Help! Ixora suddenly losing petals?

[punchclock]

Hello, all. I'm a beginner at gardening, and I was hoping someone could help me with my Maui ixora plant. I bought it about a week and a half ago, and it was looking fine until I checked on it today. The flowers were round and beautiful just last night, but now the petals are rapidly falling away!



As you can see, the upper petals are missing. There are crunchy brown bits in some places where they used to be. The leaves and stem seem to be fine -- they don't look any different from when I first got it. The bottoms of the flowers are wilting and closed up, so I'm afraid they're going to be next to go. EDIT: To clarify, the petals are sort of curling in on themselves? The color is unchanged, though.

This ixora gets lot of sunlight in the morning (the balcony of my apartment faces east), and I've been trying to be careful about how much water I give it. I live in Florida, too. I haven't moved the ixora out of the soil I bought it in, if that matters. Is there anything I can do? Please help!

[ButterflyLady29]

Are you sure it's getting enough water? The leaves look a little droopy. Or maybe it's too wet? Check the soil to see which it is. If the soil is dry it needs water. If the soil is wet it's probably drowning. Hopefully it's too dry. Dry plants can be watered, wet plants usually rot before showing signs of dying.

[punchclock]

Are you sure it's getting enough water? The leaves look a little droopy. Or maybe it's too wet? Check the soil to see which it is. If the soil is dry it needs water. If the soil is wet it's probably drowning. Hopefully it's too dry. Dry plants can be watered, wet plants usually rot before showing signs of dying.

Thank you for your response! I accidentally killed another plant by overwatering (like I said, I'm a beginner!), so I've been very careful about the amount of water I give this baby. Two nights ago I put some water in the plate to see if it would be absorbed by the roots (to check if it was thirsty or not), and it took a long time for the water to get soaked up. Could sitting in that water for so long hurt it?

[ButterflyLady29]

Put your finger into the soil inside the pot, right next to the root mass. It should be damp, not soggy, not hard and dry. The only way to see if it needs water is to physically check the soil near the roots.

If the soil is soggy the water won't be absorbed quickly. If the soil is dry, the water won't be absorbed quickly. Without knowing if the soil is soggy or dry, I can't tell if setting in water would hurt the roots.