What causes the leaves of the money tree to scorch?
The money tree (Pachira aquatica) is an ornamental plant that is very well suited to indoor growing, known for being evergreen and grown for its foliage. However, if we care for it improperly, its leaves are also fairly prone to scorching, which looks very unsightly and greatly reduces the ornamental value of the potted plant.
Perhaps quite a few plant lovers have come across the situation where the money tree's leaves develop scorch spots, and the scorch spots that form often start from the edges of the leaves. In the early stage of the disease, the scorch spots may appear light brown, and the infected area is not large, sometimes even just tiny specks. As the condition becomes more serious, they may quickly spread into many irregular shapes, and the color of the spots also deepens, turning dark brown, sometimes accompanied by small black dots.
In fact, this is a typical fungal infection. This situation arises mainly because the plant is often grown in a humid and low-temperature environment. And this situation generally occurs when watering is fairly generous in winter but the ambient temperature is relatively low. The money tree not only has poor cold tolerance, but is also not tolerant of water, so if you water too much in winter and the ambient temperature is too low, it easily causes its leaves to scorch and develop spots.
When growing a money tree in winter, it is usually required to place it indoors, and the ambient temperature is required to stay between 10°C and 15°C. If it falls below 10°C, it is prone to root rot, yellowing leaves and leaf drop. Moreover, if the ambient humidity is too high and the air circulation is poor, it is also very prone to fungal infection, which causes scorch spots to form on the leaves.
It can be seen that one important cause of scorching on the money tree's leaves is leaf spot disease brought on by fungal infection due to an unsuitable environment. When this happens, everyone must promptly cut off the diseased leaves, and at the same time spray the leaves once a week with a carbendazim solution to kill off the remaining harmful bacteria. The growing environment should also be required to have ample light, be bright and well ventilated, and watering should be properly controlled. Generally, after growing it this way for about a month, the scorching on its leaves will improve.
Of course, sunburn caused by overly strong light cannot be ruled out either. This is because the money tree both likes light and tolerates shade, but at the same time it does not tolerate strong light; especially under the scorching sun of summer, its broad leaves not only transpire heavily, but the leaves also easily develop scorch spots. So in this case, generally all we need to do is shade it in time to solve the problem.