Many plants dead from dryness
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:17 am
If plants are dying or dead from drying out then I suppose the obvious solution is to water them more. But I don't think it's that simple. Please let me give you more details in the hope you can help.
All of the plants are culinary herbs or edible flowers.
Some of the plants were those I'd grown myself from seed, others were reasonably healthy small plants I'd bought from the supermarket or garden centre.
They are all being grown inside an apartment which has very dry air. (Air-conditioning in the summer and central heating in the winter.)
Most are being grown on south-facing windowsills, ie they're getting plenty of sun in the summer.
They are being grown in locally bought compost. I don't have much choice in this as many local people have family dachas (country homes where they grow fruit and veggies, etc) so there seems to be very little demand for indoor growing except for orchids and stuff like that. (At first I tried the orchid compost because it was all I could find, but apparently orchids thrive in poor soil. So, despite giving the plants lots of feed, I didn't have much success with that.) Eventually I was able to buy another type of all-purpose compost. It's not very nice and releases lots of tiny flies into the flat. It also grows mould on the surface when it's watered. Currently it's the best I can find so I'll have to persevere with it.
Back in the UK I was always under the impression that it was easier to kill a plant by over-watering rather than under-watering. Therefore, I kinda held back a bit. But it was obvious that the soil was too dry - every morning it would be totally dry. As it is, I'm giving them loads of water - the amount seems excessive to me - but they'll still drying out and dying.
What am I doing wrong?
I hope some of you will be able to share your wisdom as I'm at a complete loss about what to do next.
Thanks in advance.
PS: Perhaps it might be useful to note the one big success I've had as the exception might give you a clue to solve the problem. The exception is lemon grass. A few months ago I planted some seeds in a tiny little pot then, once I had some sturdy seedlings, I repotted them into pot of about 6" diameter at the top. They've had the same treatment as the other plants, but they're thriving. The best stalk's leaves are now over 16" tall!
All of the plants are culinary herbs or edible flowers.
Some of the plants were those I'd grown myself from seed, others were reasonably healthy small plants I'd bought from the supermarket or garden centre.
They are all being grown inside an apartment which has very dry air. (Air-conditioning in the summer and central heating in the winter.)
Most are being grown on south-facing windowsills, ie they're getting plenty of sun in the summer.
They are being grown in locally bought compost. I don't have much choice in this as many local people have family dachas (country homes where they grow fruit and veggies, etc) so there seems to be very little demand for indoor growing except for orchids and stuff like that. (At first I tried the orchid compost because it was all I could find, but apparently orchids thrive in poor soil. So, despite giving the plants lots of feed, I didn't have much success with that.) Eventually I was able to buy another type of all-purpose compost. It's not very nice and releases lots of tiny flies into the flat. It also grows mould on the surface when it's watered. Currently it's the best I can find so I'll have to persevere with it.
Back in the UK I was always under the impression that it was easier to kill a plant by over-watering rather than under-watering. Therefore, I kinda held back a bit. But it was obvious that the soil was too dry - every morning it would be totally dry. As it is, I'm giving them loads of water - the amount seems excessive to me - but they'll still drying out and dying.
What am I doing wrong?
I hope some of you will be able to share your wisdom as I'm at a complete loss about what to do next.
Thanks in advance.
PS: Perhaps it might be useful to note the one big success I've had as the exception might give you a clue to solve the problem. The exception is lemon grass. A few months ago I planted some seeds in a tiny little pot then, once I had some sturdy seedlings, I repotted them into pot of about 6" diameter at the top. They've had the same treatment as the other plants, but they're thriving. The best stalk's leaves are now over 16" tall!