Tenants in Hobart: How to Revive Limp Pot Plants

Living plants in your rental make it feel like home, lift your mood and add fresh green colour to the room. They also improve the air quality, making it easier for you to breathe pure and clean air. However, Baxton Property Management points out that when those plants start wilting, it’s highly likely that all those good qualities will be lost, along with your improved mood, and the plant itself.

Why do they wilt, bow their stems and droop their leaves? Most problems revolve around water – there’s usually too little, or there’s too much. Either the soil has dried out, or the drainage is not good enough to handle an over-supply of moisture. If there’s too little water the plants, which like humans are largely made up of water, will die for lack of it. If there’s too much, their roots could rot, or they could drown. Too much water deprives them of the air pockets round their roots, and therefore they cannot breathe.

Getting to the root of the problem

Your plants will also give up the ghost if their root system has outgrown the space in the pot, and they have become root bound. The roots cannot grow normally, and this lessens the area available to absorb nutrients. Your plant will then starve.

Feel the soil about one inch below the surface . If it does not feel dry, it would seem that lack of water is not the problem.  Then check the pot size. If it’s too small, you could see roots growing through the holes at the bottom of the pot.

First aid for your potted pals

• If you are still in the dark about what is causing their distress, maybe your plant is too. Or it could be too much in the light.  It could be that sunlight or heat is hitting them through the window if they are on the sill, or that the dark corner you placed them in is just too dingy for the plant. Try moving the plant to a new location.
• If your examination suggests that the roots are indeed cramped inside the pot, transfer it to a bigger pot with fresh soil, and see if the plant’s new home doesn’t do the trick. Check the roots for rot at the same time – if the roots have rotted away, there is no real chance of saving the plant.
• Where the drainage is insufficient, and the plant is floundering, throw it a lifebelt by checking whether the drainage holes are blocked. You could add an extra hole, or raise the pot in the catch tray. You might also consider changing the soil for a mix that has better drainage.
• There are a number of ways to help plants that are lacking water. However, the best way is to let it absorb the water through it’s roots. Stand the pot in a bowl of water that’s deep enough to reach about halfway up the pot. Leave  it there for about an hour, then test the top of the soil to see if it feels damp. If it doesn’t feel wet yet, leave it in the bowl for a longer period. If the plant is badly dehydrated it could take a few hours.

Intensive care for herbs

There’s nothing nicer and tastier than fresh herbs from pots in your kitchen, but also nothing sadder than seeing those aromatic plants shrivel up in their small pots on the sill. Try reviving by letting them suck up water, and then recover slowly in a nice humid environment you have created for them.

Sound complicated? No, it couldn’t be simpler. You just need a zip-topped plastic bag big enough to comfortably hold the plant in its pot. Remove any coverings on the pot, then open the bag and fill it with enough water to cover the pot itself, before placing the potted herb in the bag. Leave it for about 30 minutes then carefully remove the pot without letting the soil wash away. Empty the water out of the bag, then carefully replace the plant in it. Then seal the top to create a healing humid environment. Move the bag with the plant in it to a shaded area and leave it till it has recovered. The process could take anything from a few hours to a few days.

It’s not always possible to successfully revive wilted pot plants, but they can prove to be surprisingly resilient, and come back to life completely, provided they are given attention. Baxton Property Management in Hobart seeks to give investment property owners and their tenants plenty of attention to ensure they continue to thrive. One of the ways it does this is to share knowledge and information on anything relevant to their lives or income. Don’t miss Baxton’s regular blog posts.

Written and syndicated by

– Baxton Media.

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