What to do when azaleas drop their leaves? Learn these solutions
What to do when azaleas drop their leaves? What causes azaleas to drop their leaves? We ask knowledgeable readers to help explain. Zhongdi Network has compiled 6 causes of azalea leaf drop and the solutions, listed in detail below for readers' reference. Cause 1: Improper choice of growing medium: Azalea roots are fine and thin, and prefer...
What to do when azaleas drop their leaves? What causes azaleas to drop their leaves? We ask knowledgeable readers to help explainZhongdi Network has compiled 6 causes of azalea leaf drop and the solutions, listed in detail below for readers' reference.
Cause 1: Improper choice of growing medium:
Azalea roots are fine and thin, and prefer loose, breathable, humus-rich acidic growing medium with a pH of 5-6.5. Alkaline growing medium containing lime or clay can easily suffocate and rot the roots, leading to leaf drop and death.
Solution:Replace the growing medium, ideally with soil at a pH between 5 and 6.5. Alternatively, add a few drops of vinegar to the water before watering.
Cause 2: Insufficient light:
Azaleas are semi-shade flowers. When grown outdoors in spring, summer and autumn, provide 70-80% shade to prevent strong light from scorching young, tender leaves; when grown indoors in winter without direct light, this must not exceed one week, otherwise, if the leaves cannot carry out normal photosynthesis for a long time, the nutrients are exhausted and the plant shows a protective response, forming an "abscission layer" at the junction of the petiole and the leaf blade. A slight touch to the branch or leaf will make the leaves fall in a rush, and the wetter the growing medium, the worse the leaf drop.
Solution:Regularly move the azalea outdoors to get sunlight.
Cause 3: Temperature too low or too high:
Azaleas like cool conditions and fear muggy heat. The suitable temperature is between 15-25°C, it must not go below 3-5°C in winter and must not exceed 30°C in summer. Therefore, preventing high summer temperatures is the key to success in growing azaleas.
Solution:Grow azaleas indoors. Or cover with shade netting in summer to lower the temperature.
Cause 4: Humidity too low or too high:
Azaleas like moisture and fear waterlogging. The air humidity of their growing environment should be kept at around 75%; humidity that is too low will affect the normal development of leaves and flower buds.
Solution:Stick to the principle of "don't water until dry" for the moisture of the growing medium, and avoid rain during the rainy season to prevent waterlogging at the roots causing leaf drop.
Cause 5: Lack of fertilizer:
For large-scale azalea growing today, "slow-release" granular fertilizer is generally used, applied once a year, and foliar fertilizer sprayed appropriately at other times.
Solution:If iron-deficiency symptoms appear, with yellow leaves and green veins, water with alum fertilizer water or spray ferrous sulfate as treatment.
Cause 6: Pests and diseases:
Spider mites and brown spot disease can both cause azalea leaf drop.
Solution:Spray dicofol and carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl for control.
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