Answers to Your Questions: Botanical Mysteries!

Mystery Plant

Question

I bought a plant in the fall. It looked beautiful all winter, until I recently watered it with 20-20-20 all-purpose fertilizer. Now it’s almost dead. I don’t know if it’s because of the fertilizer (which I applied according to the instructions), or if it got too hot (it was in a cool room this winter (16-19°C/61 to 66°F), but since the warmer spring sun came out, the temperature has risen to 21°C/70°F during the day. Could you tell me what this plant is and how to care for it (in case I manage to revive it)?

Answer

This is Fittonia (Fittonia verschaffeltii), a pretty green plant with pink or white veined leaves, depending on the cultivar.

I don’t think it was the fertilizer that killed your plant, but rather unfavorable growing conditions. This plant requires high humidity at all times. In a cool room, the humidity normally remains quite high, but when exposed to more intense heat, the humidity can drop suddenly.

In fact, fittonia generally does better in summer, when humidity is naturally high, than in fall through spring, when heating dries out the air. So, if your plant is still alive, it would be wise to place it in a terrarium or seal it in a clear plastic bag. This will give it almost 100% humidity, which will help it recover. During the summer, you can take it out of its “humidifying envelope,” but it may be necessary to place it away from dry air again during the next heating season.

Apart from its need for high humidity at all times, fittonia is not difficult to grow, adapting to medium to low light and preferring “normal” watering (allow the soil to dry out before watering thoroughly). As for fertilization, go easy: a quarter of the recommended dose would be more than enough!

Mutating Bougainvillea?

Question

Last year, I received a bougainvillea that bloomed in a salmon pink color. This winter, it bloomed, but…it was white!

It’s a mystery…

Answer

This may be due to a mutation or genetic instability. In fact, several bougainvillea cultivars are “chimeras,” meaning that they carry two sets of chromosomes in the same tissues, a bit like having two plants in one. When one of these individuals expresses itself alone, the plant is one color; when the other expresses itself alone, the plant is another color; and when both express themselves, the plant has some flowers of one color, others of another color, and sometimes even both colors on the same flower!

To find out, you will have to wait for the next flowering season: if the plant always has white flowers, it has probably undergone a mutation; if it changes color, it is a chimera.

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Larry Hodgson has published thousands of articles and 65 books in French and English during his career. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings available to the public. The text was originally published in Le Soleil on May 13, 2006.