I've had my plants indoors for about a year and a half, but after hearing that my friend's plants thrive when placed outside in nice weather, I decided to give it a try. I put my seven plants outside two days ago during a rain shower, thinking they'd get a good soaking. The next day, they looked great, so I decided to leave them out another night. When I checked today, they were all completely dead—shriveled up with leaves fallen off. Can anyone explain what went wrong and if there's any chance to revive them? I'm really bummed out.
4 Answers
It's likely that your plants were shocked by the sudden overnight temperature drop. Depending on what kinds of plants you had, they might be sensitive to cold temperatures. It's usually a good idea to gradually acclimate them to being outside, starting with just a few hours and then working up to leaving them outside all night. If you can, try cutting back any damaged stems; you might be able to propagate them and get new growth!
I think you definitely need to take into account how cold it gets at night before leaving them outside!
Considering the rapid decline, you might be dealing with a mix of severe overwatering and cold damage. Since you mentioned the rain and the overnight low of 48°F, it's definitely a possibility. If you want to save them, try to prune back the dead parts and see if any new growth appears. It’s a long shot, but worth a try!
Don’t lose hope just yet! Try to assess how much damage is done and take some cuttings from the healthier parts of the plants if possible. It might give you a chance at propagation!
Sounds like they may have suffered from too much sun exposure after being acclimated too quickly. Sunburn could be a cause, but it might also be severe overwatering or cold shock from a drop in temperature. If you think it might be sunburn, just keep them in a shadier spot for a while and see if they recover!
Is there any specific way to help them recover, or are they just done for?
It's hard to say, but if they got that burned, it might be tough to save them. Keep an eye on any new growth!
Yeah, it sounds like a bad case of cold damage. Did the temp drop too low last night?