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  |  Gardening  |  Plants  |  My plants are dying in my dark flat
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My plants are dying in my dark flat


question
I have a small dark humid flat, where I can't seem to grow anything. I bought some houseplants: an ivy, a calla lily and some herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage). The ivy is the only one doing well. I planted the herbs in a terracotta pot with a fortified mix. I left the ivy and calla lily in their containers and just slipped them into terracotta pots. The herbs have a west-facing window and were doing great for a while until they suddenly shrank and went brown. This was about the same time we had earwig problems. Though I never caught earwigs in the herb planter, the effect on the herbs was the same as the marigolds they ravaged. Both the calla lily and the ivy have poor light -- but I water them when they are dry (once a week) and I use Miracle Gro once every two weeks. Recently, the calla lily started drooping and began to grow brown discoloration on the leaf tips. I've also noticed what looks like lime scale on the outside of the terracotta pot. I've seen this before, and my plant usually dies pretty soon after. What is causing this, and how do I counteract it? Please help me help my plants. --iVillager amyshannon

answer
First of all, let's address the problem of the herbs. If your apartment is really as dark and humid as you say, then for any plant that needs sun or partial/dappled sun, you are going to have to buy some artificial light. One option is a light bulb specifically for plant growth. If you don't offer these plants artificial light, they are doomed. As for lime deposits on your calla lily, the only thing I can think of is something called iron deficiency and lime-induced chlorosis. This often occurs with the development of brown discoloured areas that start at the leaf margins and then spreads. Immature growth is usually affected. This condition is caused when acid-loving plants (that hate lime) are in environments where their roots are not getting the trace minerals they need or are getting too much of a mineral they reject. How can you counteract this condition? Grow plants that don't like lime in acidic soil. Also, try feeding your plants an acidic fertilizer and use acidic mulches such as conifer bark. Before planting, you might also want to treat your soil with acidic minerals such as sulphur, aluminium sulphate or ferrous sulphate.

Nationally known gardening expert, and author of Digging Deep: Unearthing Your Creative Roots Through Gardening, Fran Sorin is interested in helping women understand themselves in relation to their gardens.

Fran is a CBS Radio News Contributor, the GardenSmart contributor to USA Weekend Magazine, a contributing editor of Radius Magazine and is the Gardening Expert for DIY's 'Home Made Easy' and Comcast's 'Your Morning' Show. Fran has made appearances on 'Regis and Kelly', 'The Today Show', CNN, HGTV and The Discovery Channel.

For more information on Fran, go to her website at: www.fransorin.com

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