Ich wollte nur diese lustige Geschichte von vor ein paar Monaten teilen. Meine Schlangenpflanze im Büro kämpfte mit schlechten Blättern – die Blätter waren faltig und hingen völlig herunter. Daraus war ein Welpe hervorgegangen, aber der Welpe war mehrere Monate lang überhaupt nicht gewachsen. Ich habe etwas recherchiert und Beiträge hier gelesen und bin zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass es zu viel Wasser gibt, also habe ich das Gießen reduziert. Leider keine Besserung, und es schien, als ob alle Informationen, die ich anhand der Symptome meiner Pflanze finden konnte, darauf hindeuteten "wahrscheinlich Unter- oder Überbewässerung."
Einer meiner Kollegen ist ein mürrischer älterer Mann, der es liebte, Bonsais und exotische Zimmerpflanzen zu züchten. Er ist ein bisschen schroff und sein Job ist viel wichtiger als meiner, deshalb hasse ich es, ihn zu belästigen, aber ich biss in den sauren Apfel und brachte meine Pflanze in sein Büro, um ihn um Rat zu fragen.
Er schaute es sich an, steckte einen Finger in die Erde und sagte mir, ich solle ihm sofort eine halbe Unze Milch geben, und dass ich viel zu wenig Wasser gehabt hätte. Also ging ich in die Cafeteria, holte eine kleine Packung Milch, goss gründlich und innerhalb von 72 Stunden standen die Blätter wieder aufrecht. Wir gießen jetzt zweimal pro Woche und der kleine Welpe ist so groß wie Mama!
Also… habe ich gerade die Notiz übersehen, dass Pflanzen manchmal Milch brauchen? Hatte noch jemand eine Pflanze, von der er glaubte, sie sei verloren, und sie wurde durch völlig unerwartete Ratschläge gerettet?
Von: i_fart_chemtrails
38 Comments
It means your soil was no good. The plant was lacking calcium or another micronutrient, which the milk supplemented.
Refresh your soil.
I mean… I’ve seen plants thrive on bong water, gatorade, coffee…. I guess milk isn’t the weirdest thing keeping them alive anymore. If the plant hasn’t been getting enough nutrients, I can see the very tiny amount of milk giving it some beneficial nutrients and then giving a good watering should flush out any excess milk stench lol
Gotta grow up big and strong somehow.
Is he a Ron Swanson type?
I am mega curious on his scientific reasoning on the milk.. what happens when the milk starts to turn? Did your snake plant develop a smell after this? Also 2x a week seems like a LOT of water for a snake plant. Are you watering thoroughly, or in small amounts? I mean if it’s a happy plant, do what you’re doing! Always follow what’s working for you – my flabbers are ghasted by this 🤣
I have read some things lately about the importance of calcium for plants, which is something I never really thought about before. The milk must have given it a boost.
Two times a week seems way too much for this plant unless you live in the middle of the sahara.
Try rice wash water next time, the milk can rot if you don’t have enough drainage. Your essentially just giving the plant a healthy dose of lactus bacillus, these organism are essentially “the health care team” in your soil. I use lactic acid (cheese whey) or in KNF culture a LAB, particularly when I transfer my weed plants from one pot to another, it really helps with stunting in that application.
~~Edit: x2 a week seems like A LOT of water, I water my snake like once a month, maybe twice in the summer.~~
~~Second edit: my instincts tell me your watering that much because of displaced/compacted soil. Your snake could be root bound and thus lacking in actual soil volume. This is also an issue that happens to my weed plants when I use 5 gal pots.~~
Disregard I had misunderstood.
Is this a once in a while treatment, or do you feed it dairy?
He need some milk!
I want to know where ya got the dino plant clippy things. Paperclips? Inquiring minds want to know!
Funny that this post showed up because I JUST asked my go to plant dealer what I should do for a Draceana I have that is covered in brown spots, and he said to cut off all the severely affected leaves, and spray what’s left with 50% milk/water while it’s bright out.
ETA: milk+sunlight has a short lived antiseptic effect, and the plant has rust fungus!
My mum did this and the original plant hasn’t stopped growing. It’s massive and has produced dozens of baby plants.
Wow. That’s interesting. I would think that milk would sour and the plant would stink? Did it do that?
Fats & proteins from milk behaved like a wetting agent and enabled moisture to penetrate hydrophobic soil a bit better. Nutrients are less likely as soil microbes must break down the majority of nutrients in that milk before the plant can use it.
Repot in to a new growing medium, it should be composed of about 50% inorganic aggregate such as pumice or perlite, and the remainder a well draining organic mix, like a cactus & succulent premade bag. Go heavy handed on the pumice/perlite. Ensure the new pot has unobstructed drainage, if you use a tray, be sure to drain excess water after watering.
A accessible but ideal mix would be 50-60% pumice/perlite, 25% potting soil, 25% well draining compost.
Ensure the plant is located at a bright window, preferably south facing. Reduce watering frequency to once every 7-14 (more light & warm = more frequent) start at once every other week and increase frequency by observation. When you water, fully saturate the growing medium, not a measured or small amount of water. Water until that pot has more weight to it.
Modestly fertilize in the summer. Liquid fert is easy, a teaspoon mixed in the watering can every other watering. Slow release granules will also work
My personal fertilizer regime is organic granules (dr earth fruit) in the spring & mid summer, and fish & kelp liquid fertilizer every other watering. For a houseplant you can probably reduce
I want to be able to have this ability. Just being able to see the dirt and figure out out what nutrients is missing without having to play a game. How did he know this 😮
The lesson: don’t use crap soil. Both for nutrients and drainage characteristics. All soils are not equal.
I believe eggshells in water with a little vinegar can cause calcium enriched water that you could use, assuming you test the water to ensure the egg shells buffed the acidity back to neutral.
That soil mix looks wrong for the plant…
Where did you get those dinosaurs?
Haha!! That’s amazing! I assume it needed calcium or something else milk has in it.
My son picked a snake plant as his first one for his bedroom. At first he wanted to water it everyday (I didn’t let him) but he’s since mostly forgotten about it and it’s still going strong 6 months later. Don’t think I’ve watered it in a few months but no droop. We are just coming out of winter although his bedroom sits between 15-21 degrees at all times. 🤷♀️
I didn’t know about the milk, but I do understand the watering!
Everyone says snake plants need very little water, but mine seems like it’s always thirsty and takes a lot more water than I originally thought it would!
It needed dinosaurs of course
That’s some finger with some awesome superpowers!
How did he get such a finger?
Now I’m curious what else your co-worker’s finger can detect … and what else it can do …
And which finger did he use to probe the soil ? … was that on his left hand or his right hand …?
As someone else said, maybe calcium. It’s easy to not think about. (It’s also why my mother always throws all her egg-shells in her garden and on her lawn (which people don’t realise and just think she’s slightly looney).)
Not sure what you mean by “compost hummus,” but “finished” compost is not soil, and you should not plant in it. Soil has minerals, sand, clay and other things in it besides decaying organic matter. The other thing is that compost will still composting be for a long time even after it appears finished, so anything you plant directly in compost … might just become part of the compost.
My gnats need some protein
Not discounting Grump-pa’s advise, but I thinknthe soilmis your main problem.
Pouring milk in the snake plant at the bar this weekend, will report back
Sooo… the soil was hydrophobic, now that it’s not watering 2x a week is way too much for this guy. What you have is a sansevieria superba, and while they can stand a little more water than a regular sans- it’s still not incredibly thirsty, and are prone to rot. Now that you have him back to health try watering when it feels dry at the bottom of the pot. Your current routine will go well- until it doesn’t and it will happen fast and ugly. The smell when those rot from overwatering is enough to make you queasy.
Hey Op, glad your plant is perking back up! Instead of frequently watering a tiny amount using different methods, try letting it dry out fully and then giving it a long bottom watering on a bowl with water about halfway up the pot. Let it soak up what it can, then dump out the remaining water and let him drain out anymore the soil can’t hold.
It’s better to base the frequency off the soil dryness than sticking to a schedule.
I do this for all of my snake plants, and because they are all different ages and sizes, they each need to be watered at different times. And it fluctuates across the year, sometimes they dry out real fast, other times it may be over a month before they need water again.
Also don’t forget to feed it plant food when you water it. Hope this helps!
Now it makes sense when people say to use your leftover hard boiled egg water for watering plants. Or to grind up egg shells and out in your soil .
Sounds smelly
He was nice enough to help you and you’re calling him weird 😭
This reminds me of when I lived in the dorms my freshman year with an idiot for a roommate. About 2 months in, I would notice a smell when I walked into our suite after a weekend at home but I quickly got used to it. But by 3 months it was PERSISTENT and PUNGENT – like blue cheese and dirty diapers.
At first I thought it was related to the radiator kicking on for the winter but even after turning it down it persisted. I took our trashcan into the shower stalls and scrubbed the crap out of it. I did a purge/deep-clean-after-thaw of the mini fridge.
Then one morning when I was skipping class I noticed my roommate pouring the last half of her chocolate milk into one of her plants. It turns out my idiot roommate had been emptying out the last few swigs of her chocolate milk into her plants for months!! Getting rid of the plants resolved the issue — or at least, the smell issue. I still had the issue of living with an idiot for another 6 months… But those are stories for another time…
My plant parent app tells me to do weird things like milk,banana peels and eggshells, and it works every time
Could have just watered it and given it some fertilizer..wrinkly snake plants mean they are super thirsty.
I saw an ad today for one of those plant care apps and it showed someone pouring milk in the plant to help it and I thought “that’s bullshit, I’m going to Google it when I get the chance because I don’t believe that.” Well, I decided to go on Reddit instead of googling it when I got free and wouldn’t you know?!
The issue is your soil. You can get calcium enriched sand and soil mix for less than $8 at a pet store or tractor supply shop, but the good stuff will run you a little under $30. Milk has calcium so it will do in a pinch if you can’t get new dirt. Definitely needs a repot.