A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members Hello and Need some Help

Hello Gardner's

I myself am not a gardner, would love to know more about plants and that is why I am here. I just got married (last week) and have been intrusted with my Sister-in-Laws plant while she is living out of town for 2 years. I was told very strictly that this plant can not die in my hands. I am nerveous cause I don't know what the plant is, and it doesn't look like it is in good health.

I really need some help on how to care for this plant.







I appreciate any help that i can get.

Hi and welcome!

Your plant is a diffenbachia, and it requires bright light but NO direct sun. You are correct in saying that it doesn't look like it's in good health, but you can bring it back to health with a little care.

The first thing I would do is pull off all the washed-out colored, drooping leaves - they are dying or dead.

It looks like there are some young starts in the pot - it also looks like they might have been cut off of some older leggy stems - I can see very short stems in the 3rd picture. IF you find that the long stems that are left on the plant get too long or bare, you can cut those off and place the cuttings back into the soil. The soil looks like it is pretty old and probably depleted of nutrients. If you don't want to chance repotting the plant I would feed it with a fertilizer meant for houseplants.

Good luck with plantsitting!

Thank you for the advice I will remove the old dying leaves and give it some Houseplant fertilizer.