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What happened?!! My burgundy rubber was full and lively but had… | Show your plants | Comunidad de Planta

Sharon

What happened?!! My burgundy rubber was full and lively but had fungus gnats from the nursery I bought her at. So I changed her soil and washed the pot. I used a mix of tropical and all purpose soil. I know repotting plants can be stressful but I feel this plant is dying. Leaves are droopy and browning and fall off in droves daily!! And… even though my soil has no gnats…this plant has gnats again, or still! I’ve separated it and used sticky traps but mainly I wonder what is wrong with her to droop and brown and be so sad!!

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13 comentarios

  1. Sharon

    This picture is after a bunch of leaves had already browned and fallen off, but you can see how many are still sad and drooping down.

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  2. fuey

    Likely transplant shock. Try watering with insecticide and spraying/wiping the leaves with neem oil to help your fungus gnat problem.

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    • Sharon

      I cleaned each leaf with the care of a NICU baby the first day I bought her, because she was dingy from the nursery. I will try the insecticide. Thank you

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  3. Springvision

    I have been inundated with fungus gnats as well. I have changed the soil with four of my plants. I finally broke down and got death drops for fungus gnats . I use it every watering for all my plants. Things finally seem to be getting back under control.

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    • Sharon

      What are death drops?

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  4. Springvision

    Death drops from happy happy houseplants

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  5. Adrian

    Mosquito bits are another option to take care of the fungus gnats. I would take priority over the health of the plant first, before treating the gnats, though. I agree that it sounds like transplant shock. If that’s the case, check the roots. Some plants after experiencing more serious cases of shock kill their root systems off, so I would check it to start. If the roots look good, get some Bonide’s Rooting Hormone Powder and put a liberal amount of it on the roots. This will help the plant recover faster and speed up growing new roots. I get mine from local nurseries or Ace Hardware, but you could probably find it in the Garden Centers or Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Walmart. I do have a question about the soil. Do you happen to know what brand the soils are that you used, by any chance? If the soil isn’t well draining enough for the ficus, it could be contributing to the level of shock it’s experiencing as well, and prolonging the amount of time it’s taking to recover from it. Hope this helps. If the roots look gnarled or rotted, please feel free to come back and I’d be happy to walk you through how to treat it.

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    • Sharon

      One soil was miracle grow which I’m not a fan of but I checked it thoroughly prior to use in my other plants and there were no gnats. The other brand I do not recall but it wasn’t miracle grow and was organic. Not from Target. Target soil no matter the brand always has gnats I found the hard way. My pot has plenty of drainage holes. I believe 5 of them. How do I check the roots? Take it out of the soil again? 😭 thank you for all of your advice. I will definitely try what you suggested

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    • Adrian

      I would take it out of the soil. My concern with the miracle grow isn’t just the gnats, but that it isn’t well-draining enough for your plant, and suffocating the roots by being too heavy for your ficus. If you’ve got another brand of soil you can replace it with, I would. I’ve got a couple of ficuses and found they enjoy cactus and succulent mix of all things, for the drainage. Avoid anything Miracle brand to replace it outside of additives like orchid bark or perlite, and I can recommend what I use for mine, but if you can’t find it, don’t stress. Just use whatever you can. You could try using more of the all-purpose mix you used before and adding the orchid bark and perlite to that to increase the drainage. If you cant find more of the all-purpose mix you used when you repotted it, I would try Espoma’s Organic Cactus and Succulent Mix or All-Purpose Potting Mix. I swear by both of them. You might want to make sure you’ve got enough soil and such for repotting it again before checking the roots, but I definitely would check the roots.

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    • Sharon

      You sure repotting her won’t shock her more?🥹

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    • Adrian

      If she’s already going through shock, you’re gonna want to put some rooting powder on the roots to help it recover. And if the miracle grow in the soil mix isn’t well-draining or takes a while to dry out, then yes, you should try repotting her. If she goes through added shock from the second repot, the rooting powder will help with that. But if there is a problem with the roots, it’s better you risk secondary shock than let it sit untreated.

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  6. Hayley

    Ficuses tend to lose lower leaves for many reasons: overwatering, underwatering, light changes, temperature changes, humidity changes. They'll also lose lower leaves as they grow taller and the lower part of the stem turns to bark. My ficus is a bit dramatic and will drop his lower leaves for any slight he perceives against him. Moving to a new house caused him to lose about half a dozen leaves (although in his defence, I also hated moving in March in Ohio lol) For the fungus gnats: yellow sticky traps, Arber Insecticide, and bottom watering have pretty much eliminated my gnat problem

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  7. Katomarose

    I've heard people have success with getting rid of fungus gnats by getting mosquito dunks (precook soak your water in them) then thoroughly watering all your plants. Repeat for the next few watering and gnats will be gone. We are about to try this at my mother's house for her plants.

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