I recently purchased(4 weeks ago) a corn plant. I have it in a finished basement that does not get alot of natural light, and the temperature is cooler than upstairs. I noticed the leaf tips particularly the lower ones, have turned yellow and brown, and some of the leaves have faded to yellow. Also, on a couple of leaves, at the center edges of the leaf, are circular brown patches. I have not overwatered the plant, if anything, underwatered it, and I regularly mist it. Also, I have a flourescent bulb overhead to provide light. Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong? Thanks, Carol
it sounds like it needs more water. it should be in a well-draining soil and a pot that has drainage holes. when the soil is dry, water thoroughly so that all the soil is moist. depending on the conditions of where you are keeping it, it should be 10-14 days before it needs watering again. i usually water from below as i've found that to be much more thorough than doing it from above. just put the pot in a dish/bowl and fill that with water. let it sit so that the water is soaked up into the plant; refill with water and let it soak in. continue adding water and letting it soak in until the top of the soil starts to show that it's moistened - you'll know it when the soil starts to feel softened up and it'll also get a little darker. once all the soil is moist, remove the water and let the excess drain out of the pot and then remove it from the dish/bowl and you're good to go. the normal growth pattern of these plants is that they will sprout new leaves from the top and those at the bottom will eventually die off. so, losing some at the bottom is not all that much to be worried about. is the light source a grow light or a regular fluorescent bulb?
it is a regular , spiral flourescent bulb light.I was wondering would a gtow light be better, and which one?
well, those plants are used often in office settings - which have regular fluorescent bulbs and they do okay. still, a grow light would be more beneficial - and they do make them to fit the fixtures that use incandescent bulbs now. as for particular type of bulb, i'm no help there as i'm still new to using artificial lighting - i have a plant stand and i'm still using the same bulbs that were in it when it was given to me. i don't know if they're the best type or not...the plants that i keep under them seem to do okay...
