Plants Withering

Plants withering and dying

• Plants withering due to inadequate availability of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)

With inadequate sunlight, plants are unable to survive and its leaves, foliages and roots will deteriorate. As a result, this would lead to replacement of the plants itself, or even the whole panels in the VGS. Thus, availability of PAR must be considered during the placing of VGS.

• Plants withering due to inability to withstand high temperature

Plants have the inability to withstand high temperature, especially in hot tropical climates where plants are found to be withering and dying.

• Plants withering due to inappropriate plant type selection

These plants are dying, for instance a green wall that have become a “dead wall” after a period of time. This is due to poor plant selection for the VGS. Such defects can be attributed from the lack of knowledge in the selection of appropriate plant types (e.g. shade-tolerant plant species are able to thrive in tropical conditions and are appropriate for VGS).

• Plants withering due to insufficient sunlight

Insufficient sunlight is also another cause for plant dieback. There are cases of uneven solar received by plants resulting in “bald spots”, where decay of plants are found due to insufficient sunlight exposure. The location of VGS should be considered as surrounding buildings may possibly block incoming solar radiation and thus hinder plant growth in the VGS. Exposure to sunlight is an important factor to consider during the design stage to ensure that plants receive sufficient sunlight for survival.

• Plants withering due to low temperature environment

Plants that are situated near the air-conditioning unit were found to be withering. Plants were found to be unable to withstand the low temperature environment, especially since condensation of cold water takes place near the air-conditioning unit. Hence, it is crucial to ensure that environment for plants in the VGS are suitable to thrive in and msut be placed away from condensing units.

• Plants withering due to presence of weeds

Airborne seed germination occurs when seed lands on the fertile green wall medium of planter boxes, and weed would start to grow at a fast and alarming rate. Weed growth caused by lack of trimming and running have led to the withering of designated plant species for the felt system due to increased completion for both space and minerals. Such issue can only be solved if weeds are removed immediately once they take hold.

• Plants withering due to root rotting

In incidents where water within the synthetic felt system is not aerated properly, issue of root rot could occur and plants would eventually die if no remedial action were taken.