I have several (read 20+) potted plants out on my porch at my apartment. I just went out about an hour ago and all was well with the plants. Then the lawn care people came. I had my blinds closed while they were here, but they usually just mow, weedeat, and sometimes trim the shrubs around the apartments.

Well after they left, I walked out on my patio and half of my plants are horribly wilted and some are laying completely flat in their pots. Only one has blooms right now (my johnny jump ups) and all the flowers on them are withered and drooping down. It had to be something that the lawn care people did because they were all fine before they came and plants generally don't just drop dead for no reason. Any ideas about what they could have done and what I can do to try to revive them?

Oh and I notified management of my apartment complex and she's going to call and find out if they sprayed any chemicals or anything, but it might be tomorrow before I find out.

6/24/2008 3:36:39 PM

petp?

that sucks

6/24/2008 3:39:14 PM

pwnt

6/24/2008 3:45:46 PM

They called in the sun god to beat your happy plants to death.

6/24/2008 3:49:35 PM

6/24/2008 3:50:11 PM

there is something missing from this story....plants dont just die like that...i fuck with a lot of plants and its almost impossible to kill them, i've tried

6/24/2008 3:53:17 PM

sounds dumb i know, but try watering them. if they are in small pots they may have dried out quickly as it was rather warm today.

6/24/2008 3:55:44 PM

i was just about to ask if you had watered them. also, are the plants in teh correct light?

not all plants like to be in direct sun light

6/24/2008 3:57:08 PM

20-plus plants wouldn't just flash wilt in the course of an hour

6/24/2008 3:57:19 PM

^^^

6/24/2008 3:57:32 PM

20 plus plants can wilt really quickly

6/24/2008 3:59:21 PM

I assume she has had the plants for more than a week or two, and there were days that were way hotter than today a few weeks ago. If they didn't all keel over then, I'm willing to bet the landscapers had something to do with what happened.

6/24/2008 4:01:38 PM

I say weedwhack cause I ain't from 'round here.

6/24/2008 4:02:43 PM

it's the mexican potted plant conspiracy

6/24/2008 4:02:50 PM

ok lets list all the things the landscapers coulda done


that sound plausible and feasible


sprayed chemicals on them
deliberatetly killed them


cant think of anything else

6/24/2008 4:03:35 PM

peed on them?

6/24/2008 4:04:15 PM

well hopefully the plants are still not outside...

6/24/2008 4:05:28 PM

Maybe they were trying to hide from the Mexicans.

6/24/2008 4:05:39 PM

the most frequently used herbicide is glyphosate, or Roundup. It takes up to a week to affect the plant, so it is possible that your plants were exposed on another day.

however, the wilt reaction to loss of water has very rapid onset. If this is the cause, with timely and adequate watering, your plants should recover fairly well.

There are many diseases that cause sudden wilting as well. Is there any spotting on the leaves? are all the plants affected?

what kinds of plants do you have, and are they in the full sun?

6/24/2008 4:05:41 PM

Quote :

"peed on them?"

dont kill plants immediately and is actually high in nitrogen

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 4:08 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/24/2008 4:07:01 PM

GOOD THING THAT WAS A SERIOUS SUGGESTION

6/24/2008 4:07:23 PM

DID I EVER TELL YOU I THINK YOU'RE SEXY WHEN YOU TYPE ANGRY?

6/24/2008 4:07:54 PM

HEY, I CAN TYPE BIG TOO

6/24/2008 4:09:00 PM

6/24/2008 4:09:39 PM

Quote :

"the most frequently used herbicide is glyphosate, or Roundup. It takes up to a week to affect the plant, so it is possible that your plants were exposed on another day. however, the wilt reaction to loss of water has very rapid onset. If this is the cause, with timely and adequate watering, your plants should recover fairly well. There are many diseases that cause sudden wilting as well. Is there any spotting on the leaves? are all the plants affected? what kinds of plants do you have, and are they in the full sun? "

6/24/2008 4:10:06 PM

Quote :

"PLANT DESTROYING PISS"

6/24/2008 4:10:12 PM

I'm telling you, they called in their sun god to destroy your plants.

Just water them and hope they come back to life.

6/24/2008 4:13:09 PM

6/24/2008 4:13:34 PM

so i did some more noodling...

The only herbicide I can think of that would cause such rapid wilting is Diquat, which is a fairly toxic chemical, so be cautious when you are investigating your plants. It can be absorbed through the skin. diquat only affects the parts that are sprayed, so as long as the soil wasn't soaked with it, some of your plants may come back from the roots. Why would they use this though? is there gravel or some other kind of suspiciously weed-free substrate around your apartment? look to see if plants around your porch are affected as well.


If you find it to be the case that the lawn care people have used diquat, you need to seriously bitch them out because it is really not safe to be applying it in such a broad area where people are in close contact (and so callously to boot.)

6/24/2008 4:19:18 PM

They aren't dried out. I just watered them last night around 8. I checked the soil and all of the plants had moist soil. My patio is not in the direct sunlight. I have had most of these plants for about 3 months. They did fine in the 100+ temperatures right where they are sitting. I did bring the plants inside and gave them a little more water, but it's not really helping.

And the plants I have are ferns (those are fine), a few wandering jews (those are fine), lillies (fine), candy corn (fine), several miscellaneous foliage plants (all fine), tomato plants (all wilted), johnny jump ups (wilted very badly), carnations (wilted and flattened), and dahlias (wilted and flattened).

Oh and another reason I have suspicions about the lawn care people is because the plants that are wilted are all sitting on the side of my patio facing the lawn (where the lawn care people were working).



[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 4:59 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/24/2008 4:54:49 PM

Quote :

"well hopefully the plants are still not outside..."

6/24/2008 5:05:03 PM

..they probably werent anywhere near dead yet


i hope you didnt throw them out

unless it was contact herbicide for broadleaves


then youre fucked, maybe you should pay attention to the groundskeeping schedule

keep yourself up-to date cuz those guys work too long to worry about where they are spraying every moment of their day

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 5:10 PM. Reason : d]

6/24/2008 5:08:59 PM

i bet when the sun goes down they pop right back up

6/24/2008 5:10:25 PM

i mean, right next to the lawn u keep em?


really?


maybe you should make better decisions or put up signs, if i were gonna do that on some grounds managed by people other than myself id at least keep an eye or request their spray schedule

6/24/2008 5:13:49 PM

I didn't throw them out. They all look pretty shitty right now, but I hope they make it. I never throw any plants away until there is no green parts left on them . It's impossible to keep up with the groundskeeping schedule because they determine the days they want to come. I asked the apartment manager what days they came when I spoke with her about the plants and she said that she had no clue. She said that her boss (the district manager) was in charge of paying them and that even her boss didn't know exactly what days they come out. Apparently they get a salary of X amount per month to come so many days. It doesn't matter if they come Monday one week and Friday the next week, as long as they come so many days per month.

And yes, I keep them on my patio next to the lawn, but there is a good 3 yards in between where my plants sit and the edge of my patio. I never thought they'd be in danger because nothing on my patio has ever been damaged before this.

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 5:16 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 5:19 PM. Reason : .]

6/24/2008 5:13:58 PM

thats shtty


if they are spraying chemicals then its required by law that they make available to you the times they are sprayin and what chemicals are being applied

maybe not for herbicides

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 5:15 PM. Reason : d]

6/24/2008 5:15:02 PM

Lawn care companies, golf courses, etc. are allowed access to some higher toxicity shit that can nuke the hell out of weeds or whatever the spray is made for. The rules on using them correctly are not stringent. Do your plants look anything like weeds? Keep in mind the lawn guys might not be all that bright on botany to begin with.

6/24/2008 5:54:59 PM

The fucking rabbits and deer are eating my hostas. They started with the little cheap annuals, but now they are eating my good shit and I'm about to unleash some animal cruelty in the form of

BOW

AND

ARROW

6/24/2008 5:59:47 PM

get you some marigolds, some coneflowers, and a gun



did your plants come back? all the varieties you mentioned are types that can wilt extremely fast in heat like this

6/25/2008 2:01:09 PM

Quote :

"The fucking rabbits and deer are eating my hostas. They started with the little cheap annuals, but now they are eating my good shit and I'm about to unleash some animal cruelty in the form of"

plant Foxglove. looks nice and animals don't eat it!

6/25/2008 2:08:58 PM