Brendo Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Hey there,I'm wondering if anyone can help me with my P viridis plant.. I've got it in a greenhouse where it seems to be moderately happy.It's covered in 3 layers of shadecloth, and gets misted daily and aired out for about an hour every two to three days. I apply seasol once a fortnight, and have started feeding with a seasol fert on the off week. The greenhouse receives about 7 hours of direct sunlight, however no sunlight directly hits the plant itself.The issue I'm having is all the leaf tips after a while of lush growth begin to curl and 'burn' or dry up at the tips. So the new leaves will start off really soft and keep growing like that until they're a bit over an inch long. This is consistent for the entire plant. I've attached some pics.Any ideas guys? Am I not misting enough? Not enough shadecloth? Not enough FAE?Thanks Edit: Can't edit the topic, viridist haha Edited February 2, 2015 by Brendo 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anodyne Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Brendo, you can change a topic title by pressing the "edit" button in the first post of a thread, then going to "full editor". Although I kinda like the name... viva la viridista! Also when asking for growing advice, it can be helpful to provide some info about the climate you're trying to grow these plants in. East of what? I'm interested in an answer too - my viridis & nexus plants are doing the same thing, and their problem is definitely not overfeeding. They were in depleted potting mix/coir & might've only had one or two feeds in the last 6 months. I've just repotted them into better soil & fed them. The other idea I had was that they might be too sheltered in the shadehouse - that their soft leaves were more prone to [heat?] damage - so I also moved a few plants into a less sheltered position to toughen them up & see if that helps. I'll report back if either change helps at all (& you don't have a better answer by then). Interestingly the carth's next to them look fine, but I don't know if this is because they were in better soil or because they're just a tougher species. Edited February 1, 2015 by Anodyne 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted February 1, 2015 From my experiences it's just a fluctuation of temps and humidity... They like things stable, and let's just say for us Sydney folk, things have been less than that for our plants all summer! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cactuscarl Posted February 2, 2015 Mine burns lots just from low humidity and dry wind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brendo Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the helpful responses guys. Nitrogen overdose could be a possibility, I've heard these guys are rigorous feeders though? Like Banisteriopsis etc.. I'll pull the feeds back to once a month as opposed to every week on/off and see how it goes. The soil most probably is spent too but I've added Osmocote slow release about a month ago. Just to clarify - the leaf burning/drying didn't start recently. I've had the plant two and a bit years, at first I had it below the trees my Caapi + R. Corymbosa are growing through/under, it provided excellent shade but humidity was minimal. The leaves were always dry, they were long and skinny. The plant didn't seem to grow much in height, I'm guessing the only thing it enjoyed was the shade. I bought that small greenhouse on ebay for around $40 and threw 2 layers of shade cloth over it, this was maybe 7-8 months ago, no idea why I didn't do it sooner.. The plant responded and threw out tons of lush new growth from all sides and started growing new stems. So it's definitely happier, it's getting taller (slowly) and much fatter. The only thing remaining consistent is the leaf tips burning after reaching a certain length It's growing slightly east of Penrith in Sydney, so plenty of dry heat not too much humidity during summer. I'm doubting it's too much shade either as originally it only had 2 layers of cloth, the 3rd layer was only added recently which seems to have helped, but not much... Although I'd love to hear how yours goes with more light. If I don't find any answers in a few months I'll give that a crack. Yep I too have heard Carth's & Alba's are much more forgiving. If I'm honest with myself prioritise probably has the answer I'm looking for. The weather here can be bipolar to say the least, and if it's a cold day, mist or no mist there isn't much humidity in the greenhouse. What sort of a time period are we talking here when one decides to acclimatise this kind of plant to the outdoors, if I'm not living in the tropics/subtropics is it even worth doing? Edited February 2, 2015 by Brendo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted February 2, 2015 Shouldn't take longer than a month or two to acclimatise. I do it the tough love way and just throw em ina shady wind free corner. Hit em with the hose when ya remember, at least once a day and mulch the pot! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Freewheelin Posted February 6, 2015 gah psychotria. they are a mystery to me. i bought 2 tubes, they were probably from the same batch, after a while i potted them up into 6" and they were living in my hothouse for a while. Both plants always looked healthy (to me - i have little experience) except that the leaves would get curled up on the ends like the photos you showed, but sometimes they would outright burn. I figured that it was the heat, beacuse other plants had suffered too in some of the intense heat that we've had this summer, so i draped shadecloth over my hothouse, then i draped another layer. This improved things for most plants, and both viridis's (viridii?) soldiered along, although their growth is slow, they kept producing new growth and for the most part they seemed healthy. Then one day one of the two just up and died (over a week) even though they were next to eachother pot to pot in the same soil and fert and of course watering conditions. It's not quite dead yet, but it has lost all of its leaves except for a few hopeful new shoots poking out. The surviving plant... i have put out in almost full sun. It's been about 2 weeks now and it doesn't seem to be suffering at all, but i'm thinking of moving it out the back where it is shady except for some dappled sunlight. I moved my b.caapi there and it is loving it. i know that b.caapi is from south american jungles and i assume p.viridis is too, so i'm thinking of moving that next to its sister plant under the shade. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LokStok Posted February 6, 2015 b.caapi is from south american jungles and i assume p.viridis is too, so i'm thinking of moving that next to its sister plant under the shade. good thinking Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Freewheelin Posted February 6, 2015 Shouldn't take longer than a month or two to acclimatise. I do it the tough love way and just throw em ina shady wind free corner. Hit em with the hose when ya remember, at least once a day and mulch the pot! With some of my plants that are not pulling their weight i'll throw a handful of concete on them and tell them to harden the fuck up. So far none have survived but i'm confident that one day I'll produce a really hardy plant. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
