Did I overwater or underwater?
The last leaf of my begonia is gone.
Can't seem to get the right growing requirements.
Was it my watering? Or the light it was getting?
The room it was in averages at 60% humidity so I don't think that was the issue.
Comments (7)
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Am I underwatering or overwatering?
Comments (6)Can you take a large diameter length of pipe and do some "core samples"? Can you take strong, smooth stakes and drive them into the soil several places in each plant's root zone? Pull them out and touch them, smell them, see if they appear dry, damp or smell "soured" like a pot that's stopped draining. Until you can see what's happening under ground, you can't know the answer to that question. What you're seeing COULD be the beginning of black spot (yes, Knock Out CAN black spot). Or, it could be a water issue. How does the new growth look? Either under watering or over watering would affect the new, softer, sappier growth first. If it appears shriveled, it could be either. Too little water wouldn't support the new, soft growth tips and they would stop, either not forming or shriveling. Too much water, depending upon the drainage and water retention of your soil, could lead to root rot where the new growth would also stop, but appear like limp, wilted celery or lettuce that's been left too long in the crisper. If it's black spot or some other fungal attack, the new growth COULD still be looking decent, normal, what you expect it to look like. Extreme heat can cause foliage drop, too. As the plant experiences water stress, usually new growth halts and as it worsens, the plant reabsorbs the nutrients from the older foliage first, often causing them to take on "autumn foliage" type colors depending upon the genetics of the rose. To reduce the transpiration of water (water loss through sweating), the foliage begins to be shed. The logical conclusion is that all foliage is shed, leaving a bare plant which appears to just be sitting there. Once you can SEE and smell core samples (or the soil dug from areas in the root zone of the plants, but that disturbs more roots making water stress worse), or strong stakes shoved several places in the root zone of the plants, you won't be able to know if it seems too dry, too wet, smells "soured" from too much standing water too long. Determine what the soil conditions are below ground where the roots are and you have a better chance of figuring out what's going on with the plants. Kim...See MoreHELP! Don't know if I'm overwatering or underwatering new Dogwood
Comments (4)This is THE WORST time of year you could possibly have picked to plant a new tree!!! As for watering, check the soil's moisture level with you finger. Check for moisture both outside AND inside the rootball (assuming you didn't plant it bare-root). Be sure the soil at about 2" to 3" remains moist, but not wet. 30 minutes per day does sound like possibly too much water, BUT it depends on the water flow rate, your soil conditions, your weather, etc. Anyone that tells you how often/how much to water either doesn't know what they are talking about or are very familiar with you planting site's conditions. Hopefully the nursery falls into that last category. The bottom line is that you need to check your soil's moisture level to determine how often and how much to water....See Morefig died?
Comments (8)It sounds disappointing, but here are a few follow-up thoughts, maybe they'll be helpful with the next fig. If you had the fig in a container, especially in a clay one which would tend to retain the cold, the roots would be exposed to a colder minimum temperature than the mother fig would if it's an in-ground tree, because the ground temperature insulates the roots better than your container would. If you had any temperatures that were in the 'teens for any length of time during the winter or even as the plant was coming out of dormancy, there could've been damage to the roots. But that's just a consideration, because you had said the winter was not-so-cold. I'm also wondering if there was a period where the fig had started to develop those new buds because of a warming trend, and then you got some extra-cold nights that hurt the plant tissue in the stems and buds once it had begun growing again (a vulnerable time to be exposed to a freeze). Drought conditions can also do that, or changes in the moisture levels the roots experience at crucial times. I had ordered a Desert King fig from a nursery out in the PNW this spring, it arrived in April and had a green terminal tip of its main trunk when I unpackaged it. I put it into its new pot, but am thinking it had gone into shipping shock, because that bud dried a fair amount and didn't do anything (though the tree itself was still alive) for two months. The plant has just leafed out finally within the past two weeks, so it's taken two months to recover from its bare-rooting and shipping traumas. Given what my Desert King fig has shown me, I'm going to stay hopeful on your fig having some possible life left in it - when you checked the stems, was there green to the cambium when you cut back on the branches? how did you test the stems to see if they were dead, by cutting back in small sections from the tips toward the main trunk? if you still have green cambium at all, then as James said, stay optimistic, keep it in the shade, don't drown it but keep it moist, and hope for the best! Sherry...See MoreTomatoe plants yellowing on bottom
Comments (3)With my limited experience and being that I have the same problem, I would say that it is overwatering...if they are in buckets pick up the bucket and see how heavy it is...should be heavy if there is allot of water. or they could need fertilized. I had some of my other plants doing the same thing and I found it to be too much water and they needed fertilized...reduced water and fertilized when they where dried out enough and they have sprung too life....See More
paint girl 6bNJ
3 years ago
hc mcdole
3 years agoShade trees mainly provide the "filtered light". I take them out after the trees leaf out. I use the space under the deck to harden them off at times but the sun can still be intense coming in at an angle.
I don't take a lot of pictures of my plants these past few years so this is one from early October 2016 when we had a very large beech close to the deck so I could have everything fairly close to the house. (We took the tree down in 2017 and put a new deck in so kind of ruined the filtered shade.
September 2016
August
They just grow so much better outdoors.paint girl 6bNJ
3 years agohc mcdole
3 years agoI would say it is not too much sun as your other plants are doing excellent.
As for the temperature monitor, you cannot use it if it is in a sunny location. Our deck monitor often shows 110 - 115 but that is not the true temperature so we need to go by what the standard method is when measuring temps. Going from a sunny location to a shady location can be a 20 degree drop on a sunny summer day (depends on where the temps are read).With a weather app on your phone and your location, you can get a good idea on what the true temps are. I can use the temp monitor on our deck before the sun starts baking it and during cloudy days and be within a degree or two of what the actual temps are.
Anyway you can acclimate your plant to those kinds of temps. Here is one of Begonia Dragon Wings and a caladium we had on our deck years ago. It did require a daily watering though. I wished I could find DW again as it seems to have waned in popularity - it is excellent in full sun as long as you keep the ground or pot adequately moist.
Then I had some succulents on a baker's rack with this big begonia on the bottom shelf that loved the heat and what light it did get sideways. I bought this begonias as crassicaulis but it just didn't look right. So I nicknamed it to Sprawler. I think I finally found the true name, 'Bayberry Lane'.
hc mcdole