What to Do When Anthurium Drops Its Leaves? Causes and Solutions

Flowers & Gardening Jan 1, 1970 0 views

A friend of mine kept a pot of this plant, but he didn't know that it naturally prefers shade, so he placed it by a sunny windowsill for over a month, and because he was too busy, he always forgot to water it. Now it keeps dropping leaves, and they fall starting from the stem. I believe what this friend described is just one situation; many other people also cause serious leaf drop when growing it due to various oversights. What causes this, and what should be done about it?

1. Improper Watering

If there is too much water, or watering is too frequent, and the soil stays wet for a long time, waterlogging will occur, the roots will easily rot, affecting their breathing and hindering their absorption of nutrients, so the leaves will turn yellow and fall off. At this point, you should help drain the water out, and from then on be careful to water appropriately, not too much.

2. Improper Fertilizing

If you only fertilize it once in a very long while, or go a long time without repotting it into fresh soil, the nutrients in the soil will have been used up, with no new nutrients to supply it, and its stems will grow thin and spindly while the leaves become thinner and yellow. At this point, fertilize and change the soil promptly.

If there is too much fertilizer, that is also bad: its leaves will become very thick and not smooth, gradually turning yellow and falling off. At this point, you should immediately stop fertilizing, replace the soil, wash the roots with water, and plant it in new soil.

3. Unsuitable Temperature

If you live in the north, where winter is especially cold, and even indoors it is very chilly, its leaves will also die and drop. If your home is very hot in summer, it evaporates quickly, and the roots cannot supply nutrients in time, so the leaves will also wither and fall off. Therefore, you need to maintain a good temperature for it to ensure its normal growth.

4. Unsuitable Soil

In many places in the north, the soil and water contain higher levels of salt and alkali, and the soil lacks soluble iron, so the leaves will lose their green color and fall off. At this point, we need to change its soil.

5. Improper Lighting

If, like the friend mentioned at the beginning of the article, you leave it for a long time in an unsuitable spot, exposed to harsh sunlight, or never give it even a bit of light by keeping it in a dark area, it will become very weak, the leaves will not be able to grow normally, and they will fall off.

6. Pest and Disease Infestation

If a pathogen infects it, such as leaf spot disease, its leaves will easily die; if it is the mosaic virus, its leaves will develop yellow spots. If insects infest it, such as scale insects or red spider mites, the leaves will also fade or shrivel and fall off. At this point, you should buy specialized pesticide for it, with a small ratio of pesticide and a large ratio of water, and spray it several times.