When it rains, it pours… I’m trying to get out the door to go on vacation, and I’m finding all sorts of things wrong with my plants!😩 Please tell me what’s wrong with my rubber plants… TIA. 🤗💚🪴 PS. I know it says “high watering” needs, but my “garden” only gets watered with a moderate schedule. I tend to let my rubber plants get almost dry, and they seem to be very happy… until now!
I’ve seen some things online that say this is how elastica show edema. I had the same issue with my last tineke. I would try to try to go a few days longer between waterings since the pot is pretty big
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Yeah definitely edema, don’t water them and then when you get back maybe even downsize the pot to help with that
1 j'aime Oh my gosh, do I really need to downsize that pot? I’ve spent a great deal of time growing these plants, and then making this “garden”. I guess the problem is that I let my plants get too dry, and then gave them too much water all at once, is that right? Is there any other way to prevent edema other than repotting these plants? TIA… 🤗💚🪴
1 j'aime It could also be that the soil at the bottom of the pot is staying wet even though it may seem dry. So then you’re accidentally over watering. I would also downsize the pot…
2 J'aime Aw I’m sorry, definitely sounds like you’ve put in a lot of work and energy into it. Yeah pretty much that’s how edema works, because it got shocked from one extreme to another and so it is storing water in the leaves. Hmmmm what if you drill some extra holes (assuming it’s a plastic pot) around the bottom and hopefully that’ll provide some more airflow? 😬💚🪴
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You could kind of dig out a shallow area around the plant, i have on a few of my smaller plants in large pots. That way they hopefully won't get overwatered, as you try to water the whole pot. Or you can try bottom watering instead of top.
1 j'aime Bottom watering… What a great idea! Last time we watered this pot, it was such a mess; there was water everywhere! I think bottom watering would prevent that, right? And, it would help with fungus gnats, right? Since these plants are in a pot, that is really too big for them, how do I tell when I should water? I don’t think the roots go down to the bottom of the pot, at this point. So, should I use a simple water meter, and just push it partway down in the dirt, to see what the soil moisture is? I’m just not sure when to water this big pot… TIA, big-time! 🤗💚🪴
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I bought a water soil moisture meter, and stick it right down to the bottom before I water. Even if the app says it’s time to water, I still check with the meter. If it shows any kind of dampness, I skip it on the app, choosing, “soil is wet option” The meter is a game changer for me in terms of my project of changing my brown thumbs to green.
3 J'aime It supposedly does help with fungus gnats, as they need the top to be wet ideally. I do not bottom water myself. Though it's been explained to me as checking the soil like normal, then setting the pot in a container of water 1/2 up the pot, and letting it soak for 15-30 mins
1 j'aime TXS for your return post! I know edema on ficus plants will disappear in time, when you correct their watering schedule; is this the same with rubber plants? If I correct the watering, say with bottom watering, do you think that will help with the edema on my plants? Also, do you have any of your plants in PON? I’m beginning to investigate that medium, and think it might have some benefits for my plants. TIA… 🤗💚🪴
0 J'aime I think any plant that's not super herbaceous, will come back from Edema. I do have several plants in pon, some of my monestera, Alocasia and Anthurium. Though the last time I used it, last portion of an opened bag, I got some white mold on top, that started to rot a few of my corms. So now I sterilized anything that was left with a fungicide. Seems to have worked. The main benefit is no fungus gnats from them 😆 😂 the Alocasia do really well in them. I don't use mine with self watering pots like a lot of people do. I just normal kind of drench amount when I do. so using a self water or not may depend on your plants needs
1 j'aime I like to use a long wooden skewer to check the bottom of the pot! Soil meters are notoriously unreliable. Wolfen was spot on, use a big big tub or the bathtub so the water is pretty high!
0 J'aime I’m uncertain as to the reason you set your pot in “deep” water. When I bottom water, I just set my pots in an inch or two of water. Comments?TIA…. 🤗💚🪴
2 J'aime From my understanding plants with roots that are higher in the pot you want to “flood the soil” so it will reach the roots and they can draw it up the rest of the way. I don’t think it would be necessary with roots that go deeper. This is just what I’ve heard from online so I’m not going to say it’s 100% true/necessary
1 j'aime The ladies I follow on IG who only bottom water, always show the water almost half up the pot. One i know repots plants often, so that may be why, because the roots aren't to the bottom of the pot. Granted she usually shows 4" pots when she does it, so that is only a few inches of water.
1 j'aime Hey, Wolfen…Do you suppose that the depth of the water has anything to do with pressure, which would possibly push water up into the plant, through the drainage holes? Otherwise, I can’t see any difference between having an inch of water, or a tub of water, in which the plants can sit for watering,🤔, ??? TIA… 🤗💚🪴 PS. We must stop meeting like this… 🤗
0 J'aime PPS. What is IG? Am I missing out on something? 🤗💚🪴
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