Plant E.R.

[Darkhorse]

I hope this doesn't have to be a sad topic.  Out of all of my plants this winter, Sunkissed Blonde has taken the hardest hit.  First, the cat chewed off some of her branches, and now she's almost completely defoliated due to lack of light.  On top of that I washed a bunch of spider mites off her this week.  Anyway, she's got one leaf left.  Will it be enough?  I hope so.

This is what I've done for her.  Recently I have increased the dose of Supernova for all the plants-- they are now getting 1 teaspoon/gallon instead of .5 teaspoon/gallon.  Sunkissed Blonde is included in this.  Also, I'm spraying her with Wake-Up Spray nightly.  With the recent epiphany I've been having with artificial lighting, I've put her under my Ikea lamp.  The bulb is another one of those energy saving florescent bulbs.  I plan to leave it on 24 hours.  Finally, I put a heater in that room and it's set on 80.  I keep the rest of the house at 73 during the day and 68 at night.  I figure they'll all be al little happier at 80 degrees.

Sunkissed Blonde is accompanied in he ICU by my last remaining mystery cv.  It has to be either Bridal Path or Cranberry Muffin.  Also not doing so well, but not as bad off as SKB.

I will update photos weekly so we can see their progress (hopefully!!!)  Sunkissed Blonde is on the right in the photo and the mystery cv is on the left.  I've attached a photo of SKB in mid-September of 2010 so you can see what she used to look like.

[blupit007]

Jordan, That is so sad!  I hope they pull through.  Why did they defoliate?  Not enough light?  My garden variety that I moved into my office last winter defoliated because it was not in direct light, in the spring I did a huge pruning (actually the only pruning I ever gave a hibiscus thus far) and it came back once it got more light better then ever.

[Charlie]

Excellent ER program, J. If that doesn't bring back SunKist Blonde, nothing will. One good sign is that the tips of the stems do not appear to be rotting.

One of the problems with defoliation is that the plants no longer absorb much water and whatever is in the water since without leaves they don't need the water. That means fertilizer, supernova,or whatever else does not get into the plant easily or quickly. Sprays don't get into the plant well either but some will be taken in and altogether everything you are doing will help. The higher temperature is the best thing you could do to encourage leafing out and the extra light will help a lot when they do get some leaves going.  

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

My Cosmic Gold looks just like your SKB, I hope they both make it.  These yellow CVs, Lemon Kiss and Too pretty looks Similar to SKB, maybe they are more vigorous?  My SKB is in Cali, but is has also been pretty finicky.

[Charlie]

Chris, another nice touch for a hospital area is an electric heating pad to put the sick plants on, particularly if its not practical to heat the hospital room up close to 80F the way Jordan has. These pads have worked wonders for us in the past.

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

I do believe they've defoliated due to lack of light.  Warmth hasn't been a problem as I've been keeping all the plants inside.  I've come to realize that the valley is just one gigantic bowl of fog in the winter, so even the plants in the windows really aren't getting much light.  Charlie, you're right about defoliated plants not absorbing much of anything-- that's probably why mites started to take over on SKB.  That plus I'm sure her immune system is weakened.

Chris I did look at those two cvs just in case...  I cut two rotting growth tips off SKB tonight.    That one big leaf is still green and hanging on though.  Everybody keep your fingers crossed for her!

[blupit007]

XX crossed XX

[Darkhorse]

Well, I'm becoming more cautiously optimistic every day.  Although I've had to prune a few branches off each plant due to wilt/rot, SKB is still holding onto that one big, green leaf.  She also has some new growth!  A few little leaves are growing in near the bottom of the plant-- no new growth at the top yet, but this gives me hope.  Here is an updated photo of the two.  SKB on the right and mystery cv on the left.  Also, a photo of the new growth at the bottom of SKB.

[blupit007]

Great Job Jordan!  I knew you could pull it off!

[Charlie]

So far, so good. The new growth is an excellent sign. If the top growth of SunKissed Blonde looked worse I would recommend cutting the plant off just above the new growth. But, it looks pretty good and if it leafs out again in the next month it's best not to prune it since that would stress the plant more.

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

Thanks guys!  Charlie, I have had to prune a few of the branches off that were starting to rot, but so far the 3 (?) main branches in the picture you see are still green.  I hope they start to leaf out soon.  Interestingly, this plant is testament to my theory that even one retained leaf is worlds better than none.  When I lost all those plants in 2009 due to mites, the plants who completely defoliated all died.  The plants with one or two leaves left-- some made it, some didn't.  My Space Oddity was in the "I only had one leaf left but I managed to pull through" group.    Hopefully SKB will be as well.

[helixturnhelix]

I hope they come back!  its looking good You rarely see SKB, so I hope it makes it!

[Darkhorse]

The big green leaf has turned yellow!!   

[Charlie]

It's the new growth now at the base of the plant that is hopeful. If it goes, the plant is a goner, sorry to say. My suggestion is to cut the water back now so that you only water a tiny amount when it gets to be so dry the new growth is in danger of wilting.

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

Good... so we're still ok.  The new growth is just as green as ever, and getting a tiny bit bigger every day.