The situation in which the leaves of a violet fall down occurs quite often. At the same time, the leaves can both lose turgor and remain strong and healthy in appearance.
It is difficult to cope with this problem since this phenomenon can be caused by different reasons, sometimes even the opposite. Having incorrectly determined the cause, it is possible to worsen the condition of Saintpaulia, which in the future can lead to its death.
If you find that your violet has dropped leaves – what to do? First of all, it is necessary to determine the causes of this phenomenon and, based on the knowledge gained, apply one or another method of treatment.
why are my african violet leaves drooping
Improper watering leads to root problems. If the soil is too dry, thin roots die off, which leads to the fact that the root system cannot absorb water. In the opposite case, if the earthen lump is waterlogged, root decay may begin. In both cases, the leaves droop and lose their turgor.
CAREFULLY! It is especially dangerous to overdry and then overflow the plant. This happens when, upon finding an overdried violet, abundant watering is performed. In such a situation, the root system cannot cope with a large amount of water and the process of decay begins.
A pot that is too small or too large also causes the leaves to drop:
- when growing Saintpaulia in a pot that is too small, timely watering is very important , the plant dries up very quickly , the process of dying off of the roots begins;
- in the opposite case, in the presence of a large capacity, the roots cannot cope with the volume of water. The soil remains wet for a long time, the roots cease to function fully. And as a result, the leaves of the plant fall.
Hypothermia and very high temperatures have a detrimental effect on African violet:
- hypothermia most often occurs in the fall, when the house has become cold, and the batteries have not yet been turned on, or in the spring in a similar situation, when the batteries have already been turned off. Also, a sharp drop in temperature occurs during ventilation. In this situation, the root system suffers;
- overheating most often occurs on the windowsill, the sun’s rays penetrating through the glass intensely heat the violet, it begins to rapidly lose moisture, the leaves become lethargic, lose turgor, and sink. The more humid the room is, the easier it is for violets to tolerate overheating.
The recommended temperature for Saintpaulia is 20-22 degrees, at night the temperature should not drop sharply, no more than three degrees.
In the case when the lower layer of leaves begins to fall, the venerable age of the violet may serve as a possible reason. In such a situation, if nothing is done, the lower leaves will gradually die off. The violet will look like a “palm” on a curved stem. The root system will not cope with its functions and the leaves will be crushed and wilted.
Droopy leaves may also indicate that the pot has heavy, caked soil. This situation occurs most often among beginners when purchasing purchased soil and using it without baking powder.
Such soil becomes dense over time; when watering, the water stays on the surface for minutes, not absorbing. In such soil, the roots of violets cannot breathe and develop.
ATTENTION! To diagnose the problem, you must carefully examine the plant and soil, and pot. To identify the cause, you should also remember what has changed in the conditions of detention recently.
Are you facing the problem of African Violet Leaves Curling Down? Read our complete solution guide.
Wrong choice of soil
When examining the soil, you need to pick up a pot and estimate its weight. If it itself is light, the soil is dry to the touch, light, and lags behind the walls, then this is the case when the soil is overdried. If the pot is heavy and wet to the touch, remove the earthen lump from the pot and inspect it.
Signs of decay of the root system are the appearance of the smell of rot and mold, dark brown or black color of easily separating roots. Healthy roots are white or light brown in color, quite strong and resilient. If the soil looks like one lump, the finger enters it with difficulty, the water is not absorbed for a long time – this is a case of heavy, caked soil.
When examining the outlet, it is necessary to compare its diameter with the size of the pot. The rosette should be three times the size of the pot. If the pot is different in size, then it is small or too large for the plant.
The outlet should be larger than the pot.
The age of the violet should be estimated, if it grows for more than three years, it is considered old.
Hypothermia or overheating
Hypothermia or overheating should be assessed by the external conditions in which Saintpaulia is located. You can put the thermometer next to the pot, the windowsills can be warmer or colder than the temperature in the room.
It is necessary to remember whether ventilation was done at a low air temperature outside, whether Saintpaulia is too close to the batteries. In case of hypothermia from drafts, specific spots appear on the leaves. When overheated, the violet becomes lethargic, with drooping leaves and there may even be burns on the leaves.
IMPORTANT! After diagnosing the problem, take a series of measures to eliminate it. They are naturally different in each situation.
In case of hypothermia, it is recommended to re-root the plant, put it in a warmer place or on heat-insulating support, and avoid a direct flow of cold air.
If leaves have dropped due to overheating – what to do? To begin with, you should try to first put the plant in a greenhouse, watering moderately as necessary.
If the turgor of the leaves does not recover within 2-3 days, the plant should also be re-rooted.
In the future, you should rearrange the violet to a cooler place or shade it from direct sunlight.
Check out the guide on African Violet Leaves Turning Brown and step by step fix for it.
Overdrying
If there are signs of overdrying of the soil, it is necessary to determine how long the Saintpaulia has not been watered. If one watering is missed, then you can moisten the soil as usual. However, with a strong overdrying, it is necessary to water the plant quite a bit, about one spoonful of water, and put it in a greenhouse.
Over the next two weeks, watering should be light, so that new thin roots grow and the leaves become elastic. If the turgor is not restored, it is necessary to re-root the plant.
Waterlogging
In case of waterlogging, it is necessary to remove excess water as soon as possible; for this, use napkins or newspapers. You can wrap them around an earthen coma or put a pot on them and change them as they get wet. Next, you need to dry the soil and inspect the plant:
- if the bottom row of leaves began to rot, you need to remove them and cut off part of the trunk . If the cut is without traces of rot, you can plant a violet of a suitable size pot with loose fresh soil. For a brown cut, trim it back to healthy tissue . It is also recommended to root the leaf:
- in the absence of signs of decay, it is recommended to transplant the violet into fresh soil . Experienced collectors tend to re-root the violet right away without expecting further problems.
Unsuitable pot
If the pot is not the right size, you need to replace it. The size of the pot should be three times the diameter of the rosette. If the pot is changed to a larger one, you can transplant the plant by transshipment. If for a smaller one, the transfer is carried out as usual. With a large number of roots, you can partially remove them.
Other reasons
If the plant is old, the length of the trunk should be estimated; with a short length, you can simply remove the lower row of leaves and deepen the trunk. If there is a palm, it is necessary to re-root the plant by cutting off the trunk to a length of no more than two sentiments and stripping it like a carrot.ADVICE! If using unsuitable soil, the plant should be transplanted into light soil with the addition of a baking powder.
Sometimes a situation arises when the leaves are healthy, strong with turgor, but for some unknown reason, they hug the pot. The reason for this may be excessive illumination, the leaves are trying to move away from the light source as far as possible.
In this situation, you can shade the plant from direct sunlight by gluing parchment paper to the glass or moving it away from the light source on the shelf.
You can also cut a circle around the rosette out of plain white paper and place it on top of the Saintpaulia.
It is also worth noting that different varieties of violets require a different amount of light, so the lighting conditions should be selected for each individual, depending on the behavior of the leaves.
your violet is dying and wants to know about ways to Save An African Violet From Dying.
Conclusion
We have examined all the main reasons why the violet puts the leaves down. The main advice for a violet to look healthy is to create certain conditions for it and transplant it in a timely manner. If these recommendations are followed, the likelihood of violet leaves dropping becomes significantly less.
