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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I need help - I think I have killed someone's

84 replies

Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 20:35

Plant - I forgot to water my colleagues plant while she was on leave.

This is a blatent not AIBU. Apologies.

I brought it home and thought it might "come back to life".

It hasn't Confused

She asked as soon as she got back where it was - she's quite attached to it.

ARGH please identify it so I can replace it?!

TIA

I need help - I think I have killed someone's
OP posts:
Floggingmolly · 15/07/2016 21:01

How long has she been away for? Shock. That yoke hasn't been watered for about 5 years...

Original poster
Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 21:01

No - it had no flowers.

I said I have brought it home to repot it after a freak gust of wind blew it off her desk.

Every day since I have "forgotten" to bring it when asked where it is Blush

OP posts:
RaskolnikovsGarret · 15/07/2016 21:01

Venus fly trap? It kind of looks like it's from Little Shop of Horrors. But dead.

StarryIllusion · 15/07/2016 21:01

Until there is no green left, its not dead. Water just enough to keep the soil moist, fresh compost and a drip feeder and you should start seeing new growth within a week.

MewlingQuim · 15/07/2016 21:02

I think tradescantia too grumpy

Flouncy · 15/07/2016 21:03

This reminds me of when i was in a pet shop as a child and someone put a dead goldfish in a bag on the counter and asked for one that looked just like it.

Original poster
Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 21:03

It could be a nerve plant having Googled ..

OP posts:
Original poster
Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 21:04

A week?! Shock

Will I have to phone in sick for a week?

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 15/07/2016 21:04

Agree with Grumpys, I think it could be a tradescantia.

If it is, the good news is that you can propagate them from cuttings really easily. If you can find a bit that isn't properly dead, nip it off at a joint in the stem, dip the end into hormone rooting powder and stick it into potting compost. I've grown lots of them like that really easily, sometimes they take even without the rooting powder.

Might be worth a try anyway.

Original poster
Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 21:05

If I bring a little shoot in she's going to know .....

OP posts:
tigerdriverII · 15/07/2016 21:05

GrinGrin nothing useful to add apart from the old looking after goldfish/hamster doppelgänger routine

OlennasWimple · 15/07/2016 21:05

How big is it?

P1nkP0ppy · 15/07/2016 21:06

Definitely take cuttings, they root quickly in water or as DramaAlpaca suggests.

Grumpysfirstwife · 15/07/2016 21:07

cutecat it's unusual for tradescantia to actually have flowers, mines never flowered and I've had it 15 years. In any case pop down your local garden centre to try and find a living version of the almost deceased plant you currently have custody of...good luck Grin

Okkitokkiunga · 15/07/2016 21:08

Soak it in a sink of water overnight. That quite often brings dead looking plants back to life. I have saved loads of plants like that.

LillyBugg · 15/07/2016 21:11

This thread has brightened my evening

Flouncy · 15/07/2016 21:12

Coleus?

I need help - I think I have killed someone's
BikeRunSki · 15/07/2016 21:14

If it makes you feel better, I lost my next door neighbour's son's hamster. It lived in a plastic crate with air holes drilled in the lid. I went in to feed him one evening and he'd gnawed a big hole around and escaped, he must have stood on his water bottle. Searched for him, but didn't find him. The child in question wasn't bothered in the slightest though.,

Dandelionsmakeyouwee · 15/07/2016 21:14

That's actually on the verge of being dead but it isn't dead. It needs water, maybe a new pot, compost and sun.

MimsyBorogroves · 15/07/2016 21:14

Spray paint it.

YellowShockedFace · 15/07/2016 21:21

When you replace it replace it with a plastic one. They look so realistic nowadays she won't even notice and it won't require any care next time you look after it.

DramaAlpaca · 15/07/2016 21:21

I was responsible for the sad loss of my neighbour's goldfish once.

I was looking after it while she was on holiday. Went to feed it one day & it wasn't in its tank. After a bit of detective work I discovered a wet patch on the floor below the tank and a very smug looking cat with a damp right paw.

That one was tough to explain. Thankfully she forgave me.

Anniegetyourgun · 15/07/2016 21:23

Tell you what it is, it's a triffid. You had to kill it before it killed you.

Original poster
Cutecat78 · 15/07/2016 21:24

I have tried to add "humour" to the lie "situation" to test the waters in the event I might need to "fess up" which has not been appreciated Confused

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 15/07/2016 21:25

It is definitely a tradescantia, yay to grumpy.

They are very drought tolerant because they retain moisture in their stems

you should be able to break off some cuttings at the knuckle (ie the joints) put them in a glass of water for 48 hours and then plant in very fresh compost.

They are in my houseplant category called "plants you can grow between the crack of your arse" along with spider plants and prayer-plants.