Agreed. That soil needs to go.

Thanks! That's what I've been telling her. She is afraid to shock the plant. I told her it is better to shock it into a better environment than to keep it in the one that it is dying in. Should she wait until spring, or repot now? Also, should she divide the plants into three separate pots, or keep them together?

Not to derail, but Photo or others, what are you seeing that makes you say it needs more light? I ask in the interest of my own large BOP, which still looks good 1.5 years after purchase, in a much smaller pot, but in much less direct light than the plant shown. I want to keep mine healthy and I realize I might still be getting by on grower's conditions bc I have not had it all that long. Thank you!

maggiepatty, in their natural habitat, BOPs grow in direct sunlight. That's what they're used to. Although, they can grow in bright shady locations, they do best when grown in as much sunlight as possible. Just because certain plants can tolerate lower light levels, it doesn't mean that they prefer lower light levels.

If you do decide to grow them in direct sunlight, don't just place them in direct sunlight. Plants need sufficient time to adjust to growing in more intense sunlight, or else they'll get sunburned. Start out by moving it to a bright, shaded location at first. Then move them to a little brighter location each week until it's finally acclimated to the direct sunlight that they love.

Thank you, Photo. Mine sits in a corner beside (not in front of) an east window, but there is a curtain at the side of the window that blocks any light from shining directly on the plant. Frankly, I'm surprised mine has done as well as it has so far. There is a floor lamp on for several hours per day very near it, but it's not a plant bulb, just a regular incandescent.

The pot size would be fine if a suitable, coarser media was used.

@Kate: You're correct .... The plant would likely be better off repotted in a better media now rather than remaining in media that is too water retentive.

Btw, knowing where the plant lives (state/garden zone) is often helpful to those who would like to give advice.

@Maggie: As PS mentioned, BoP are full sun plants. Neighbors in Hawaii had a gorgeous beast of a plant in their yard.

Incandescent bulb light is pretty useless for plants. It is the wrong spectrum and, in order to provide a plant like a BoP with the desired light intensity, the bulb would have to be so close to the leaves (or "leaf" in this case, considering how large each leaf is) as to make it highly likely that the leaves would get burned.

Incandescent bulbs are so inefficient as light sources. I remember reading somewhere before that roughly 90% of the energy they use is given off as waste heat. I did switch over to "daylight" compact fluorescent light bulbs several years ago, which were much better. But now I have switched every light over to "daylight" LED bulbs, which are so much brighter and more closer to natural sunlight than wasteful incandescent bulbs. My electric bill has gone way down since the switch. I would highly recommend it. Both for you, as well as your plants.

You posted it! do you when when it was transplanted? if it has the chance to dry out it might not be so bad and had them put it in the brightest window it might stiffen up.

I got mine as that size 2 summers ago and this is it now. If properly taken care f they grow fast!

I did! :) - she re potted it I believe late summer, after I told her not to, and that it was already in a pot that was too big. She went to a bigger pot. So it's been almost 6 months in this pot.

Yours looks so strong! What type of soil are you using and do you recommend?

I have soil that retains a bit of moisture but is still able to dry out over the winter. only watering it 3 times though out the winter months. It's sandy and loose when dry.

Matt, only watering 3 times throughout the winter? That soil definitely holds on to moisture for longer then that plant would like.

Some of mine need water every two days. The longest any of mine can go between waterings (full flush) is 5 days and that's a large ficus in an 18" pot.

Not trying to tell you to change what you do, just throwing some ideas your way. I also do understand that watering that often doesn't work for everyone. It can get annoying for others who look after my plants while I'm away.

A coarse fast draining mix goes a long way.

Thanks, Paul and Photo. to be clear, the incandescent bulb near my bird of paradise is not there to provide light for the plant, it is just my living room lamp and happens to share that corner. I only brought it up because I assumed it did not provide much light if any to the plant, and I was surprised my bird of paradise has done so well in that location. The photo at the top of this thread shows a plant right in front of a large sunny window and I know my bird of paradise is not getting anywhere near that amount of light. If it starts to do poorly I will have to relocate it.

maybe 4 times lol from Dec to Feb. More sun and longer days I'll be watering it a bit more now. It's not that the soil holds too much water I keep it dry so the leaves stay nice,upright. Once these plants hit a certain age they do not require a lot of water. It seems to be very happy this year. It was recently repotted in Sept. For certain plants to work inside it takes a bit of homework and trial and error.

Thanks for the info you guys! I have a theory, but more so an observation. This BOP is from IKEA. Any plant that I have ever purchased from IKEA has never survived. Even succulents. I went there today to accompany a different friend, and noticed that all of the plants seem oddly perfect. Maybe the fact that none of my friends or my ikea plants last a year, has something to do with how they grow them? Just thinking out loud...

Anyway, thanks everyone for all your comments. Can't wait to get this repotted to see how it fares.

My BOP is also from IKEA, and I also have a snake plant and a weird dracaena from the same trip (1.5 years ago) and they are all still alive. Historically I kill a lot of plants by overwatering, so I am trying really hard to err on the side of letting them dry out.

Oh, ok! It's good to hear of someone having success with their plants. I was starting to think something's up with them. I think most of my friends and myself included at the time had no idea of the perils of overwatering. I've lost two large jade trees over the summer from compact soil & was so heartbroken and freaked out that I believe I have now been under watering a giant monstera I have - in fear that it will get root rot.

Anyway, when I still had the ikea theory in my head I noticed this:

What is up with these seemingly dyed green trunks?? This can't be natural... right??

Since they were probably grown outside in shade houses, it's just harmless moss/something growning on them.

Is it just me or should the crown of the o/p's plant be up higher in the pot? It looks like it was planted a bit too deep.

Those ikea plants don't look like they've been watered correctly for a long time, this could be the cause of your failure. A lot of feeder roots could be starved for water when only a tiny bit of the soil is saturated.

My backyard is shielded by many tall overhead trees that keeps most of my backyard shaded all day long. So when you factor in all of the rain we get (along with plenty of good drainage), we have moss growing all over the place; which includes the trunks of my ornamental trees. The green color is just harmless moss that grew on the trunks back at the greenhouses. It will go away all on its own. Especially since Ikea's only been giving them little "sips" of neglectful underwaterings. No wonder they're having leaf problems.

On a side note; this year, I've bought myself a weeding tool to rip up these unsightly weeds by their roots. I've been going thru my yard weeding out any that I can find so that the mosses can grow better. Since it looks more appealing, and it's much easier to deal with than trying to grow grass there. Plus, the moss is so much softer to walk on.