Rose of Jericho is a fascinating plant. Watching them open and come back to life feels like magic!
However, while Rose of Jericho care is pretty simple, you may also run into problems. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of potential issues you might experience with your Rose of Jericho.
Table of Contents
Rose of Jericho Care: Troubleshooting
Problem #1: My Rose of Jericho opens partially but doesn’t turn green.
Bad news: It’s possible that your plant is actually dead.
Now, whether you find them in a store or order them online, all Rose of Jericho plants appear dead when you get them. They’re just a dried-out ball of moss. But they should come back to life and turn into a green plant once you place them in water.
However, sometimes these plants are collected improperly and ripped out from the roots, which causes them to die. As in actually dead.
The trouble is, the truly dead plants look exactly like the dormant plants, so sellers will often ship them out anyway.
They will still open when you put them in water as the cells fill with water. But they’ll stay brown and possibly even rot in the water.
If this seems to be the case, your best bet is to contact the seller and ask for a replacement, or to just buy a new plant from a different vendor and try again!
Problem #2: My Rose of Jericho takes too long to open.
A healthy, happy Rose of Jericho should take about 4 hours to open and start turning green, though it might take a few days for it to open to its full capacity.
But you should definitely know within the first few hours if your plant is doing well.
If the plant takes more than a day to open most of the way, there may be a few causes.
- Your plant may actually be dead (see above). Dead plants still open as the cells rehydrate, but much more slowly than live plants.
- Your plant may be too cold. Place your plant in lukewarm water and put it in a fairly warm area that’s free of drafts.
- The plant might need more light. Remember, even though it’s a resurrection plant, it still needs light to be healthy!
Problem #3: My Rose of Jericho stinks/is starting to rot
Rose of Jericho usually smells a little musty when you dehydrate it, but it shouldn’t get really funky.
If your Rose of Jericho develops an unpleasant odor and starts to turn black or mushy, it might be rotting, which means it has been sitting in water for too long.
If this happens, remove your plant from the water and let it close up again to have a break. If any parts of the plant are slimy and dark brown or black, go ahead and trim them away.
Make sure to change your plant’s water each day and give it a break from water at least one day a week to prevent over-watering and rot.
If all else fails, let it dry up and try a different one.
Even the easiest plants to care for can have their quirks; after all, they’re living things! As long as you buy a healthy plant, you should have little trouble getting it to open with a few tips for proper care.
And if you get a dud, don’t worry; it happens. Just be sure to try, try again!
To learn more:
- Join us for our free Top Secrets From Fiddle Leaf Fig Growers Webinar or enroll in our free Advanced Fiddle Leaf Fig Care Course.
- Read The Fiddle Leaf Fig Expert, your complete guide to growing healthy fiddle leaf fig plants. The book is available in full-color paperback or Kindle edition on Amazon now!
- Click to join our community on Facebook: Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant Resource Group.
