My Sword plant was beautiful when it arrived last week, but now many of the larger leaves are dying. What went wrong?
Most likely nothing has gone terribly wrong. When larger plants like this are transported, the outer, mature leaves are sometime damaged with handling. Also, some of the root structure will also be damaged during the move. This results in fewer nutrients for the damaged leaves, so the plant will “shed” these mature leaves and start development of new leaves. This can result in a stubby looking plant for a few days, but eventually it will get back to normal. It is best to prune any damaged leaves immediately to stimulate the growth of new leaves. If this problem had occurred after several weeks, it could indicate a nutritional deficiency, and new growth would be stunted. Addition of proper nutrients and trace elements would help eliminate the problem.
