Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
Things happen, and not always will a plant be able to keep up the pace the others are setting, for a number of reasons. The roots popping out multiple times and her slow start probably had a lot to do with this. So her roots are not as good as the other plants and naturally not able to draw up as much water, but yet I bet you are watering them all together, when your human senses tell you that they look and feel like they need it.
The point is, your sickly plant didn't need that water as often, but yet, even with water still standing in the bottom of that container, you have faithfully come along and watered it again. Those lower roots then continue to stay submerged under water, and after a while of this they shut down, waiting for the flood waters to go away. WIthout the water pressure the lower roots provide, your plant can't get the lift it needs to point the leaves up to the light, so you get an almost constant droop. The only time the droop goes away is for a short time after watering again to runoff. This fills the container up with water again, and for short period of time, until the plant uses the water in the top of the container, the upper spreader roots are able to access the water and provide some lift to the leaves. Once the water level falls again to mid level or so, the spreader roots no longer can see it, the lower roots are still trying to protect themselves, and the droop returns.
The solution to this is to get those lower roots going again, and the only thing that can do that is a hit of oxygen. This requires the soil to dry out all the way to the bottom of the container and the suction that this causes will pull oxygen way down deep. The lower roots need to see oxygen between waterings in order to keep going strong. Provide that to them, and this situation will correct itself. You should be seeing dramatic leaf lift with every daylight period and then a general relaxing during the nighttime hours. If you are not seeing this response in your plant, something is wrong at the root level. A cheap $6 moisture/light/ph meter from the hardware store can show you exactly where the top of that water table is, as can a wooden dip stick. Sticking your fingers in the top tells you nothing about what is happening at the lower root level. The lift the pot method will work, as long as you accurately compare the weight with that of a similar container filled with DRY soil. If you can tell a difference, it is NOT time to water again. WIth damaged lower roots, it can often take 7 days to a week to clear out all that stale water at the bottom. Be ruthless and you can fix this, but the first step is realizing that at least with this one plant, you have been an overwaterer by watering too often. Treat each plant in your garden as an individual... they don't always need the same watering or feeding schedule as their more healthy neighbors.
