Wrinkly Inaba Shidare Maple & sad, sad houseplants

[pirhan]

Hi there,

I received a Inaba Shidare Japanese Maple tree. As it's quite small and had new leaves, I repotted it into a house pot and thought I could keep it over the winter in the house. I am moving, and wanted to take it with me. Plus, it's tender here in my zone 5a.

Well, it's not doing so great. All the leaves dried up and fell off. It's just a stick now. The stem has wrinkles in it. (Like it's dehydrated though I water it and the soil is moist.) I am very distressed at this as I don't wish to kill it. It was outside all summer, should I place it in the garage for the winter? I thought I was very good at plant care, but lately my green thumb has turned into a black thumb.

I'm also having problems with nearly all my house plants. I had repotted them in the spring, but I guess the soil was very poor soil. My eight year old ficus bit the dust due to root rot because the soil never dried out for it. But, other plants would be bone dry. All my plants have general malaise in some form or another. I have a jasmine that is losing it's leaves; they're just dropping. My eight year old monstera is stunted and one leaf is turning yellow. The only plant that seems to be doing well is a zamia.

I repotted them two weeks ago. I made my own soil with a combination of sifted sheep compost, coconut coir (peat substitute) and perlite. I also put in some greensand and Myke's mycorhizae. Since our well water is extremely hard and high in salt due to the water softener, I use nothing but rain water.

Oh, and I have a succulent that is super lanky and is pinkish.

I really thought getting nice soil for them and repotting, moving them to more sun would make them happy. But they're not and they're all really unhealthy. I'm quite upset at this as I've had some of these plants for years. (The monstera is my first "adult" plant, the ficus was my second "adult" plant.)

Any help would be so much appreciated. If you need images, I'd be happy to upload some.

[Eeyore]

It sounds as though you had a serious soil and water problem. New soil should help but the coir is going to hold a lot of water. Do you have one of those moisture meters? If so use it religiously and move the plants to a less sunny area to avoid sunburn. Only water when the moisture meter says dry. Most plants will rest in the winter and require far less water and fertilizer.

Good Luck!

[Countryboy]

I've never had an Inaba Shidare Maple but I'm guessin' that it's not an evergreen . . . so will probably loose it's leaves at this time of year.

Root Rot??? I've always had a spray bottle of a sulphur and water mix to combat any potential fungus growth in indoor plants.

And, as Lyn says, more sun is not always the best medicine for houseplants. Hi lite is good but not always direct sun.

[Eeyore]

Actually, a large majority of tropical houseplants will be found in the understory of the rain forest which means indirect light rather than full sun. The exception of course is cactus and most of the succulents.

[pirhan]

Thank you for the help. Yes, the maple will certainly lose its leaves, but since it had new growth, new leaves, I figured it was getting it's second wind and would be more active. (I potted an acorn inside which is doing quite well unhindered by the upcoming winter.) A few days after I took the maple home all those new leaves fell off - so I think it's something I did.

The plants get sun, but not direct sun. They were in a back room that got lots of afternoon light, but with winter coming, the sun doesn't shine back there at all - so I moved them to a front room where they will get indirect sun. The back room is quite dark and gets quite cool, and the plants were looking ill, so I thought the move to the front would be for the best.

@ Countryboy - What sort of sulphur do you use? Would the Green Earth brand garden sulphur work? Or do you have another suggestion? Do you just spray weekly/monthly? I guess spray the soil moreso than the foliage?

Took some pictures. I moved the plants into the sunlight so it would be easier to capture what I'm talking about, this isn't their usual spot.

maple 1 / maple 2 / maple 3 - you can see the ridges on the stem going up.

My monstera and again. (Yes, it's eight years old - long story short, it was "killed" by a frost when I was driving across the country two years ago.) Here is the soil. It's new soil, but already has a white dusting on it. I'm flabbergasted to what this is. (Any long white hairs you see are compliments of my nothing by Trouble cat.)

hedera helix - though this doesn't surprise me; it's been sick since I received it. Mites, scale, you name it. I don't know how to get it healthy.

I think I might of put too much greensand into the soil mix? I like experimenting and trying new things and I have a feeling I might of overdone it. I just don't know if I should redo the soil to correct or something else. Sorry for such a long post and thank you again for your help.

[Countryboy]

Yup . . . Green Earth Garden Sulphur is what I use. Mostly only for seedlings tho. Too bad u can't buy it by the teaspoonful 'coz, unless yr doing seedlings on a regular basis, u hardly ever use it.

But! . . . whether u use a little or a lot . . IMO it should be in every gardeners kit. It's far and away the best defense against fungus of any sort.

My bigger plants would almost never get their soil dosed with sulphur. I'm pretty slack at watering them.

It might be 'something u did' with the Maple . . . u moved it. lol Lots of plants don't take kindly to abrupt changes of any sort. I try not to move mine around too much . . and then only gradually....

[pirhan]

Hahaha, thanks! I will pick up some sulphur when I'm shopping next. I do actually grow quite a few plants from seeds (mostly outdoor annuals and perennials). A lot got nipped by damping off this season.

I think my oak sapling has fungus - picture. Should I water it with sulphur water or spray it? Or both? How long will it take for the black/grey to go away? How will I know it's gone?

(Little Acorn was found chewed, in a parking lot late September. Potted him up and started growing - am keeping him indoors this winter and then let him go dormant next year.)

[Countryboy]

I've always treated the soil for fungus . . but very lightly. Giving it a couple of spritzes from a spray bottle when necessary. Sulphur is not harmful to plants but I always tried to avoid leaving a residue on the leaves.

Is that fungus on yr Oak leaf??? I can't say. Maybe somebody else in here may know.

[Eeyore]

What does the bottom of the oak leaf look like? Would Sulphur help with fungus Frank?

[Countryboy]

Yeah, Lyn. Sulphur kills fungi. Or, at least, the soil bourne fungi that causes root-rot/damping off. And it's pretty much harmless to anything else.