GDs are drought-resistant, but not drought-proof. Plants are organisms that shed parts (usually leaves first) as a survival mechanism in times of drought. Part of the shedding process includes the formation of what's called an abscission zone that occurs where leaves are attached to stems, branches, crowns ..... This is an irreversible process because the abscission zone is formed by a corky layer that effectively separates the leaf from it's water and nutrient supply, which of course causes it to dry up. On some plants, the dead foliage is persistent, and on others it falls off on its own.

Based on how the plant looks, you'll probably need to wait for the plant to push a new flush of growth from the crown. Be sure you don't over-water while you wait. The volume of water the plant needs now is only a small fraction of what it needed before the misfortune.

Best luck - and Welcome. We have another person with the same name who posts occasionally.

Al

Hi AI/Tapla,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I am scared now as I kept watering it assuming that it needs more water to have the leaves to come back standing. I can tell front the toothpick stick into the soil that the soil now it's very wet, but no more water running out from the bottom of pot. Do you think I should take it out of the pot and mix some dry soil with the current soil to decrease the moisture level of the soil? Is it better for me to keep the plant next to the window with lots of sun or it's better to keep it in shade for recovering? How can I tell how much water it's needing now?

Interesting to know someone also use the similar name.

Again, thanks a lot!

Xuan

I think she told me her name is pronounced Shwan, rhymes with swan. Yours?

If you unpot the plant and set the root/soil mass on a stack of newspapers, it will 'pull' all the excess water out of the pot. If the pot is small enough, you can hold the pot over a sink and move it downward, then quickly reverse the direction of movement to upward, this will also remove most of the excess water. This plant is particularly susceptible to crown rot, which is caused by over-watering or planting too deep, so be careful about that.

When you test for how moist the soil is, test at the drain holes, and not from the top. In it's current condition, it won't need water until the day it shows dry at the bottom of the pot. At that point, when it first feels dry to you, the plant can still extract moisture from the soil, but when dry at the bottom, it's time to water. It's better to keep this plant a little on the dry side than on the wet side.

I wish you well. Be patient - worrying won't help. Take care.

Al

Hi AI/Tapla,

Thank you so much for your advice/help!

My name is pronounced similar like that too, but the tone could be different as Chinese Pinyin has 4 tones for each word spelled in English letters, but that doesn't mean we have the same name, for same Pinyin and same tone can still come out with different character in Chinese writing. The character for my name is çÂÂ. Sorry, that's a bit too much beyond plants here.

Updates for my gerbera, I pulled the whole stack out of the pot as you said and removed half of the soil in the bottom then put it on some dry news paper for almost whole day today and the removed soil out under the sun for drying too. Then I put everything back to the pot and let it sit close to a window with morning sun through the veil curtain. I can see there are a few tiny green looks like new leaves coming out from the stem, so I really hope this is good sign that it's getting back to live. And of course, thanks a lot of your advice and patience to explain me everything. I really appreciate that.

Wish you a great labor day weekend+holiday!

Thanks!

Xuan

Hi AI/Tapla,

Thank you so much for your advice/help!

My name is pronounced similar like that too, but the tone could be different as Chinese Pinyin has 4 tones for each word spelled in English letters, but that doesn't mean we have the same name, for same Pinyin and same tone can still come out with different character in Chinese writing. The character for my name is çÂÂ. Sorry, that's a bit too much beyond plants here.

Updates for my gerbera, I pulled the whole stack out of the pot as you said and removed half of the soil in the bottom then put it on some dry news paper for almost whole day today and the removed soil out under the sun for drying too. Then I put everything back to the pot and let it sit close to a window with morning sun through the veil curtain. I can see there are a few tiny green looks like new leaves coming out from the stem, so I really hope this is good sign that it's getting back to live. And of course, thanks a lot of your advice and patience to explain me everything. I really appreciate that.

Wish you a great labor day weekend+holiday!

Thanks!

Xuan