiny little new leaves further down the stems from where the dead leaves are! Since then I've been watering regularly and the leaves have grown, although slowly, to about the size of my thumbnail. It's also started putting off more of these little leaves on every stem.

My question is should I remove the dead leaves or let them be until the Fittonia is a bit more robust? They're hard and the stocky stem bits leading to them are definitely dry and hard too. The new leaves are further down the stems at the previous knob in the stem.

I know I need to eventually repot this plant too. How long should I wait until it's robust again before repotting?

And for a last question, I've noticed a slimy sticky substance on the soil in the pot and when I water it, tiny little insects that are only a millimeter or so in length start be become active on the soil's surface. They look almost like Mr. Plankton from Sponge Bob Square Pants but on four legs (sorry, I can't figure out a better way to describe them).

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