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Anyone else have a Bird of Paradise who’s new leaf gets… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

YehitsRoger

Anyone else have a Bird of Paradise who’s new leaf gets caught/doesn’t open? Don’t see any type of infestation and her soil seems good for a tropical plant (moist but well draining). She is scheduled to be reported, but thought it’d be best to do it once she was in full form. Did a little research online and have been misting her regularly. It’s been almost 2 months since the leaf first made an appearance. If it’s still not open in a week, I’ll add a humidifier to the mix. Read about running a wet sponge up the stall and leaf, but super hesitant about manually opening her… She looks like she plopped on the Sorting Hat but now doesn’t want to take it off. 😆 Any advise would be awesome! Thank you!

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5 likes 10 comments

10 comments

  1. Rhonda

    I might not even know what I’m talking about but have you tried rotating the pot with the sun on the back of that new leaf? Maybe she’s scoping her new home out very cautiously when it comes to releasing her baby.

    1 like
    • YehitsRoger

      Never thought of that - thank you! I’ve been trying to be good about rotating her, but can only really do 180 turns because of the way she grows and my limited space. 😅

      2 likes
    • Mama’s plants 🪴

      My space is small to and ideally not a good spot but the best I have. She’s a rescue. A friend had her and needed to give her away ASAP. She has a plant light in my bedroom in a northern window.

      1 like
  2. isaiah

    This recently happened with one of my BOPs 🫠 Wrapping a moist paper towel around the unfurled part for a few minutes opened it right up! It was a smaller leaf than this one, but I imagine you could do it longer/repeat as needed.

    6 likes
    • ashten

      seconding this - @wildfern has a youtube video where they use a wet towel to accomplish this. works like a charm.

      3 likes
    • YehitsRoger

      Awesome - thank you!!

      0 likes
    • YehitsRoger

      Worked like a charm!! Thanks Isaiah!! Well, ok…I may have been a little over-zealous and used a soaking-wet paper towel. So then ended up standing on a chair holding her stalk up for about 30 min… 🤷🏻‍♂️ So yeah…if anyone else has this issue, give it a shot! But def wrings the paper towel out first. 😅

      1 like
    • isaiah

      Yay! So glad it worked! No fr I think when I did it I didn’t wring the towel out either 😆 The things we do for our plants…

      0 likes
  3. Mama’s plants 🪴

    I put mine in the bathroom and turned on a hot shower and steamed it. The second one I used a warm washcloth. Both worked.

    2 likes
    • YehitsRoger

      Ooooo! Yeah…I’m TERRIFIED of manhandling her leaves (..I’m clumsy. You should see me when I try to repot these guys….lots of unnecessary drama) So a hands-on-but-still-hands-off steamy shower sounds perfect! Thank you!!

      2 likes