What to Do When an Aglaia odorata Drops Its Leaves? Find the Cause First, Then Treat It Accordingly

Aglaia odorata (Chinese perfume plant) likes a ventilated, airy, humid, warm environment with plenty of sunlight. The plants that come on the market in spring are mostly shipped from the south to the north, and the climate difference between the two places is huge, posing a great threat to their survival. Especially in early spring, even locally grown varieties, if managed improperly and moved outdoors too early, will still drop a large number of leaves or even die, let alone varieties from other regions.

Why Does Aglaia odorata Keep Dropping Its Leaves?

1. Aglaia odorata is afraid of wind chill. Once exposed to wind chill, its leaves will suddenly drop in large numbers within a short period. During indoor care, leaf drop also often occurs if the plant is exposed to wind chill. So in spring, be sure to protect it from wind and cold.

2. When Aglaia odorata is kept at low room temperature with insufficient light for a long time, overwatering damages the roots and leaves, causing green leaves to fall. For a plant that has dropped its leaves, immediately stop watering, misting and fertilizing, and use the methods of "loosening the soil to release moisture" and "changing the soil to absorb moisture". Place it in warm sunlight, and wait until the potting soil is dry and loose before watering again, moistening it gradually until it slowly recovers.

3. Aglaia odorata tends to drop a large number of leaves in winter. Judging from the signs, dark brown, wilted leaves are a sign of freezing damage, so temperature should be raised promptly or the plant moved to a warmer place to let it gradually recover. Withered and yellow fallen leaves are caused by poor ventilation or overly dry soil. Fallen green leaves are caused by overly wet soil. In winter, the physiological activity of Aglaia odorata is weak, and at this time low temperature with high humidity, or dry air, must be avoided. Continuous low temperatures below 5°C, drafty air currents, and long-term insufficient light can all also cause leaf drop.

4. Cold spring winds blowing directly on the plant also easily cause leaf drop. Move it outdoors only after the temperatures stabilize after Qingming (Tomb-Sweeping Day), which helps protect the leaves.

5. Fertilizer damage: improper fertilization can cause fertilizer damage and leaf drop. Fertilizer must be fully fermented and decomposed before use. If raw fertilizer is applied, not only will it fail to make Aglaia odorata grow vigorously, but the heat generated during the fermentation of the raw fertilizer will burn the root system; if you apply inorganic fertilizer, applying too much at once or direct contact with the chemical fertilizer can also damage the roots and cause leaf drop.

How Do You Keep Aglaia odorata from Dropping Its Leaves?

1. Fertilizing: Generally, fertilize once a month, mainly with organic fertilizer and high-efficiency phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, and never apply too much nitrogen fertilizer. Each time, per pot, apply 25-30 grams of composted, decomposed and deodorized peanut cake fertilizer, rapeseed cake fertilizer or tea seed cake fertilizer, and 15-20 grams of monopotassium phosphate or high-efficiency biological phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, diluted with 2-3 kilograms of clean water or composted, decomposed and deodorized human and livestock manure water, then pour it on.

2. Watering: Keep the potting soil moist all year round. Never let it become so dry that it cracks, but do not let it stay overly wet for a long time either, otherwise it will cause root suffocation, root rot and yellow leaves. Generally, in summer and autumn, water once a day with clean water; in winter and spring, water once every 2-3 days with clean water, so that the water can quickly seep into the potting soil rather than pooling on top. At the same time, frequently spray clean water on the branches and leaves, especially during the high temperatures of summer and the dry periods of winter, evenly misting all the branches and leaves until water droplets begin to drip down, so as to keep the branches and leaves moist.

3. Spraying: Potted Aglaia odorata is quite seriously harmed by pests and diseases such as powdery mildew, leaf spot, anthracnose, red spider mites, scale insects, aphids and rust mites, which cause the branches and leaves to turn yellow and die. Every 15-20 days, spray the leaves once with a clarified liquid made by soaking a mixture of dry, clean plant ash and superphosphate at a 25-30 fold dilution, or with a clarified 0.1% lime water solution, for pollution-free control, so as to protect the branches and leaves and prevent various pests and diseases.