Throw out that dead plant or else

Cheryl Rafuse for Boston Compass (#132)

February 26, 2021

Hi plant babes. We all have that one plant that we keep watering thinking “it’ll come back!”

It’s not coming back.

Unless it’s a fern, oxalis, or other plant that might have rhizomes that go dormant for a season, your plant is a goner.

And when you toss it you’ll be making room for a SHINY NEW PLANT which is pretty much all any of us wants, right?! Here’s how to make sure that honey needs a compost burial:

1. There’s no new life anywhere on the plant. No green leaves, nothing.

2. The whole thing is brittle and snaps when you bend it.

3. If you scrape a branch it’s not green underneath.

4. You already looked up whether it might go dormant — it doesn’t.

5. The roots are brown and rotting and sad.

Your plant fits this criteria? Toss it like it’s Trump!

Maybe there’s a few green pieces at the ends but the roots are gone? Try propagating the ends in water and see if they root! Sometimes that’s the only way to save a plant.

Good luck and happy plant shopping ;)

—Cheryl

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