What to Do When Osmanthus Tree Leaves Dry Up? Cause Analysis and Solutions

Osmanthus is one of China's ten traditional flowers and a common flowering plant in landscaping. It originated in China, stays evergreen year-round and has a delicate fragrance. Since ancient times it has been an important spice and a frequent subject for writers and scholars. During the cultivation of osmanthus trees, leaf drying often occurs due to care problems. Let's take a look below at what to do when osmanthus tree leaves dry up!

Overwatering

[Cause] When osmanthus is overwatered, water accumulates in the pot soil and stays wet for a long time, causing a lack of oxygen in the soil. This leads to rot of some fibrous roots, which weakens the ability to absorb water and nutrients, causing young leaves to turn pale yellow and mature leaves to gradually turn dark yellow and scorched.

[Solution] Watering should be controlled immediately, fertilizing stopped, and the soil loosened frequently to keep the pot soil well aerated. In severe cases, the entire root ball needs to be removed from the pot and placed in a pile of dry soil so that moisture seeps out quickly. Once the drooping branches and leaves recover, replant it in the pot.

Underwatering

[Cause] Watering osmanthus too little, or giving only half-water or missing waterings over a long period, causes leaf transpiration to exceed water uptake, resulting in water supply falling short of demand. This also causes leaves to yellow and leaf tips to scorch, and in severe cases the leaf stalks droop and appear wilted.

[Solution] Immediately move the pot to a shady place, spray some water on the leaf surfaces and give a small amount of water. Then, as the stems and leaves gradually recover their upright posture, gradually increase the amount of watering. If too much water is given suddenly at this point, it may cause cytoplasmic plasmolysis and damage to the protoplasm, leading to the death of the plant.

Overfertilizing

[Cause] When osmanthus is overfertilized, especially with too much nitrogen fertilizer and a lack of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, the leaves tend to turn yellow. This shows as new leaves being thick and fleshy with mostly uneven leaf surfaces, old leaves gradually turning yellow and dropping, and in severe cases leaf tips drying up or even entire leaves becoming scorched yellow.

[Solution] Stop fertilizing and increase watering so the fertilizer flows out through the drainage holes, or immediately repot, remove part of the old soil, rinse the root ball with water, replace part of it with fresh potting soil, and replant the plant in the pot.

Insufficient Fertilizing

[Cause] When osmanthus is underfertilized, especially when nitrogen fertilizer has not been applied for a long time or the pot soil has not been changed, the soil lacks nitrogen nutrition. This leads to weak branches and leaves, thin and yellow leaves, and scorched leaf tips.

[Solution] Repot promptly: take the plant out, move it into a pot one size larger, fill with fresh loose and fertile potting soil, and replant it properly. After watering thoroughly, place it in a semi-bright spot to recover. Once it resumes growth, apply dilute liquid fertilizer or compound fertilizer.

Soil Too Alkaline

[Cause] Osmanthus prefers acidic soil. However, since the soil in most northern regions contains more salt and alkali, after being grown for some time it will gradually lose green color and turn yellow due to a lack of soluble iron that the plant can absorb.

[Solution] Apply 0.2% ferrous sulfate solution at intervals, and alternately apply 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution, so that the "alkaline yellowing" is cured. At the same time, potassium dihydrogen phosphate also contains phosphorus and potassium, which helps flower bud differentiation and improves flower quality.