# My Zebra Plant Is Wilting
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Water
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Zebra plants aren't bashful about signaling thirst. Their leaves go from jutting out at right angles from their stems to pointing directly at the soil. Leaves on plants ignored for long periods drop. Given enough water to moisten the soil without saturating it, however, a thirsty zebra plant has an exceptionally quick recovery. Watering whenever the soil feels damp to the touch should eliminate future thirst-based wilting.
Indoor Climate
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Temperature and humidity have major effects on aphelandras' health. Grown indoors, zebra plants require temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees F during the day and no colder than 65 F at night. Plants exposed to temperatures below 50 F for several days frequently experience wilting followed by yellowing, dropping leaves. The plants won't tolerate drafts from heat and air conditioning vents or radiators. They also demand humidity similar to that in the Brazilian tropics. Placing their containers on saucers filled with pebbles immersed in shallow water keep the air moist enough to satisfy the need.
Disease
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A pair of diseases, one fungal and one viral, can cause zebra plant wilt. Leaf-sucking western thrips transmit impatiens necrotic spot virus to the plants. While there's no cure for the disease, the virus sometimes remains confined to a single part of a plant, leaving the rest of it symptom-free. INSV-infected zebra plants may exhibit leaf and stem lesions or spots, and distorted or stunted growth as well as wilting. Control INSV by removing diseased plants and treating thrip infestations with an appropriate insecticide. Pythium root rot fungus causes wilting, yellowing of a zebra plant's stem and leaves, and blackened, easily crumbling roots. Diagnostic testing is necessary to determine whether the Pythium fungus is responsible for a root rot outbreak. Treatment is by fungicide.
Aphids
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Aphids join thrips as leaf-sucking insects that feed on zebra plants. Large populations of the pests may consume enough sap to leave a plant's foliage yellow and wilted. Examining the undersides of a zebra plant every week can catch infestations of the tiny, soft-bodied insects in the early stages. A clear, sticky waste fluid on the leaves is a sure sign of their presence. Called honeydew, it's the waste they excrete while feeding. Aphid control means thoroughly saturating all of a plant's leaves on both sides with insecticide spray to reach any insects concealed in the foliage.
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