incur solutions for wilting , yellowing leave-taking , and other troubling symptoms on your houseplants .
If your indoor greenery has you wondering , " What ’s haywire with my plant ? " there ’s help . When an usually sizable plant jump looking sick — perhaps it droop , shake off its leaves , turns lily-livered , or worse — and you ’re not certain why , usually something can be done to fix itwith small care changes . Coax your houseplants back to spirit from weak growth , brown leaf baksheesh , fertilizer suntan , and more by learning to recount if you ’re underwatering , overwatering , or your plant is n’t getting enough light .
Here ’s how to deal with ten vulgar houseplant problems so you’re able to return to enjoying your palmy indoor hobo camp again .
Credit:Jason Donnelly
What’s Wrong with My Plant? Questions and Answers
1. Why Is My Houseplant Stretching?
Jason Donnelly
Answer: Light is Needed.
If your houseplant problem is that it ’s startedgetting leggy and awkwardly tallor is send out spindly , decrepit halt reaching toward a light beginning , it ’s trying to tell you that itneeds more light . Move it closer to a window or change it to another window that gets more light . South - facing windows are the bright , north - facing window offer the least light source , and east and west window come down somewhere in between . revolve your plants so that all slope of the flora get equal admittance to the sunlight and prevent the houseplant problem of awry growth .
If you still ca n’t find the perfect spot for the plant , invest in a grow lightto make trusted it gets what it needs .
2. Why does my houseplant have curling leaves?
Answer: Insects or disease.
Unusual emergence traffic pattern are acommon sign of disease or dirt ball comportment . You may see curl or distorted leave and enquire , " What ’s wrong with my industrial plant ? " Look closer — you may find other polarity of insect or the insects themselves . If you ascertain black spots or fuzzy white spots , it ’s plausibly a disease . Use your fingers to crush pests or treat your flora withneem oil . If your flora has a disease , withdraw affected areas to prevent further spread .
3. Why does my houseplant have brown leaf tips?
Answer: Water, salt, or humidity.
If yourhouseplant trouble has brown tips on its farewell , it may be signaling one of the follow issues :
Inconsistent watering : This does n’t intend you must water your houseplant at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday . rather , be certain to only body of water when a plant needs it . But even if your works can tolerate less frequent watering , try on not to go weeks without tearing and randomly surprise it with a well - intentioned deluge . When you water , ensure piss play out of the drainage holes so you sleep together it ’s not only reaching the top part of the plant .
Too much salt : This can happen from overfertilizing or SALT from treated dab water . even the soil with water until it drains clean , orrepot your plantintofresh potting mix . Then , go slow on the fertilizer and attempt water it with distilled piddle .
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
blue humidity : Many houseplant are tropical native . If the melody in your house or apartment is dry , place a humidifier nearby .
4. Why are the leaves on my houseplant yellow?
Answer: Possibly overwatering.
If your plant only has one or twoyellow leaves , it ’s belike not serious — pluck them off , and your plant should be honest to go . Anexcessive amount of chicken leaves , however , could be a sign of a more significant issue . Overwatering kills houseplant just as often as ( if not more than ) underwatering . Although precise needs vary by plant , a good principle of thumb is towater when the soil feels dryabout 1/2 to 1 inch down . And mosthouseplants should n’t sit in waterbecause constantly wet territory leads to root bunkum . To avoid this job , only use containers with drainage holes and empty water from saucers beneath them .
xanthous leaves all over the plant may also suggest too little light . Try moving the plant to a bright spot .
5. Why is my houseplant dropping leaves?
Answer: Low light or location.
Are you incessantly having to piece up leaves from the base when you walk by your plant ? Some plant , such as genus Ficus , are sensible to a modification in location and show it by dropping leaves . As long as the grow conditions in the new spot are still idealistic , it should grow smart leaves after it settle in . If you have n’t moved your flora late , folio drop may also indicate low light .
6. Why are the leaves on my houseplant pale or burnt-looking?
Dean Schoeppner
Answer: Too much sun or fertilizer
Like humans , your plant can get sunburned . wan or white leave-taking are usually a result of too much light . fortuitously , this is easily resolved by moving your plant life out of direct sunlight or to a window that gets less intense light . Leaf scorch can also be a result of fertilizer burn . Use less fertilizeror switch to distilled piddle , as the table salt from softened faucet water can build up in the soil .
7. Why are my houseplant’s leaves wilting?
Answer: It’s difficult to say.
If your plant starts to wilt and you wonder , " What ’s wrong with my plant ? " it may be backbreaking to visualise out . Wilt can be challenging to diagnose ; sometimes , it can be too recent to lay aside your plant . It may be stimulate by underwatering , overwatering , poorly debilitate soil , heat stress , disease , or a lack of humidity — aplant moisture metercan help pinpoint some of these issues . you may judge to bring your plant back from the threshold by check the ground for dampness or dispassionateness and adjusting tearing habits accordingly , glower the temperature , repot in right grime , or mist to ameliorate humidity .
8. Why are there spots on my houseplant’s leaves?
Denny Schrock
Answer: Disease
smear on leaves are oftencaused by industrial plant disease . You may be able to salvage the plant by improving air travel circulation so that it dry out more quickly between watering and polish off morbid foliage . confuse away any diseased plant material so it does n’t spread to other plant life . To prevent disease , give plants sizable space to grow , hit all in foliage promptly , and always irrigate at the home of a works .
9. How do I get rid of powdery mildew on my houseplant?
Solution: Increase air flow.
Powdery mold is a fungal infectionthat affects many plants . It ’s easiest for mould to form in still , humid conditions , so increase the flow of air around the affected plant can also help . Remove the sternly infected leaf when working on controlling the issue .
10. Why isn’t my plant absorbing water?
Answer: Poor soil.
If you ’re confident you ’re giving a works plenty of water and it ’s not root - bound ( two rough-cut reasons for plants to dry out out ) , your houseplant problem may be an issue with your soil . Manypotting soils exercise peat , which hold pee well when moistened but is unmanageable to wet thoroughly the first time . Even if it ’s been well - moistened in the yesteryear , leaving the plant unwatered when you go on vacation or leave to body of water it on a regular basis can dry out the soil to the point where it ’s difficult to rehydrate .
Credit:Denny Schrock
