A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 sick homalomena

this once gorgeous homalomena was given to me as a gift on thanksgiving, and since then, the leaves have continued to yellow, wilt and die. i have been very careful with the amount of water it gets, as i thought that was the problem, but even still it continues to perish. i have even repotted it to make sure the roots were healthy. is there anything i can do to stop it from perishing?

http://tinypic.com/16hzjb

Hi Amy,

I'm wondering if chlorisis could be the problem. I'm looking at the leaves and notice that the veins are still green. Take a look at these sites.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/focus/chlorosis.html
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/microchlorosis/microchlorosis.htm
http://www.oglesbytc.com/culture-homolamena.html

Newt

Newt, you're a genius! it's funny, that last link i had looked at previously, as i do believe the plant i purchased was from that grower. or at least the tag stuck in it was.
so chlorosis it is. what to do now? i haven't ventured into such realms as "Occasional foliar sprays of manganese and iron will help prevent chlorosis". i knew they were big feeders, but apparently that isn't cutting the mustard. hey, anybody want a poor old homalomena? hee hee. i'll see what i can do. Thanks, Newt!

Amy, you make me blush! I'm glad we found the problem. Now for the solution (pardon the pun), but I think the way to go is with treating the soil so the plant can take up the nutrients it needs. You could get one of those test kits for soil ph since we now know that the ph preference is 6.0 to 6.5, which is slightly acid. I don't think that this is something you have caused. Actually most potting soils are peat moss based and tend to be acidic.

The recommendation from the folks of your tag is "Constant feed with 200 ppm N with a 3-1-2 ratio of N-P-K, including Mg and trace elements." I do tend to prefer organic fertilizers to the synthetics as they are gentler and often contain more trace elements. I have fish emulsion with a ratio of 5-1-1 and seaweed with a ratio of 0-0.2-1 but they come in different combinations. The one that comes to mind with the proper ratio is alfalfa meal. Take a look here. They have other offerings as well, but you should be able to find these products at a good garden center.

General purpose organic fertilizers

What do you think?
Newt

Newt, you really are a darling, but I just don't think I'm up to the task. I appreciate your insight immensely, but I'm afraid I'm a "weekend gardener", if you will. Anything that even mentions the periodic table of elements, and I'm out.
Take a gander of what's left of my poor baby:

http://tinypic.com/1958gi

I'll just keep fertilizing with, ahem, MG(so sorry!), and hacking away 'til it's time for the graveyard. My apologies, Newt.

But while I have your attention, check out this bad boy I just recently adopted. African Mask, have you heard anything about them? Now this is something I could adjust my pH for!

http://tinypic.com/1958hi

Amy, do you cook on that stove? It's so clean and I'm jealous. If so, do remove the plants to a 'safe place'.

I was surprised to see how little of your plant is left, but maybe what is left is healthy and will rebound. The soil looks a bit dry on top though. Next time you repot it, you might want to leave more room at the top for watering. I tend to leave about 2" of space so I can water well.

Your Alocasia x amazonica 'African Mask' is also known as Elephant ears. Do you need care info? Here's one that might prove useful.

http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/gv/1648


I also love your abalone shell!

Newt

Amy, I love your "African Mask" Elephant Ear! It's GORGEOUS!

I was wondering the same thing as Newt...your stove looks suspiciously clean.

LOL, you guys are too funny. why cook when you live next to a taqueria? seriously though, thanks for the tips; i'll give it my best and hopefully i'll avoid posting any obituaries. cheers!

I had to look up the meaning of taqueria! Sounds delicious! When I visited my mother in Phoenix we found one that had the most delicious food! Taco Bell just can't compete with that.

Hope we don't get to read any obits either.

Good luck,
Newt