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LibertyLizard

crêpe myrtle, overwatering or under watering (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by RoseyCat@lemmy.world to c/treehuggers

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It's only a couple months old. It's being grown under grow lights because it is now fall and it would not grow well outside. It was doing absolutely fantastic and then one day it started rolling its leaves downward. I am really afraid to overwater because I don't want to cause root rot, but I don't know if it's overwatered or underwater because everything I look at on the Internet is telling me the signs for both are similar.

I am pretty new to growing plants of any kind, but I really wanted to grow a beautiful tree with my kids and plant it in our yard when we get a house in the future. I would feel awful for so many reasons if I kill this little tree. Can somebody please help me understand how to help it and what to look for the future with watering needs?

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[–] TheOffice_Plant@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The top few leaves, to my knowledge, look fairly healthy! It's common for a seedling to lose its lower leaves as it ages and needs more energy for nice, new, bigger leaves. Kind of like losing baby teeth.

Also, some plants require a dormancy period. Depending on what zone you are in, the plant likely needs this resting time to focus on it's roots while waiting for the spring.

[–] LibertyLizard 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree. If you’re in a climate where it’s hardy through winter, you might want to consider putting it outside or at least in a cooler place like a garage. If you do put it outside you’ll need to gradually acclimate it to outside temps.

Seedling looks healthy enough right now but growing most trees indoors is difficult. Get it in the ground as soon as you can is my advice. Since it’s so small you could also wait until spring but there is a risk with keeping it indoors as well. Personally I like to grow my seedlings in batches because you’ll usually lose some but that way some make it through. You can alway give any extras away if you have too many.

[–] toaster 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

!plantclinic@lemmy.world is what you are looking for since this appears to be off-topic :)

[–] RoseyCat@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Oh thank you so much.

[–] LibertyLizard 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s tree related so I don’t think it’s off topic. But you might find more expertise there since we’re more focused on bigger/older trees here.

[–] toaster 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks for correcting me on that one.

[–] lefaucet 3 points 1 year ago

Looking good as everyone's saying!

I had difficulty with over/underwatering until I got one of those analogue moisture meters. They're reasonably priced and can tell you exactly how much water is in any spot in your soil. I recommend hitting up your local gardening store and asking them about it

I learned one of my pots was pooling water at the bottom and rotting the ends of the roots when the top layer was dry and I had another pot where the water was just running around the edges of my pot and draining out the bottom without saturating the soil at all.

Really easy things to fix once you know what's happening.

You should keep it in a dry place when not in use. My first one corroded and broke because I just left it in the dirt.

[–] PlasmaDistortion@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

The best way to make it strong is to give it a little wind/movement. This helps to strengthen the overall plant by causing vibrations and the trunk to grow thicker/stronger.