Smelly, Smelly Tree

No, not the infamous sperm tree.

So we have this boring tree, a non-pine type. I don’t know what it is. It was in a teeny tiny pot, as it is an indoor tree. It started getting really smelly whenever we would water it. Smelled like not-immediately-fresh feces that is also rotting at the same time, for hours. The water would stagnate in the water-catcher dealybob. When the tree was dry, everything was fine.

God, I hate the tree.

After a year or so of smelly, it starts losing all its leaves. It manages to do this for months. Eventually my parents repotted it into a larger pot, suspecting a mildew or something, but for some reason they didn’t remove ALL the dirt, so it still has about 20% of the old dirt in it. Dad gently vacuumed the tree branches when done, to get rid of the dead-but-not-fallen leaves, and now it has about 20 leaves on it, of which all but 2 or 3 are yellow. It has some new growth on the tips of a few branches, but I suspect it’s a ploy by whatever is being smelly in the soil. 'Cause it’s still stinking.

What is this, some fungus among us, a mildew, some evil creature of the night? Might the tree live? (It’s surrounded by windows, and gets a whole bunch of sunlight, so maybe those 3 leaves are doing some good.) What should we do about the smell, stop watering it, overwater to “flush out” the stinkies, as my mom thinks, while possibly doing permanent damage to my olfactory capabilities? Is whatever it is contagious to the other plants we have? Is this possibly worse than owning a rafflesia? And what about Terrence?

It doesn’t have fan-shaped leaves by any chance, does it? Could be ginko biloba. I wouldn’t call it an indoor tree, but it can be started indoors, and it smells like rotting flesh. That’s just the way it is.

Sounds like the soil has something bacterial going on in it. I notice this the most in potted palms in offices that people pour coffee w/ milk or sugar into. could be the pot has improper drainage an organic decay of either some component of the potting mix or even dead root material from ther tree itself.

Potting up is a start. Adding some charcoal to the potting mix helps me if I am potting plants that like clay-y soil and a lot of water. Water the plant until the mix is wet then drain the little pan so the roots dont have to stand in water. In general it is best to allow the mixture to thouroughly dry before re-watering.

It’s a ficus, apparently. A ficus that gives all impression of being as alive as my nail clippings. I stood in the room until I felt woozy, and it smells more like…rotten egg to me. You’d hate the tree too.

It filled up the openings in its pot with roots before, got repotted, and it’s definitely draining well. The water catcher fills up fairly fast, compared to some of our other plants that understand the concept of living. We keep running the wet/dry vac to suck up the water it spits out, but it doesn’t help with the smell. It’s generic blackish powdery dirt, not clay dirt.

Would charcoal help for reducing the smell? Keeping that room (which luckily has its own ventilation system) closed up to the rest of the house, and all the windows open (it’s a sunroom, so that’s a lot), and a fan running, and it still takes a majorly long time for the smell to recede.

And what can one do about bacteria? Might it be harmful to us humans?

Nobody else has any idea? We dragged the thing outside and removed all of its soil, and we haven’t repotted it yet. We’re drying the tree out, to see if the tree itself smells when wet. And it had little buds of new leaves or new limbs, but they’ve been the same size for a long time now, so I suspect it’s definitely past recovery. I’m still really curious though on what bacteria it might be, and if we should worry about getting the dirt in the lawn, or inhaling too much of it (I have a suppressed immune system, and asthma, and allergies, and so I worry about such things).

You can call your county extension to find out how to meet with a master gardener about your problem. Or see what you can find on their website. Also, if you live near a college with an horticultural or agricultural unit, you might be able to get someone there to identify the fungus.

When your parents repotted the ficus, I hope they didn’t dump any of the dirt into the compost pile or in the garden. The fungus could spread and soon your whole yard could smell like rotten eggs. You might consider not even throwing it in the trash but take it to a household hazardous waste site if your have one in the area.

The charcoal could help with the smell. Makes me wonder if baking soda might be good too. Hmm, maybe line the pot with Odor Eaters? Well, that’s a thought, though expensive. LOL!

The good news is that ficus trees don’t like to be moved around. With what it’s been through lately, it may not make it. The bad news is that my brother-in-law’s ficus has survived moves to at least six different houses in the last 10-15 years. Sure, it loses its leaves but it always responds to my brother-in-law’s green thumb. It never smells like rotten eggs though.

Good luck!

I think a rotten egg smell is almost certain to be connected with bacterial decay, possibly due to overwatering; sounds like you need to repot the plant in fresh compost, after removing all of the loose compost from the root ball, along with any decaying roots.

I don’t think you need worry about what would happen to the bacteria if you let them loose outdoors; that’s probably where they came from in the first place - the problem you’re experiencing is specifically because you’re growing a plant in a small, self-contained environment - outdoors, all the other competing organisms and systems would achieve a balance.