Causes of blackening of leaves
If damage to a leaf on a living indoor flower is noticed, you should look for the reasons and try to eradicate them. Otherwise, the foliage may dry out completely and the plant will die.
Initially, it is worth recognizing the cause of the disease:
- Dry air - the plant is watered abundantly, but is located near heating devices. All acquired moisture quickly evaporates, not having time to nourish the pet’s greens
- Dust is an inevitable companion of indoor dwellers. If you do not wipe the leaves and do not give the plant water treatments, the accumulated layer of dust can lead to disease. This is especially true for owners of tropical plants (dracaena)
- Mineral fertilizers - a lack of nutrients, as well as an excess, tends to negatively affect the condition of residents of window sills
- Watering - excessive irrigation is a negative measure of care; an overwatered pet will soon turn black and die. With a large amount of water, roots begin to rot in the soil, mold and fungus appear, which provokes the acquisition of blackness, both at the tips and throughout the entire leaf
- Placement is one of the factors in acquiring blackness. Lack of light or, conversely, scorching sun rays can damage delicate greenery
- Mechanical damage also causes deterioration in the appearance of the flower.
- Phytoblight is a disease that appears from the soil. It migrates to the leaves and, sucking nutritional moisture from them, leads to blackening
Thus, the blackness that appears on the leaves of indoor plants is not the reason for the flower being infested with parasites, but a disease caused by household factors in caring for a pet.
Description of the plant
Gardenia is a heat-loving plant that grows in the south. Demanding about the conditions of his detention. Growing this decorative indoor flower is very troublesome.
It’s not uncommon for flower growers to take a risk by buying it for their winter garden, but the time and effort spent on care does not go unrewarded. He thanks his owner with long and abundant flowering.
The plant responds very violently to any external stimuli and care features. The cause of the disease can be improper watering, poor lighting, low temperature in the room where the flower is located, low humidity and many other reasons.
With any disease, the plant loses its decorative effect. Its leaves turn yellow and dry, and in some cases even turn black and the buds fall off.
Methods to combat blackening due to overflow and dry air
Flower growers notice blackening of the leaves almost immediately. Initially, damaged leaves should be carefully removed from the bush. The next action must be aimed at eliminating the factors causing the disease.
If the reason lies in dry air, then a simple spray from a spray bottle will help. It is recommended to carry out the procedure in the morning and always with settled water at room temperature. You should not resort to such activities in the evening. The water may not have time to be absorbed, and the coolness of the night will cause hypothermia of the leaves and even their possible rotting.
If a significant amount of dust has accumulated on the leaves, you need to either wipe the greens with a damp sponge or a soft, moisture-absorbing cloth, and it is also recommended to shower periodically.
To do this, the pot should be wrapped in polyethylene, so that the film fits neatly to the stem, while covering the entire soil area. The stream of water must be adjusted so that it is moderate and does not cause damage to young shoots.
In addition, you need to reconsider the degree of watering. If there is an overflow and a musty smell emanates from your pet, you need to change the soil in the flowerpot as soon as possible.
It is recommended to carry out a number of activities:
- Dig up a bush
- Free the root from the soil
- Inspect the root system for rotting or damage
- Trim off all diseased roots
- Cuts must be sprinkled with ash or charcoal to prevent the spread of infection.
- Purchase or independently prepare a substrate for planting a reanimated pet
It is important to prepare the pot for replanting. It needs to be thoroughly washed with soda and poured with boiling water so that there are no pathogenic bacteria on its walls. It is necessary to place drainage at the bottom. Then plant according to all the rules.
Leaves fall off after transplanting
Yellowing of schefflera often occurs when moved to another pot. If it was a full-fledged transplant with exposed roots, the operation rarely goes without leaf fall. But owners also make mistakes.
Priming
The substrate for shefflera should be slightly acidic or neutral. The best solution is to buy a ready-made one, intended for ficus or ornamental deciduous crops. When preparing a soil mixture yourself, it is not always possible to fully disinfect the components or select them correctly. As a result, the shefflera turns yellow and drops its leaves.
Causes:
- alkaline reaction or too high acidity of the soil;
- soil pests - even earthworms that fall into a pot turn into them;
- dense substrate - the roots do not receive enough oxygen, the water stagnates, it is difficult to care for the shefflera;
- poor permeability of components.
Often the soil becomes salty from watering with hard water. The white crust on the surface can be removed. If plaque covers the walls of the pot, the soil will have to be changed.
Pot
The container for shefflera needs a regular shape and must contain holes for water drainage. Otherwise, the substrate will constantly become soaked.
With each transplant, the size is increased by 2-3 cm. A pot that is too large will not only cause a stunting of growth. The roots need to braid a ball. If there is a lot of free space, this will take considerable time; the plates of the shefflera will begin to turn yellow and fall off. Leaf fall will stop when the flower has covered all the soil.
A container that is too small and filled only with roots and soil residues does not hold water well; when fertilizing, the underground part often gets burned by fertilizers. The result is that the foliage turns yellow and falls off.
Transfer time
Any movement to a new container is associated with injuries to the sucking processes. Even transshipment. The root system regenerates in the same way as other parts of plant organisms. If the transplant is done at the end of the season, the process is slow, the foliage turns yellow and falls off, and when the injury affects the main roots, the shefflera may even die.
In the summer she has already spent a lot of effort on building up green mass. In addition, heat negatively affects the general condition of the flower; only it can cause leaf fall. Excessive injury will make the situation worse.
Transplants should be done at the beginning of the growing season.
Planting process
It is best for the sheffler to pass without destroying the earthen clod. This way the roots are minimally damaged, and the suspension of growth processes often goes unnoticed.
The more damaged the underground part is, the more time it takes to recover. The Schefflera root system spends energy on regeneration, and is not able to feed all the vegetative organs; some of them turn yellow and fall off.
Recommendations for choosing fertilizers and water for irrigation
You should carefully and carefully select the means for fertilizing the window sill dweller. It is recommended to take a responsible approach to your choice; for example, fertilizing for citrus fruits will not suit dracaena or pelargonium.
You need to find out exactly whether this fertilizer is suitable for this particular flower. All detailed information is described on the label. You should also control the feeding process: it is better to add a smaller dose of mineral supplements than to overdo it with the amount of nutrients.
It is recommended to take into account the water hardness. It is well known that for capricious pets, soft, melted or rain water, but heated to the optimal temperature (room temperature), is best suited.
This nutrient liquid is usually difficult to find, so plain tap water is used. In winter, it is especially tough - when watering, a white coating remains on the soil, which directly affects the plant. In order to avoid this, you need to boil and settle tap water. Only then use it to moisten the soil.
Why do the tips of leaves of indoor plants turn black?
Indoor plants grow well at home if they receive everything they need - light, water, warmth, humidity and nutrients. The conditions for keeping it at home largely depend on the origin of the chosen plant; for example, tropical crops require warmth, high air and soil humidity, while cacti, on the contrary, are accustomed to bright sunlight and drought.
When growing houseplants in pots, you must follow individual care rules for each species, which are based on creating the most similar conditions for a given plant to its natural environment. Violation of this harmony leads to diseases of the flower planted in the pot.
The well-being of a houseplant is always reflected in the appearance of the leaves ; they turn yellow, blacken, curl, wither, dry out, fall off, and various spots and dots appear on them. Based on these external manifestations, you can make a diagnosis and identify errors in care, whether the flower has enough light and nutrition, whether watering is carried out correctly, whether the room temperature and air humidity are comfortable.
If you correctly determine the reason why your houseplant experiences discomfort and loses its decorative appearance, by eliminating it, the plant will recover and will again decorate your home with flowers and greenery. If you ignore the signals that the leaves give, the plant in the pot will continue to wither and eventually die.
Most often, indoor plants experience the following ailments, which are reflected on the leaves:
The leaves of most herbaceous plants wither when the soil dries out. Plants with tough, leathery foliage are resistant to wilting, but react to lack of watering with massive yellowing and leaf drop.
Each plant requires its own watering rate. You can’t overwater a flower in a pot, but you shouldn’t wait until the soil in the pot dries out completely and the leaves wither. Moisture-loving crops are watered frequently and abundantly. If the soil in the pot dries out quickly and the plant withers, then you need to transplant it into a larger pot with moisture-retaining soil.
If the leaves wither and the soil in the pot is damp , it means that you have flooded the flower and its roots have rotted. When moisture lingers in the ground for a long time, the roots are deprived of air, the earth turns sour, and putrefactive bacteria take hold. A flooded plant can only be saved by urgent replanting, with a complete replacement of the soil, removal of rotten roots and sprinkling of charcoal on the wounds, and further adherence to the watering regime.
Leaves may wilt due to heat , especially if the sun shines on the plant at midday. High temperatures increase the evaporation of moisture from the leaf plates; you need to remove the plant from a sunny place and spray it.
Wilting foliage means the plant is under stress, which affects its growth and health. Try not to allow stressful conditions to arise for your flower, then it will bloom and develop without stopping.
The tips of leaves of indoor plants dry out for one reason - low air humidity. Most often, the tips of leaves dry out in tropical crops - palms, ferns, syngonium, chlorophytum and other species. Massive drying of leaves at the tips and along the edges of the plates begins with the beginning of the heating season, when air humidity drops to a critical plant level of 30%, and leaf health requires from 60 to 80%. The problem is solved by installing humidifiers, water containers next to the pots and daily spraying. Hot radiators should be located as far as possible from plants.
Plant leaves turn black due to several reasons . Dark brown dry spots on the tips and edges of the spathiphyllum; they gradually enlarge, crack, fall out, and part of the leaf blade is lost. High temperatures and insufficient watering accelerate the growth of dark spots on the leaves. The solution is to use humidifiers and adjust the watering regime.
It happens that the roots of a plant in a pot are so dry that regular watering cannot help them. In overdried plants, the soil in the pot lags behind the walls. To saturate all the roots of the plant with moisture, even small ones that are located on the border, you need to place the pot in a bucket of water and wait 10-15 minutes until the earthen ball is completely saturated with moisture.
Problems with roots
Most often, in winter, the leaves turn black precisely because of problems with the roots, namely, their rotting. This, in turn, can happen due to its own reasons. First of all, this is incorrect, excessive watering of plants. Rotting can also be caused by heavy, dense soil in a pot. Finally, the plant can simply be exposed to cold air, which can also negatively affect the root system.
Why do the tips of spathiphyllum leaves dry out and turn black?
Spathiphyllum or “Women's Happiness” is an elegant and very beautiful indoor plant that is very popular among gardeners.
It attracts attention with its exotic colors and can decorate any room. Caring for the plant is very simple, but sometimes some difficulties and problems arise when growing it. Spathiphyllum loses its decorative qualities due to drying or blackening of the tips of the leaves. Knowing the reasons for such changes in the appearance of a flower, you can cope with this problem.
Negative changes that begin to occur with a houseplant and its development are in most cases associated with improper maintenance conditions. Spathiphyllum is a tropical plant; its appearance will certainly react negatively if there is an excess or lack of moisture, air humidity or lighting. The decorative qualities of the plant directly depend on proper care.
For the full growth and development of spathiphyllum, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions. Diseases, the symptoms of which are drying or turning black leaves, can occur for several reasons. It is very important to notice the onset of the disease in time and take all necessary measures to save the indoor plant, and for this you need to know the characteristics of spathiphyllum and the conditions of its natural origin.
Why do spathiphyllum leaves darken?
Dry air or low humidity levels
Spathiphyllum tolerates dry indoor air very painfully. Under such conditions, the tips of the leaves begin to dry out and gradually change color to dark. The appearance of the plant gives a signal that urgent moisture is needed in the form of spraying from a spray bottle. A tropical plant indoors requires a moderately humid environment. It is important to take into account the air temperature in the room during such “water procedures”. In cool conditions, over-spraying can cause the plant's roots to die.
Lack of fertilizers and nutrients in the soil
Blackened tips of spathiphyllum leaves can signal a lack of nutrition and fertilizing. The required quality and quantity of fertilizers will help solve this problem. In the period from March to September, the houseplant is fed three to four times a month, and in the remaining months (and especially during the dormant period) once every thirty days will be enough. The fertilizer must contain all the necessary nutrients for flowering indoor plants.
Excess fertilizer
A large number of fertilizers and their frequent application to the soil, as well as an excess of certain nutrients will only bring a negative result. When dry tips appear on the leaves, the frequency of fertilizing should be reduced and the composition of the fertilizer should be reviewed. Excess minerals, for example, harm a houseplant and spoil its external characteristics. As a life-saving measure, it is necessary to urgently rid the flower of all damaged leaves, and temporarily suspend the application of fertilizing. The indoor flower will gradually recover.
The quality of irrigation water and its volumes during irrigation
Water for watering spathiphyllum should only be used at room temperature and must be settled. Not only the condition of the leaves, but also the full development of the entire indoor flower depends on the softness of the water.
The volume of irrigation water is also of great importance. An excess of water leads to stagnation in the soil and rotting of the roots. It is recommended to water the plant again only after the top layer of soil has completely dried. 1.5-2 hours after watering the plant, it is necessary to drain excess water from the flower tray.
Lack or excess of sunlight and choice of growing location
An unfavorable effect on the plant, and ultimately blackening of the leaves, is caused by the wrong choice of place to place the indoor flower. The optimal place for spathiphyllum is a window sill on any side of the house except the north. Direct sunlight and poor lighting adversely affect the decorative qualities of a pet. It is necessary to protect it from sunburn, and in the autumn-winter period use additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.
Insufficient number of “water procedures”
The foliage receives the necessary amount of moisture with regular and abundant spraying in the warm summer months, and especially in hot weather. From such weekly bathing, the “female happiness” flower will look healthy and attractive.
Difficulties of care
Gardenia is a rather capricious plant.
- It is demanding on soil moisture. In spring and summer - during active growth - it requires a lot of moisture. But with all this, you should not allow water to stagnate in the pot; excess water must be drained.
- An important point in caring for gardenia is the quality of water. Simply letting the water stand for irrigation is not enough; the water must be soft and must be passed through a filter. If this is not available, only boiled water should be used for irrigation.
- Does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature. For gardenia, both excessively high and excessively low temperatures are equally undesirable. In summer, the plant will feel most comfortable at a temperature of 22-24°C, in winter – at 14-16°C.
Increased air temperatures in summer provoke increased growth of shoots, which occurs to the detriment of the establishment, growth and preservation of flower buds. Of course, it is almost impossible to influence the air temperature in summer, but you can smooth out the situation somewhat by trying to increase the air humidity: place the pot with the plant on pebbles or a regular tray with water and be sure to spray its crown several times a day.
In fact, caring for this capricious beauty is not as difficult as it might seem, and in response to the efforts made, gardenia will certainly delight you with its abundant flowering.
Causes of yellowing of spathiphyllum leaves
Yellow leaves of spathiphyllum appear not only due to some disease, but in this way the plant can devote all its energy to preparing for flowering or recovering after it. The same changes occur with the old flower, which no longer has enough strength due to its age.
It is necessary to figure out which leaves of the flower turn yellow - old ones at its base or young, just emerging shoots. There is nothing to worry about when old leaves turn yellow. This is how the flower gets rid of non-viable parts in order to direct all its energies to rejuvenation and the appearance of new leaves. When yellowness appears on young shoots, you most likely need to pay attention to the lighting. Leaves can change color when exposed to direct sunlight. Sunburn is very dangerous for this houseplant. It is worth moving the spathiphyllum to another room or rearranging it to another place.
If negative changes appear in the appearance of your pet, you should not panic. If you find out in time the reason for the withering and drying of a plant or its parts, then the flower can be saved and given a second life so that it continues to delight with its exotic blooms.
