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Last Christmas
in twenty twentytwo,
I gifted my daughter
a small terrarium.

The little leaflet that came with it didn't specify what plant it was, but it looks a lot like a fittonia (nerve plant). We tried our best to make it happy, but it always seemed like it was somewhat suffering. The leaves have always been a little curved, a little limp and pale (they were fine when I bought it). Lately however it's looking worse than ever and even watering doesn't help anymore.

The first culprit should be lighting, although the internet can't agree whether it's too little or too much. In any case, that hasn't changed recently - the plant is in our sunniest window (which doesn't get any direct sunlight anyway), plus we've set up a small white (6000K) table lamp pointing at it (turned on more than 12 hours a day).

Any ideas what's going on here and how to help it?

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Vilx-
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1 Answers1

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This plant has been kept too wet due to lack of drainage and in light levels that are too low. I recommend:

  • cut one third of the foliage back to a node above the surface once every three months. Stop when it looks better.
  • remove the decorative pebbles so you can tell when it is dry
  • moving it closer to natural light ( A filtered east or north exposure). The plant is probably getting less than 100 lux and outside on a summer day can be 100,000 lux. This plant would be happier at 250 lux with ventilation.
  • Once you see new growth try some very dilute 20-20-20 fertilizer every other week for a month.

Sometimes people do things with plants that are pretty but not sustainable. This is one of those examples.

  • You need a moisture meter to tell how wet the soil is but it is easy to get a wrong reading as the soil is not deep.
  • the terrarium top means no moisture is lost but encourages the growth of algae and moss
  • plants need light to grow but the heat can build up inside a terrarium exposed to hot direct sun.
kevinskio
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