It’s rather ominous when a plant’s leaves start to drop off at a
rapid rate or when the plant itself begins to shrivel. Although it
might be tempting to heave a sigh of frustration, toss the plant in
the garbage and head to the nearest nursery, giving in to that
temptation may be jumping the gun.
It’s rather ominous when a plant’s leaves start to drop off at a rapid rate or when the plant itself begins to shrivel. Although it might be tempting to heave a sigh of frustration, toss the plant in the garbage and head to the nearest nursery, giving in to that temptation may be jumping the gun.
“A lot of plants will go dormant, and they look dead because they lose all their flowers and leaves and all that,” said Sheri Deas, an employee of the Orchard Supply Hardware nursery in Gilroy. “Before you get rid of a plant that you think is dead, call us or look it up on the Internet and find out whether or not it’s the kind of plant that will go dormant.”
Dormancy is like a form of hibernation for some kinds of plants, according to Home & Garden Television’s Web site. There are different degrees of dormancy, with some plants shutting down all but the most basic biological processes needed for survival. Others may only go semidormant. Changes in the season, temperature and length of daylight can all contribute to dormancy.
“A good way to tell if your plant is dead or just dormant is to take your thumb nail and scratch a branch or the bark of the plant and see if it’s green underneath,” Deas said. “If it’s green underneath, it’s still very much alive.”
If you scratch the plant on an outer branch and find it brown underneath, try scratching closer to the base of the plant, Deas said. Sometimes, outer parts of the plant may die, though the rest of it lives. If this is the case with your plant, cut away the dead branches and just leave the living part of the plant intact. This will keep the dead parts from drawing water away from the live parts and will encourage new growth, Deas said.
Another way to check on a plant’s health is to examine its roots.
“If your plant is in a pot, take it out, wash the soil off the roots and see if they look fresh and healthy,” said Claire Butler, owner of Meadowlark Nursery & Landscaping in Hollister. “Healthy roots are white or a light color. If the roots are brown or crumble in your fingers, they’re rotting.”
Though all plants, dormant or otherwise, should be watered properly, overwatering is a sure way to kill a plant, Deas and Butler said. Too much water will cause the roots to rot, and there isn’t much you can do to reverse the rotting process, Deas said. Whether a plant is potted or in the ground, make sure it has proper drainage and isn’t sitting in stagnant water.
If you still can’t tell for certain if a plant is living or dead, simply wait for spring, when most dormant plants will come back to life, Butler said.
If you don’t see any new growth by spring, chances are the plant has gone to the great big nursery in the sky.
Plants that go through some level of dormancy
Bougainvillea
Roses
Amaryllis
Southern Magnolia
Mandevilla
Venus Fly Trap
Banana Plants
Delphiniums
