# I think my little plant is dying



## jmkenned (Dec 8, 2005)

I know this is not actually an aquarium situation, but it's my only plant and I've come to love him . . .
I've got this cute little green plant I rescued from my parents house. He was put in a small vase and now his roots are too thick to pull out. He's lived pretty happily for at least a year and he's very resilient. I rarely change the water except when he's drank it down a lot.
In the last month he's stopped drinking his water, one leaf is faintly browned and there's slime on the walls of his vase. Is there any way I can clean or loosen that slime from the vase walls without hurting him or breaking the nice vase? A chemical treatment or something? Also, how can I treat this water, no dirt, plant better? I know this is not your groups specialty, but I thought you might have some ideas.

Thanks


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The slime is probably there because roots of the plant are dying and feeding bacteria. If the plant is too big to pull out, the best thing you can do is to change the water frequently, such as every other day. Perhaps a little liquid fertilizer would help, but follow the manufacturer's directions, and make it dilute. More isn't always better with fertilizer!


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Any idea what type of plant it is? I probably have just as many house plants as I do aquatic ones, so it might help to know what it is.

If the vase isn't too important, I'd just go ahead and break it and plant it in soil, but if you want to save it, it may be the demise of the plant. Some plants can only take water for so long, then they start deteriorating.

The other thing may be that it's one of the plants that goes semi dormant in the winter, and not taking in water is normal.

Welcome to the board, BTW.


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