I'm terrible with plants, Sirius, but I've asked Pomona, and she says that if the leaves are turning a bit wan, it may be that a simple bit of sunshine would revive them. I can imagine that they might have been kept away in a dim place for a bit too long.
She says that another possibility is that the leaves are looking wilted (sort of droopy and collapsed in on themselves). In that case, they've probably dried out, and it won't be just a simple matter of giving them a bit of water (if you tried that, it will probably not have had much effect) because if the soil's dried up, it will pull away from the sides of the pot so that water will run down around it and drain straight out the bottom rather than soaking in.
If this sounds like what's wrong with them, then you need to rehydrate the soil, which can be done by getting a big basin full of water, submerging the pot completely (she says not to worry if some of the lower leaves get wet--and she says to weight down the pots if they tend to float up--you want them right under the water completely).
Leave them submerged until you stop seeing bubbles come up from the pots.
Then, when you've removed the pots from the water, you'll need to cast a bubble charm around them to keep the moist air in for a bit--a day would be helpful, but for as long as the charm holds, in any case.
Oh, she did say that over-watering was another possibility, in which case the soil will have gone boggy and the leaves may have turned yellow and spongy. If that's the case, she says to try a dehydrating charm on the soil and then cross your fingers. She suggested throwing some salt over your shoulder, too. Apparently, there's not much hope of reviving plants that have drowned.
I shall cross my fingers that something succeeds. And do be careful, Sirius!
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-04-18 08:21 pm (UTC)She says that another possibility is that the leaves are looking wilted (sort of droopy and collapsed in on themselves). In that case, they've probably dried out, and it won't be just a simple matter of giving them a bit of water (if you tried that, it will probably not have had much effect) because if the soil's dried up, it will pull away from the sides of the pot so that water will run down around it and drain straight out the bottom rather than soaking in.
If this sounds like what's wrong with them, then you need to rehydrate the soil, which can be done by getting a big basin full of water, submerging the pot completely (she says not to worry if some of the lower leaves get wet--and she says to weight down the pots if they tend to float up--you want them right under the water completely).
Leave them submerged until you stop seeing bubbles come up from the pots.
Then, when you've removed the pots from the water, you'll need to cast a bubble charm around them to keep the moist air in for a bit--a day would be helpful, but for as long as the charm holds, in any case.
Oh, she did say that over-watering was another possibility, in which case the soil will have gone boggy and the leaves may have turned yellow and spongy. If that's the case, she says to try a dehydrating charm on the soil and then cross your fingers. She suggested throwing some salt over your shoulder, too. Apparently, there's not much hope of reviving plants that have drowned.
I shall cross my fingers that something succeeds. And do be careful, Sirius!
Not sure why I bother to say it.