Help save my Mimosa

[OPP]

Hi everyone,

My friend was lucky enough to get his hands on a few Mimosa Hostilis seeds.

Of the 10 that were soaked and planted only 4 germinated. Only this one has survived.

It was going really well, looked very healthy and happy (even with one leaf).

Yesterday it started looking sad.

It lives in good potting mix, gets watered everyday and gets direct sunlight about 6 hours a day.

It has been moved out of the direct sunlight hoping it will recover.

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with it?

Thanks

Edited September 22, 2011 by OPP

[Scientician]

put it in the shade under a humidity dome & cross your fingers.

[OPP]

Wow what a quick reply. Thanks.

That had crossed my mind. Will do it right now!!!

Edited September 22, 2011 by OPP

[ubza_1234]

i found them quite easy to grow, till winter. Remember to give them well drained soil or they may rot and keep it damp, not soaked, wich will happen if you have realy free draining soil and water her regularly. Good potting mix shouldnt need fert me thinks. Keeping it simple is your best bet. The more you do to fix her, the harder it can be to track down what went wrong if that should happen ;)

that lil sucker looks pretty good to me. I'm just worried you may OVER lover her

[planthelper]

gets watered everyday

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with it?

Thanks

 

yeah, probably you overwatered them, they can die from that.

they like it when the soil dries out a bit between the waterings.

[OPP]

Thanks guys.

She was looking so healthy for the last 3 or so weeks. Don't know what went wrong.

Have improvised a humidy tent for the time being.

Fingers crossed.

What was strange was that out of the seeds that germinated they all seemed to be mutants. All of them had either leaves stuck together or bad leaves or one leaf like this one!

[Quetzalt]

I've killed many seedlings with overwatering... My last one was D. Hopwoodii, I almost cryied. I just had another one pop up, so I'll be very carefull but it's easy to be over caring. Good luck with this one.

[Zaka]

Irie,

Not sure if it's too late,

But stop caring for it!!!

Too much care will kill a plant!!!

Leave it alone, stop watering, stop humidity tent.

Stick some where out of the way a forget about it for at least two weeks....

I try & harden my seedlings off asap....

Respect,

Z

[Marcel]

Yeah, definitely take it out of the humidity tent. I've germed M. hostilis seeds in straight perlite to avoid wet feet. Daily water with a mister. Full sun in morning and late afternoon. Then transfer to soil mix (friable, with coarse sand mixed in) when the seedling is a month or so old (~3cm).

Remember that the leaves are very sensitive to touch/light/wind/obscenity, so they may look sick and droopy, when they're actually just closed up for the night/little while...

Little bit of info in this thread.

Good luck.

[OPP]

I wish mine looked that healthy and green. They sure look strong.

They germinated straight out of potting mix. No humidity tent. Trying to make they strong and get used to our weather.

*keeps fingers crossed*

[Scientician]

I don't get why everyone's so down on the humidity tent? I live in the tropics & still use them on my mimosa seedlings (haven't had a single fatality).

I use breather holes obviously & then remove once the plant is growing past it's starter leaves. This way watering is also less necessary.

Works for me but maybe not for others. Tell ya what.. If it dies I'll send you one for free.

Now you gotta ask yourself... Do I want it to live?

Edited September 24, 2011 by muskrat

[qwertyuiop]

These takes like 5 years to grow to maturity don't they? Does stripping the root bark kill the plant, or can it be done in such a way that it can recover. Just curious, because it it does die that's a lot of effort...just gone. Also, just saw on TV today, a guy put a plastic bag over a small papaya? plant. Would this be suffice for creating humidity for other plants like the mimosa.

Edited September 24, 2011 by LUWA

[OPP]

From what I've read, trying to harvest the bark in the first few years of life will kill it.

After a few years 1/4 of the roots can be removed each year and the plant will remain alive.

A plastic bag would provide humidity but would have to be removed and replaced every day?? to provide fresh air.

[Zaka]

Irie,

Well my trees are nearly 3yrs old & I'm gonna have to thin them out soon....

I'll try & document the harvest!

I did harvest one tree that got kicked around in the hurricane, but never quite got it's act back together...

The yield was pretty low, but the tree had gotten termites, which had trashed some of the roots....

Respect,

Z

[Khala]

Please do Zaka

[gerbil]

that potting mix really does not look good from what is shown, it looks just like fairly decent sized chunks of uncomposted pine bark with salt build up (either from the mix, your water, or fert if you are using it which you shouldn't be), possibly it's better underneath as all the bigger bits have come to the surface, but still not really what i'd call good in any way.

You'd be aiming for a finer more well drained, airier, sandy compost. Or preferably a seedraising mix (you'll notice these are fine and well drained, easy for roots down and veg to break the surface, which then can be moved onto a more sandy compost. Torsten has spoken a lot about coarse sharp sand and compost mixes over the years have a search.

Most potting mix is crap, even 'premium' ones, the industry needs a shake up and dont get me started on all the gardening shows floggin the shit, poorly composted materials with added fert yuk, and it's not really the best to start seeds in, getting away with potting mixes, even poor ones are more in the realm of plants/established seedlings with rootballs. I avoid them or add them as a small part of a mix.

Edited September 24, 2011 by gerbil

[ubza_1234]

from what i understand, when it comes to plantations, they only harvest the HORIZONTAL roots and leave the TAP ROOT in tact. Of course this way, the plant will not die from harvest ;)