Hey all i recently purchased Banisteriopsis caapi plant which was already established, and i took off the humidity bag which came with it and put the plant in the back yard in a relatively damp are under some other plants and bushes. iv had it for 4-5 days now and day by day it has been drying up and slowly diying by the looks of it.

i have now brought the plant in the laundry room and have placed the put on a plate with some old tshirts i had which i wet with warm water and put the pot on top of that, with some plastic covering as a humidity bag hanging on top on 2 sticks that i placed so air can still come and fgo from undernieth. The room has light coming in from the nearby window but it will only get sunslight depending which angle the sun is shining.

now i want to know if it is right what im doing and if i need to add any special type of soloution or fetiliser to it as im new to this and learning, this is a photo of it:



i also have Phalaris arundinacea, Calea zacatechichi which i have just placed in the backyard and their also looking very average any tips on what i should do with them. The phalaris leaves seem ti be breaking on them self and hanging loose by the sides. the Calea zacatechichi is looking ok i guess but doesnt look very fresh.

any tips will be appriciated

cheers

bag over plant = Bad

Also be careful of too much water, that pot is about 10 times large than the plant needs at this time. I've had 2-3 year old caapis in pots that big, so be wary of that.
when getting a new plant the order of importance:

1. Getting plant stable (this means don't do anything, just let it chill)
2. wait for a little growth, signifying that the plant is active and no longer in shock
3. repot if needed and find permanent situation for plant.


repotting, putting a bag over it's head, and a lot of other "helpful" things are only stressing the plant more.

the reasone for that was like i said the plant was drying up and diying and i read they need to be in humid conditions, and when i first bought it it came with a humidity bag over it.

so from your exprience what do you suggest i should do right now? remove bag and leave indoor? or place outdoor? its very cold at the moment in south australia

do you guys reccomend grow lights for the plants or is it unneccesary??

Keep the bag on top!
If it arrived with it, it is is probably used to the high humidity in the bag. Keep it warm and in a bright place. But not in direct sun! Keep it moist. Let it regenerate in this conditions. When you see the first new grow, it has acclimatized itself. Then you can gradually lower the air moisture by making a few incisions into the bag every day. When you have a bag full of holes, you can take it off and you have a plant that is used to room climate. Light is not necessary, it just has to survive the current stress situation.
Mine also survived the transportation stress with a plastic bag over the head.
I would keep it in the house until is is spring. Then you have a stronger plant an you can put it outside. If you life in an area where there is no frost in winter you could also try to plant in outside. But that really depends on your climate!

Don't worry about the Phalaris. It will start to grow new leaves very soon. The damage at the old leaves doesn't matter at all. Do you have a certain strain?

is this light ok for the plants?

http://www.bunnings.com....r=categoryname--Lighting

I would not use ultra violet lighting. For indoor salvia growing, for instance, I'd use either Cool White fluorescents (a fixture of two, or even better, two fixtures) or Metal Halide lamps.

i bought a philips 6500k flurocent cool daylight light, but now im noticing some brown spots on the plant.

How long am i supposed to leave the light on and when should i turn it on?


this is the current set up