What causes the wilting of the branches and leaves of potted flowers?

(1) Drought: Drought threatens the normal growth of flowers. Drought-stressed flowers have dull, lusterless leaves, with scorched leaf tips and edges and burnt spots; new buds, flower buds and young flowers develop dry tips, dry petals and premature dropping, leaves turn yellow, wither and drop from the bottom upward, and the plant may even enter a state of severe wilting until it dries up and dies. Drought generally occurs in the following situations.

1) Atmospheric drought: Due to dry and windy conditions, excessively low relative air humidity and intense sunlight, water transpiration from the leaves increases, while the water absorbed by the roots cannot meet the demand, causing temporary wilting of the branches and leaves. For example, because the leaves of cineraria are tender and large, when the light is intense at noon, even though the potting soil is not short of water, the imbalance between water absorption and consumption often causes the leaves to wilt; once the light intensity weakens and the temperature drops, the plant returns to its normal state.

2)    Soil drought: When the available water in the potting soil drops below the level required for flower growth and the rate of water absorption by the roots cannot keep up with the transpiration from the leaf surface, the plant's internal water balance becomes a deficit, that is, the branches and leaves wilt, but the plant can return to normal after watering. When the water content of the potting soil drops below the wilting point, the plant will die.

3) Physiological drought: When fertilizer is applied too concentrated, the concentration of the soil solution is higher than that of the root cell sap, which obstructs the roots' absorption and transport of water, thus causing the branches and leaves to wilt. When the soil is frozen or there is too much water, so that the plant cannot absorb enough water from the pot, physiological drought can also cause the branches and leaves to wilt. Physiological drought generally cannot be solved by watering.

(2) Wilting caused by infectious diseases

After the vascular bundles of the stems or roots of flowers are infected by pathogens, a large amount of fungal bodies and toxins are produced within the conductive tissues, blocking the transport of water, thus causing the flowers to wilt. Damage from stem rot, dry rot and root nematode disease destroys the plant's normal absorption and conduction, leading to wilting.

For flower wilting caused by infectious diseases, appropriate pesticides should be sprayed for control according to the different diseases.