Any plant people here?

[jumptheshadow]

I have a much beloved prayer plant here on my desk that seems to be ailing.

Some of its leaves are fine but others are curling and getting brown at the edges.

I bought the plant for my office about seven months ago. It did wonderfully and quickly outgrew two plants. (Actually, it did go through a one-week rough patch a few months ago. I moved it to the other side of my desk and voila! -- it was rejuvenated.)

The problems started before I repotted it.

Following the instructions of the plant store manager, I water it when it gets slightly dry (about twice a week).

Any thoughts?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Maybe move it again? And feed it. I feed my prayer plant once

a month and move it from the dining room to the living room and back again. In the winter months, I try to keep it more towards the center of the room because it seems to do badly close to colder windows...not that I'm a plant person, but....I got this plant when my son was born 5 years ago, and after a history of slaughtering flora, I just can't see that happen here.

[demnan]

2. I'm not familiar with this plant

however some plants have cyclical periods when they do well and then don't. My cylimens for instance, hate hot weather, even in the apartment they die off during the summer. But now that the cooler weather is here, they start up again with new leaves and bloom. Strange.

Perhaps this plant needs more light than you are giving it. A plant will often do ok with an inadequate amount of light for a time, but then will fade. You didn't mention whether it had natural light or not, but a grow light might help if it is in the office under artificial lighting. Repotting often helps too when the old soil is leached of nutrients.

[jumptheshadow]

4. The plant is next to a large window

But the window faces a typical New York City Bauhaus canyon of buildings. It does get sun, though.

The strange thing is the plant was doing well until the blackout. Our office building wasn't air-conditioned during the weekend following the blackout and the plant seemed to swoon a little. However, I thought it would recover long before this.

[Widgetsfriend]

3. Sounds like too much water.

It should probably be allowed to completely dry out before each watering. Too much water allows fungi and such to grow in the soil. You might try adding a fungicide to your next watering; Safer's makes something "safe". Good luck!

[bif]

5. Nine times out of ten

The problem is too much water. Try cutting back to once a week. Or water when the dirt dries out.

[Whitacre D_WI]

6. Brown at the edges...

often can be a sign of too low humidity. Offices are not known for plant-friendly humidity levels, so I would suggest either:

1) taking it home
or 2) misting it with a spray bottle once or twice a day

It's also a good idea to cut back on watering, as others have suggested; too much water is a far more common cause of premature plant death than too little. For your prayer plant, I would suggest watering when the soil is dry to a depth of the first knuckle on your index finger.

[jumptheshadow]

7. Thanks, everybody

eom