please help me identify and care for my new plants
October 23, 2010 4:32 PM Subscribe
Can you identify my office plants from the photos, and give me tips for caring for them?
Earlier this year, I moved into a new office and inherited the plants that were there. The plants are probably 3-5 years old.
I've been watering the plants once or twice a week, often using a few drops of the Miracle Gro liquid houseplant food that was provided with the plants. From reading similar posts, I've learned that I should water the plants with room-temperature water, whereas up until now I've been using cold tap or drinking water.
These plants are up against a south-facing window to the outside, but the window is now coated with an opaque white covering. I can't change anything about the window, but I could provide supplemental lighting. Alternately, I could take a plant home if it needs more sunlight.
* Plant #1, "leafy"
This plant looks healthy. The main problem is that the trunk is crooked, and if the plant continues to grow, the weight of the plant may make this worse. An earlier Ask MeFi post showed a plant where the trunk was supported with string. Pros/cons?
* Plant #2, "palmy"
This looks like a palm plant. It recently lost some leaves (they turned brown and I cut them away). Many of the remaining leaves have brown tips.
* Plant #3, "branchy"
This plant lost a lot of leaves which were dried up and brittle. The remaining leaves look healthy, but this plant seems neglected.
Earlier this year, I moved into a new office and inherited the plants that were there. The plants are probably 3-5 years old.
I've been watering the plants once or twice a week, often using a few drops of the Miracle Gro liquid houseplant food that was provided with the plants. From reading similar posts, I've learned that I should water the plants with room-temperature water, whereas up until now I've been using cold tap or drinking water.
These plants are up against a south-facing window to the outside, but the window is now coated with an opaque white covering. I can't change anything about the window, but I could provide supplemental lighting. Alternately, I could take a plant home if it needs more sunlight.
* Plant #1, "leafy"
This plant looks healthy. The main problem is that the trunk is crooked, and if the plant continues to grow, the weight of the plant may make this worse. An earlier Ask MeFi post showed a plant where the trunk was supported with string. Pros/cons?
* Plant #2, "palmy"
This looks like a palm plant. It recently lost some leaves (they turned brown and I cut them away). Many of the remaining leaves have brown tips.
* Plant #3, "branchy"
This plant lost a lot of leaves which were dried up and brittle. The remaining leaves look healthy, but this plant seems neglected.
Second one is what I call a parlor palm at work.
First one is indeed the Schefflera Arboricola.
In our store either one seems to like indirect lighting and moderate watering.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:56 PM on October 23, 2010
First one is indeed the Schefflera Arboricola.
In our store either one seems to like indirect lighting and moderate watering.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:56 PM on October 23, 2010
Best answer: For the Schefflera, in addition to rotating it, you can stake it and prune it, so that it is balanced. I agree more light for the kentia, also might want to consider fertilizer which includes the proper micronutrients.
I can't tell what's going on in that kentia picture, the potting media looks weird. Maybe it's time to step up the plant? If you don't want a bigger pot a second option would be to separate out some of the shoots and put the remaining half or so back in the original pot with new media. Palms in general don't like to have their roots messed with, but if you just make a single clean cut down the middle, you would disturb the majority of the roots very little. Plus then you'd have two "palmy"s
posted by abirdinthehand at 5:31 PM on October 23, 2010
I can't tell what's going on in that kentia picture, the potting media looks weird. Maybe it's time to step up the plant? If you don't want a bigger pot a second option would be to separate out some of the shoots and put the remaining half or so back in the original pot with new media. Palms in general don't like to have their roots messed with, but if you just make a single clean cut down the middle, you would disturb the majority of the roots very little. Plus then you'd have two "palmy"s
posted by abirdinthehand at 5:31 PM on October 23, 2010
Best answer: Re #2, palms should not get regular houseplant food, they get salt deposits and that's bad for them.. (they need special formulations). Generally plants should get plant food during growth spurts in spring / summer (but there are exceptions). You also need to repot them every ~2 years (every year for smaller plants, but your are fairly big). Watering should be done based on how dry the soil gets, because depending on humidity / temp that can happen slower or faster. You can dip your finger in the soil ~2" deep, you can also tip the pot when it's just watered and then tip it when it might be getting too dry and compare the weight. Palms do, generally, need quite a bit of light. That's all I got!
posted by rainy at 5:32 PM on October 23, 2010
posted by rainy at 5:32 PM on October 23, 2010
Best answer: Branchy might be "lipstick plant" (Aeschynanthus pulcher.) Unfortunately my experience with (my mom's) lipstick plant was limited to vacuuming up all the dead leaves it dropped, so I can't advise on care.
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:57 PM on October 23, 2010
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:57 PM on October 23, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you for your responses! I should come clean and admit that I killed a small cactus that I owned for about 4 years. :(
• misting for leafy: I'll have to come up with a covering for the computer that is right by this plant. Also, I'm severely allergic to dust mites. And I'll start regularly rotating it.
• feeding palmy: I'll stop using the houseplant food and seek out a more targeted product for it.
• re-potting palmy: Horizontal space is very limited, but I have some room to spare with palmy.
• branchy: Yeah, the aeschynanthus pulcher photos I looked at seem to match.
In addition to the advice you've given, I'll go read about these plant types to learn more.
posted by germdisco at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2010
• misting for leafy: I'll have to come up with a covering for the computer that is right by this plant. Also, I'm severely allergic to dust mites. And I'll start regularly rotating it.
• feeding palmy: I'll stop using the houseplant food and seek out a more targeted product for it.
• re-potting palmy: Horizontal space is very limited, but I have some room to spare with palmy.
• branchy: Yeah, the aeschynanthus pulcher photos I looked at seem to match.
In addition to the advice you've given, I'll go read about these plant types to learn more.
posted by germdisco at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2010
Response by poster: Ohh, you meant "dust" and "spider mites". :)
posted by germdisco at 9:34 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by germdisco at 9:34 PM on October 24, 2010
Response by poster: There is a shower on my floor, but first I'll try using a small spray bottle. I can just carry the plant from the office into the hallway and spray it there, where the mist won't cause any problems.
posted by germdisco at 9:38 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by germdisco at 9:38 PM on October 24, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
darker leaves = less sun
light green leaves = more sun
fat thick leaves = water less, just when dry (they store water better)
spindly thin leaves = water more vigilantly, but don't go nuts (you can add water to a saucer rather than from above and it's a little more consistent)
I can't remember killing a plant. My cat did, though. I don't blame myself.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:51 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]