How do I know if my plant is dead?

Are you sure it’s dead? Not dormant, or deciduous? 

First things first, it's important that you know your plant and how it should behave. Some plants die back to below ground level over winter, storing energy in their roots, only to be miraculously reborn in spring. This is typical of many outdoor plants known as herbaceous perennials that in the UK can’t tolerate frost and snow, for instance, hostas and many grasses. 

It’s also typical of indoor and outdoor plants that grow from bulbs, tubers and corms, like caladiums and Oxana the Oxalis. These grow like crazy from spring to autumn and send all the energy they make down to their storage organs. They hold onto it underground while it’s cold and dark and then put it back into action again as the days lighten and lengthen. This is known as dormancy. 

And lastly, many trees and shrubs that are deciduous (as opposed to evergreen), drop all their leaves over winter and can easily be mistaken for a dead stick. It’s only when their leaf buds start to swell or they break into blossom in spring that we realise that they were actually alive all along, just having a nap. Examples include Hydrangeas and Acers.

Once you’re sure your plant isn’t dead or deciduous the next step is to see what’s going on inside it.

On sturdy, thickish stemmed, woody plants like Ficus, Dracaena or Citrus trees, start with the scratch test. Using your fingernail or knife, and starting at the top end of your plant’s stem or branches, scrape away a small section of epidermis or bark. If the flesh underneath is green-white, then it is still alive and growing.

If, however, the flesh underneath is brown, try and gently bend the stem to see if there’s any bend. If it’s dry and brittle it’s likely to snap or break. Try the scratch test further down the stem or branch to see if it’s just the ends that are dead, or the whole limb. If you still can’t see any sign of healthy tissue, then using clean secateurs cut the branches back in sections. You’ll soon be able to tell the difference if you cut into healthy tissue, at which point, you’ll know there’s hope for re-growth. Continue to prune all of the dead growth off, and water your plant lightly until it starts to put out new shoots.

On fleshy stemmed plants, like Philodendron, it’s likely that sections of the plant are brown and mushy. Using clean secateurs, cut below these sections into healthy tissue which should still be green-white, firm, and fleshy. Where possible cut to just above a node which is a growing point along the stem from which new leaves or side shoots should emerge. 

Last but not least, for fine leaved plants like ferns, which can often look dead when all of their leaves crisp up and go brown, all hope is not lost! If you cut back all of the dead leaves and look closely amongst the remaining stalks, more often than not you’ll see tightly coiled, bright green new leaves emerging from the centre of the plant. Continue to water lightly and these will slowly unfurl. 

In all cases, if you think your plant is still alive and you can save it, it’s a good idea to try and pinpoint what it is that is causing die-back.

• Is your plant getting too much or too little light? 
• Does it need to be in a more humid environment?
• Has it used up all the nutrients in its soil and needs repotting? 
• Is it under attack from pests? 
• Nine times out of ten it is due to watering, either too much, or too little. Root rot from overwatering is a highly likely cause, and you may need to repot your plant into fresh compost and a smaller pot after cutting off any dead roots.

Rest assured, you aren't the first and you won't be the last. All plant parents have causalities and just because you've lost one (or a few!), doesn't mean you don't have what it takes. Take the lessons you've learned and try again, tweaking your plant care techniques.