When do you throw out a dying plant?

United States
January 21, 2007 11:44am CST
When I have a plant that is on it's last leg, I will do everything to try to save it. I will take cuttings from the plant and attempt to root them and replant them once I am successful in the rooting process. There have been a few times when I just gave up and tossed the plant out. One such plant is the Blood Leaf. I had one for several years only for it to shrivel up and die on me. Every attempt I made to reroot it was unsuccessful.
12 people like this
41 responses
@carmat (2849)
• Canada
23 Jan 07
Usually when it is brown and crispy I figure it is beyond saving, I am not much of a green thumb usually water, sun and fertilizer stick is the best I can come up with for the plant. I pitty the plants that come into my house.
2 people like this
@cjsmom (1423)
• United States
23 Jan 07
I have a brown thumb! The only thing I've managed to grow in years is some corn and a few other vegetables. It felt wonderful when I actually helped something grow and we could actually eat it as well...lol I tried several times when I was younger to grow plants and keep them alive but they all ended up at the point of no return. Trying everything; more/less water, more/less fertilizer, you name it. It always made me cry when I had to throw one out; blaming myself for killing it. To me, it was like a pet and it was an actual living thing. I feel for you especially having the Blood Leaf for so long; you did something right in order to have it as long as you did. Perhaps it was just it's time to move on...lol
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
22 Jan 07
I do try everything I can to get the plant to come back. I can't say that I have any plants besides an aloe plant that I can re-root. But I will go and tend to the plant everyday to try to save it. Dying plants look so sad! I am really worried about the plants we have outside right now. It was so warm during the winter, the plants thought it was Spring and started to bloom. Then we get an ice storm and those blooms were frozen in the ice! I hope it does not cause them harm!
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Jan 07
Same thing here Tia. Our daffodils were up about an inch before the cold snap.
@GardenGerty (157027)
• United States
22 Jan 07
Sounds like you got a soil disease. What exactly is a blood leaf? I will usually go to the extreme of cutting back close to the bottom joints, watering lightly and placing in a sealed plastic bag in dim light. Sometimes that works. Sometimes, like you I try to root cuttings, and sometimes I just give up.I hate to have a favorite plant die. By the way, this procedure above DOES NOT WORK FOR PALMS OR EVERGREENS! If you cut out their growing point, they just die!
• United States
25 Jan 07
Iresine - Bloodleaf
Iresine herbstii, check out the picture.
• United States
21 Jan 07
Butterfly, This may not hold true for you; but with me, my plants tend to sense my depression level and if I am really depressed they are the first sign that something is wrong with me. Sometimes they shrivel as you described and no amount of tenderness can bring them back. I have found that at these times, it is best to call on my neighbor and ask her to water them for me. I have also taken to putting a clear quartz crystal into each one of the pots and that seems to be helping some, too. ~Donna
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Jan 07
That is something that I have never considered.
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I guess when you love plants it is just the natural thing to do. I do the same thing. I try my best to save its life until the bitter end. I love plants. They are so good to clean the air when indoors. It is amazing the difference a plant can make.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jan 07
Thanks for the Best comment award
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
24 Jan 07
Well, it sounds like you just can't let your plants go. Once they are dying, you can't really save them but to let them go. I do not have any plants in my house, but once I see that they are dying, I'll just throw them away.
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Jan 07
I'm a pro at this... whenever it's all brown, very hard and shows no sign of life.... which for me is generally a week or two after I touch it! lol I'm such a NON-green thumb!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
22 Jan 07
i can really relater to this.. as of now i have this cactus that is about to say goodbye to me.. its starting to get yellowish color. im not that good when it comes to plant actually im not really fun fo plants, theonly plant i like is cactus, i really love the look of it and its featrue charecteristics.. i tried to do something to it to save it but it seems it has no effect and all i can do is accept the fact that it will be gone soon. this is my fifth time of taking care of cactus but it always die..
1 person likes this
@sunshinecup (7871)
21 Jan 07
I am stuborn and won't throw it away intil it's dust! LOL, I just keep hope it will come back to me. Now I don't know how to reroot a plant, maybe that would have helped a few of mine. But I tell you, mine don't die from lack of trying that is for sure. :-)
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
The plant really has to rot away before I toss it out.
• Germany
22 Jan 07
Yes plants are very important and we should try to protect them. but sometimes despite all our efforts sometime we cannot save one. I can understand your pain.
• India
22 Jan 07
Hey, I also takes cutting of my plants and try to root them and make more plants similar to the old one, but I can not let them my plants dying and I took a lot of care so that I can not lost any of it. I have a plant of only 9 leaves and it is not increasing the leaves and droping it leaves, I am trying to save it and it is bieng done for the last three years and I have not give up. I have never thrown any of my plant, if I saw it is dying I care them more then like a new born baby. I love my plants very much. Have fun and Save Plants :)
1 person likes this
@Terra11 (82)
• United States
22 Jan 07
That's very interesting. I just recently tried to root my ivy plant, because I want to make it more fuller at the base. They have been in the water over a week now and I see no roots yet. How long is it supposed to take to grow a new root?
1 person likes this
• Indonesia
22 Jan 07
i don't know when i am dying only God knows about that
1 person likes this
@toonatoons (3737)
• Philippines
22 Jan 07
this reminds me of years ago. i was just a child when i was given an orchid to tend. i didn't know what to do with it, and pretty soon, i forgot all about it. one day, when i did remember it, it was turning brown already, and i was consumed with guilt. i did everything i possible could --- i watered it with rain water, put ice on it, prayed, watered it again and again, and again, thinking that maybe it's just dehydrated. days later, it rained hard, and i put it out where it could cath the raindrops. the following day, when i looked at it, its color changed into a beautiful green. in direct answer to your question, when i see a dying plant, i wouldn't give up on it until i have exhausted every effort there is.
@Mtushar87 (488)
• India
22 Jan 07
i will through it out in the beginning so that it wont have any pain in future..
1 person likes this
@maru_047in (1007)
• India
22 Jan 07
That is a great effort to look after the plant even i m a plant lover i grow many plants and if a perfect care is taken than no need for the plant to reroot or something like that it ll grow successfully when that happens to me even i do the same thing by putting some chemicals and rerooting etc but i dint face that difficulty like that i have seen some plant get dried but it ll recover upon perfect care thats it.
• Philippines
22 Jan 07
Honestly, I don't have a green thumb and I am not that familiar with gardening. My mom is the one who loves the plants especially the orchids, everytime she see some growing plants she places it another driftwood so that it will grow properly.
@cuhkiz (568)
• Philippines
22 Jan 07
oh...very aweful to imagine the face of a frowning plant soon to die :( Im not a plant lover and i dont have the green hands as what they call but i do appreciate plants life. I lve seeing alot of plants too. I dont really want to throw a dying plant. If only there's an hospital for plants i'd even send it there rushingly!
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Jan 07
I used to work in a green house, we had customers ask about how to revive dying plants also. Perhaps your water is too hard or has flouride in it. Try filtering your water with a special water filter. Or fill your watering can up and let it sit for at least 36-48 hours before using so that the chlorine and other chemicals can evaporate from the water. Also your environment may be to dry for that particular plant, perhaps you need a plant mister (clean spray bottle with filtered or water like I described above) and mist the leaves. Look your plant up online or call a local greenhouse to ask what that plant's watering requirements are. Hope this helps!