Having trouble with one of my plants

[con1_uk]

Hello,

I have one of those small tropical plants that have spiky long leaves at the top of the branch (sorry for the bad explanation...) normally the leaves turn Yellow and I pull off the old ones from underneath and the tree seems happy and continues to grow upwards. I noticed the other day that a lot of the leaves had fallen off themselves and the top near the leaves has gone soft, is this the end for my plant? I hope not, its a really nice plant is there anything I can do to save it?


Thanks.

 

[Nerine]

It doesn't sound very promising. Is it living outside? Could you have over or underwatered it? It sounds as though it has rotted off. Have a look at the rootball and see if it looks healthy. You may have to chop all the leaves off and hope for regrowth. Only water it if the soil is very dry.

 

[con1_uk]

Hello,

Yea its an outside plant, I haven't been watering the plants lately because of the rain. I think it may need some TLC and some plant feed.



I hope it pulls through its a great plant, the pot it sits in the soil is totally covered with moss. Come to think of it I did relocate it recently but its now back in its favorite position

Can you recommend a good garden plant feed please?

 

[Nerine]

Hello again,

I am guessing its something like a Yucca, or a Cordaline. They are not entirely hardy and we have had one hell of a winter;. If the pot is covered in moss its been in there too long. You can try repotting it in a slightly larger pot in a good compost (not multi compost). John Innes number 2 or 3 is best.

The granular plant food that lasts all summer is a good one.

You might want to wait a bit before you splash out on compost etc. See if there is any life in it first. I suspect it may have gone to the Great Nursery in the sky.

 

[con1_uk]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply,

It seems to have perked up a little the last couple of days, I think it may have been down to moving the plant to a less sunny area. He is back in his favourite place now, just need to stop the kids pulling the leaves off now...

Your right, when I do a google image search for a Cordyline the pictures look very similar, one thing I have done in the past is pull the lower brown leaves off, is this the right approach?

Thanks.