I started with three plants in separate pots. They were grown
indoors close to fluorescent lights, and enclosed in clear plastic bags.
They did great. When the outdoor temperature warmed up (70 F and more)
I put them outside in full sun. They got sunburned, and what was once
a beautiful specimen 4" in diameter and 3" high was reduced to mostly
brown leaves with a small green rosette at the top. This happened to
all three plants.
Don't jump on me yet, because they've recovered since! I put
them in a shady spot and all three began vigorous growth in the top
rosette. By this time the rosettes were atop an ugly stalk, so I repotted
all three plants with the rosette placed just above the soil. They
continued to grow, and I gave one of the plants away to a friend. This
past Sunday I visited my friend, and I noticed that his Capensis was
withered at the top, with few small curly green leaves. I mentioned
that it might need water.
Well, yesterday I noticed the same thing happening to ONLY
ONE of my remaining specimens. Both of my remaining plants have
been treated identically--same size pot, same soil, same watering,
same location on my screen porch. One is growing nicely and has
a bushy rosette of leaves, with each leaf being about 2" long. The
other looks like a dark stalk with teensy rosette at the top. The
rosette is comprised of curly, twisted leaves about 0.25" long, and
there's only about 5 leaves left. Note that the two plants ware
are within one foot of each other, so if one has a contagious disease
then the other is probably done for already.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I
d I'd like to learn from my mistakes.
Perry