Hi, friends. I recently repotted my diffenbachia and the sweet thing is now wilting on the large leaves from the outer edge of the leaf inward (such a strange description). It is still producing new growth but seems to be really struggling. I have about 2 inches of pea gravel in the bottom of the pot as well as used The soil it was living in during the transplant process and only added about 8 cups more. Any ideas how to help her out? Photos attached.
Could you add a photo of the whole plant? And of the container it's in. Are there drainage holes in the container? How recently did you repot it? Recently enough to redo it and remove the pea gravel? @Junglekeeper in another recent thread wrote: The layer of pebbles should be removed the next time you repot. It does not improve drainage: The Myth of Drainage Material in Container Plantings. (PDF) I have no idea if that could cause the damage you're seeing, but it's one thing you could try to change. And while you are at it, if there are no drainage holes, for sure use a different pot. The first thing I would look into is whether it's too wet now with all that new soil. Lift the plant after you water it and make sure it's definitely lighter before you water it again. Those are all general comments. Maybe someone else has some experience with the specific condition you're seeing. While you're replying, could you say if you received a notification specifically saying that this thread was moved to Indoor and Greenhouse Plants? I'm doing a test. Thanks.
Thank you so much for your prompt comments. I appreciate you. Yes! I did get notice that my post was redirected. I repotted the plant about ten days ago. here is the plant in its entirety after removing damaged leaves. I look forward to your suggestions.
Were the damaged leaves at the bottom? If so, I would not worry about those, as the oldest leaves have to die off anyway. If newer leaves, then it's worth thinking about. It does seem to me that there can't be a hole at the bottom of that pot. It's a cute arrangement, but very tricky to manage without there being a way for excess water to drip through, and if you read the article linked to above, the pea gravel is not really helping in that regard, just making things more difficult. If you were to use the black pot as a jardiniere, with another pot inside it, and did not have the pea gravel, then that would be a reasonable size for the new pot. You would have to check each time after you water to see if water has run through to the container pot and pour that out.
