I wasn't entirely sure where to put this...but I guess gardening is a hobby, so...does anyone know anything about growing patchouli or know a place where someone would?

I have a lovely little patchouli plant. It's been doing great since I brought it to school and putting it under a grow light (I don't get much natural light in my room), but lately it's been dropping leaves like mad. Almost all of the lower leaves have gone, leaving a canopy-like effect. And I have no idea why! The only thing different is that they turned on the heat in the dorms at the beginning of this month, and I'd almost blame it on that since it's not long ago it started losing leaves, but it's got to be happier with the room being warmer rather than almost as cold as outside like it was before they turned on the heat.

I thought maybe I was overwatering it--I know they like well-drained soil and it's just in regular dirt--but I have let it get dry over the past few days and it still is losing leaves. Other than that, it looks green and sassy and happy, so I'm not sure what the problem is! I've tried googling on growing patchouli, but am not finding much help. I read on one site not to let the soil dry out between waterings but to keep it moist, but it's not looking underwatered, just that the leaves are leaving in droves like lemmings (indeed in the leaf-retaining respect, it was doing better when it was planted outside in my garden where it surely didn't get enough water and probably not enough sun either...the leaves weren't as green, but they didn't fall off).

Perhaps I should fertilize it? The water here is hard and full of minerals, so it can't be lacking in that way, but I'm not sure what kind of fertilizer to use.

TIA for any help!

I've never heard of that kind of plant before I looked it up on Wikipedia. It sounds like an interesting plant. I don't know if this is too late for your plant, but I was wondering if maybe because it's from from the East and West Indies and it's warm there. So it might just have gone into shock at the cold weather? I would call a nursery or a botanical garden for any help with plants. Hope your plant is ok and that it survived the winter.

~Haley

could the heat be drying out the air to much? I have that problem at my house...

cheryl

mine is long and stringy looking, I can't seem to make it happy

It might not be getting enough humidity. Instead of watering it more though, can you put some rocks in a plate bigger than its pot and then set its pot on those and put water on the plate? That might help some.

you might try going to gardenweb dot com and searching for patchouli.

i had a plant i bought one summer. it made it through the winter (I kill most plants over the winter because there's only basically one warm room in the house) and it did okay! but after about a year, something, could be any of the things mentioned, i'm not sure, but it died. could be its an annual or biennial and it's just time to die. some are like that.

it was sure nice and smelly to have, though. good success. there are a ton of knowledgeable folks at that website.

All I know is that they smell gooooood. Good luck with yours!

Cynde

With the combination of the grow light (which it was adapting to) and the heat being turned on, it may have shocked it a bit...

It may be the move from outdoors to an indoor, dry heat has given the plant a bit of a shock. Patchouli is native to tropical East Asia, so its natural habitat is warm and moist. They also prefer moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil, so you might consider what you transplanted the plant in. Between the dry heat from the indoors and the natural response to a fairly radical change in environment (for the plant), it may just need some extra babying, especially in terms of humidity. Also, if you can't find information under "patchouli", search under "pogostemon".