Ficus - very undemanding indoor flower No wonder our grandmothers loved him. Now he is again at the peak of popularity among flower growers. It is very decorative and, with proper care, becomes the main decoration of the home. But it happens that due to improper maintenance, the plant loses its decorative effect. Why ficus leaves turn yellow and what to do if the flower begins to fade, it is advisable to find out as early as possible in order to take action in time.
Natural Causes of Yellowing
Even with proper care, the ficus turns yellow and sheds leaves. Cause of yellowing lower leaves is natural aging. The leaf blade lives for about three years, then ages and dies. If in autumn-winter period ficus dropped a few lower leaves, then do not worry.
Consequences of improper care
The main reasons for the loss of attractiveness are:
- Stress and transplant.
- Improper watering and cold.
- Soil depletion, diseases and pests.
Having acquired a flower, you must immediately decide on a permanent place for it. The place for the plant should be bright, warm, without drafts. Keep out of direct sunlight, they can cause burns.
If you move a flower from place to place, it will turn yellow and shed its leaves. Even a pot with a plant does not need to be rotated around its axis. If the flower grows and develops well, leave it alone.
Instructions for use of the drug Aktellik
Ficuses really don't like to be disturbed.. During transplantation, he experiences severe stress. The plant should be transplanted as needed, when the roots no longer fit in the pot and are visible on the surface of the soil. In a larger pot, the flower is transferred with a clod of earth so as not to disturb the roots.
When transplanting, use fresh, moist soil. You can not immediately water the ficus! The first watering is carried out no earlier than a week later.
Removed from mature plants upper layer soil and fresh soil is added.
Containment Breach
Very often, yellowing of the leaves occurs due to the fact that you just filled the flower. He does not like frequent and plentiful watering. Water it when the soil is completely dry.
If you notice that a lot of ficus leaves have turned yellow, stop watering the flower for two weeks. Watch the plant - if the process continues, then the roots are rotten, and the flower needs to be transplanted into a new substrate.
Rinse the roots with water and inspect carefully. Rotten roots need to be cut off, they are dark, slippery, with bad smell. Sprinkle slices with crushed activated charcoal or cinnamon and dry a little. Then plant in fresh soil.
Overdrying the earthy coma can also cause yellowing of the leaves..
Ficus is a tropical plant. In winter, the temperature in the room should be at least 18 degrees. There should be no sudden changes in temperature, so protect the flower from cold and drafts. In winter, move it away from the glass. Place styrofoam, a cork stand, or a simple plank under the pot to keep the roots from getting cold.
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Dry hot air from batteries or heaters is also detrimental to the plant. Spray it warm water, place the pot on a pebble tray, or purchase a humidifier.
Do not water the ficus cold water from the tap. Water should be at room temperature, settled for at least a day.
Soil depletion, diseases and pests
Ficus can turn yellow and drop leaves from a lack of trace elements:
- nitrogen - stimulates the appearance of green leaves;
- magnesium - prevents early aging and yellowing of leaves;
- iron - deficiency causes chlorosis (yellowing) of the leaves.
Use fertilizers for decorative leafy crops or special fertilizers for ficuses. In order not to burn the roots, first moisten the soil with settled water, and then water it with trace elements. Feed the plant from March to October.
Ficus Benjamin is a very attractive plant. Falling branches, variegated leaves attract the eye. But what to do when Benjamin's ficus sheds its leaves, loses its main decoration? Only proper care help deal with this problem.
Where to put the ficus?
You need to find in advance a suitable place for the flower in the room. Movements have a bad effect on the well-being of the ficus. Therefore, it is undesirable to rearrange it. Moving from a store to a permanent place of residence is a lot of stress for a plant. Often in such a situation, Benjamin's ficus drops its leaves. It is better to buy it in the warm season, so as not to catch a cold on the way.
Lighting for ficus should be quite bright, but diffused and uniform. In winter, if the plant is located far from the window, the bush may take irregular shape. The temperature in the room should be at least 15 ° C. It is necessary to ventilate the room, but avoid drafts.
Care and watering
It needs to be watered abundantly in summer, less in winter. The earth on top can dry up to 1/5 of the volume of the pot. To saturate the entire earthen clod, you need to water in several stages. Soil moisture should be medium. If the leaves of the ficus have fallen, this may indicate rotting of the roots. Humidity should be at least 50%. In summer, it is advisable to spray the ficus. Sometimes you can give the plant a warm shower. The earth in a pot must be covered with a film. So that the ficus does not freeze after bathing, it must dry out, then you can already transfer it to a permanent place.
Transfer
A young ficus needs to be replanted every year, after four years - less often, as the roots grow. The best time- spring or early summer. Transplanting is easier to do after abundant watering. The roots must be removed from the pot along with the earthy clod, removing only the top layer. The diameter of the new pot should be 3 cm larger than the old one. It is imperative to place drainage and some soil in it, then install the ficus roots. Sprinkle with fresh earth along the edges and on top, slightly compact. big ficus transplanting is difficult, you can limit yourself to replacing the top layer with fresh soil.
Reproduction by cuttings
In spring and summer, when the ficus is actively growing, you can get layering from it. To do this, cut off the tops of the shoots with two leaves and put in a container of water. You can dig cuttings with wet sand. Water needs to be changed sometimes. When the roots appear, plant the plant in a pot, covering it with a jar or film. After the appearance of a new leaflet, the shelter can be removed.
crown formation
The ficus itself is quite beautiful, but it needs pruning. It stimulates the development of axillary buds from which branches grow. The plant is getting bigger. Ficus Benjamin tolerates pruning well and takes any given shape. To disinfect the secateurs, it must be treated with alcohol or potassium permanganate. The central shoot cannot be cut more than 20 cm. At least five leaves should remain on it. Lateral branches can be shortened or removed completely if the crown is too dense. Lack of light can lead to leaf drop. Chopped charcoal is used for sprinkling slices. To get a bole, you need to remove all side branches, except for the top five. If the ficus is on the floor, the crown is formed at a height of about one meter. For a desktop trunk, shoots are left at a height of 40 cm.
A young ficus needs support, its trunk is very flexible. To form a beautiful composition, sometimes several plants are planted in one pot. Flexible trunks are gradually twisted or intertwined, giving them bizarre shapes. Trellis and supporting clamps need to be loosened as the stems grow.
Why does Benjamin's ficus shed its leaves?
The reason may be a lack of nutrition. The ficus has a rather capricious character, it is better to buy special fertilizer for it. The plant should be fertilized twice a month, in spring and summer, alternating mineral and organic substances. In winter, you do not need to fertilize, at this time the plant almost does not grow. Moreover, even for complementary foods, ficus can react with leaf fall. If you turn it or move it from its usual place, the leaves may also turn yellow and fall off. This happens especially often in winter.
Seeing that Benjamin's ficus sheds its leaves, its owner, of course, will be upset. After all, this plant is valued precisely for its lush crown. The leaves of different varieties of ficus are dark green, variegated or white, yellowish. Leaves with a clear pattern look especially elegant, for example, dark leaves with a wide white stripe along the edges. The shape of the leaves resembles a drop or a boat. Their surface is smooth, and the edge can be smooth or wavy. The leaves are up to 7 cm wide and up to 12 cm long.
Why are the leaves falling? Ficus Benjamin - evergreen. But each leaf lives no more than three years. That is why they die from time to time. It's worth worrying if Benjamin's ficus sheds leaves in in large numbers. It is rather difficult to comply with all conditions of detention, so any ficus sometimes turns out to be bare. There are many possible reasons.
The female scale insect sits motionless on the leaf, covering the laying of eggs. It secretes a sticky secret, on which fungus often develops. This causes even more damage to the plant. That's why Benjamin's ficus sheds its leaves. It is easy to remove the scale insect from the sheet, but it is not always possible to completely get rid of it. The wax shell protects this insect from the action of insecticides. It is better to wipe the leaves and stems with infusion of garlic or plain vodka. Then the top layer of soil should be removed, it may contain larvae. These procedures should be repeated several times a week.
If the leaves of Benjamin's ficus turn yellow, it may be affected by a spider mite. These are small arachnids up to 1 mm in length. Their presence on the leaves appears first as white or yellow dots and specks. Then the discolored and thinned areas increase in size, the entire leaf dies and falls off. The tick multiplies rapidly in warm and dry conditions. Therefore, the plant must be sprayed regularly. In case of damage by a spider mite, ficus should be treated with sulfuric or phosphorus preparations, not disregarding secluded places, for example, cracks in the windowsill. It is better to alternate medicines so that ticks do not develop resistance to them. The eggs remaining in the soil can remain viable for several years. It is not easy to remove a spider mite, so it is better to monitor the humidity of the air, and take action at the first signs of the disease.
Prevention of leaf fall
So, in order to avoid such a nuisance with Benjamin's ficus, the following conditions must be met:
- the plant must have a permanent place;
- it is necessary to maintain the optimum temperature, to observe sufficient air humidity;
- good drainage and moderate watering should be carried out.
Despite the capricious nature, Benjamin's ficus does not lose popularity, because it is able to decorate an exquisite winter Garden or greenhouse, as well as the interior of any room.
If the evergreen ficus Benjamin sheds leaves, what should the grower do? This plant is completely non-capricious and tenacious, it shows signs of malaise long before the "catastrophe" - the complete loss of foliage. How to properly care for him, read the article.
Falling leaves can be caused by natural causes - their aging. One leaf lives for about 3 years, then it falls off, and a new one grows in its place. If the plant is healthy, new leaves grow much more than fall off.
Another thing is if the ficus dropped 50 leaves in a day. This should alert, you need to look for the cause of the plant's malaise.
The main mistakes when leaving
Common care mistakes that can lead to leaf shedding and how to fix them:
- After rearranging the flower in worse conditions, where there is less light, the leaves began to fall off. The plant is placed on the brightest window or a backlight is arranged for it.
- A draft from an open window or hypothermia on a cold windowsill after evening watering causes the plant to shed its leaves in winter. The minimum temperature at which the ficus can survive is +12 ° C, it must be protected from cold air, and it is advisable to water it in the morning so that the root system does not overcool.
- The root rots from the overflow of the plant, and the leaves immediately begin to crumble. To prevent this from happening, in winter you can use watering through the pan 2 times a week. In the morning, water is poured into the pan for 40 minutes, if the flower “drank”, add more. Used for irrigation clean water room temperature.
There is a belief that Benjamin's ficus cannot be rotated. This is not true, for uniform growth of branches once every two weeks, the flower can and even needs to be rotated 45 or 90 degrees to the light source.
Diseases and pests of ficus Benjamin
With intense leaf fall, you need to carefully examine the ficus for pests. Perhaps a scale insect settled on the plant. The leaves will be covered with a sticky coating, begin to turn pale, dry out and crumble. Noticing insects, they are carefully removed with a cotton swab, and the plant is treated with an insecticide.
If the root system is rotten, the plant can also shed its leaves. An unpleasant, musty smell from the earth speaks of problems with the root. Ficus must be immediately transplanted into new soil by washing and treating the root with a fungicide.
Why ficus sheds leaves after transplanting
Ficus benjamina sometimes sheds a small amount of leaves after transplanting. This is natural, as the plant is under stress. It is especially difficult for him if the root system is damaged. Recovery may take 1.5-2 months. It is advisable not to abuse with watering and not to use fertilizers at this time.
It is undesirable to transplant indoor ficus in the fall, and even more so in winter, when its vital processes are slow, growth stops. In March or the end of February, the plant "wakes up" and moves to a fresh, fertile soil with great enthusiasm. If the place where the ficus stands is sunny and the soil is loose, with good drainage, new leaves quickly appear, and shoots begin to grow.
If you plant Benjamin's ficus in a pot that is much larger in volume than its root system, problems may begin a few months after transplantation. Moisture from the substrate surrounding the roots will not be absorbed, as it is necessary, the process of decay will begin.
The quality of the soil in which the plant is planted also plays an important role. It is undesirable that it be a simple peat, which absorbs moisture and retains it for a long time. The earth should be loose, well pass water and air. You can buy special soil for ficuses, and put a drainage layer of about 3 cm on the bottom of the planting tank.
After a transplant, it is advisable to water the problematic plant under the root with Epin, and spray Zircon over the leaf to smooth out the stress.
Leaves fall at different times of the year - why
In the cold season, the ficus deteriorates for one of three reasons - low humidity, cold and lack of light.
Ficus suffers during heating season in autumn and winter, from the dry air in the apartment, the plant needs a humidity of about 60%.
Due to low humidity, its leaves turn yellow, curl and fall off. You can spray the flower with water over the leaves 2 times a week or put a wet towel on the battery in the room.
In summer and spring, leaves can fall off with a lack of nutrition and pest damage. How to feed the plant, read on.
What to do if the plant still has fallen leaves
Ficus can lose all foliage, and be left with bare branches, if you do not follow the simple principles of caring for it at different times of the year.
The problem of the "naked" ficus is that it may not have enough strength to recover. Like all evergreens, it stores nutrients in the leaves, its trunk and branches serve as "conductive" vessels between the root and the crown. Therefore, noticing that the plant begins to drop foliage for unknown reasons, you must immediately sound the alarm.
If the ficus has completely flown around, you don’t need to throw it away right away, try to save it:
- remove the ficus from the ground, and inspect the roots, an unpleasant "musty" smell from them indicates a disease;
- under a warm shower, gently rinse off all the remnants of the soil;
- cut off rotted roots;
- put the plant for some time in water with activated charcoal and a drop of complex fertilizer (only roots should be in the water, the root collar and trunk should be in the air);
- change the water daily, while washing the roots under a warm shower;
- ficus should stand in clean, spring water at room temperature;
- do not add fertilizer daily, but 1 time in 7-10 days.
Such rehabilitation within a month will help the plant survive, especially if it has a few green leaves left. When white shoots of new roots appear on the ficus roots, it should be planted immediately in loose soil with good drainage.
The rules for caring for all varieties of ficuses are similar. These plants come from warm countries, they love warmth and plenty of light. For normal growth they need a good loose earth in a pot, spraying water over the leaves and monthly top dressing.
In winter, it is advisable not to fertilize the flower. From March to October, top dressing is necessary for the normal growth of ficus. Complex fertilizers are used for decorative leafy plants (the ratio of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus is 8:4:4), adding them to the water when watering 2 times a week. You can use organic-based preparations, for example, biohumus.
There are many symptoms of plant diseases: blackening or yellowing of the leaves, as well as their wilting, twisting and falling off, slowing down the growth of the flower, knotting or rotting of the roots, the appearance of plaque or spots on the leaves. Let's take a closer look at Ficus disease with a photo.
blackening
Why do Ficus leaves turn black around the edges? Most likely, the reason is improper care of the plant.
- The problem is the incorrectly selected solar or thermal regime.
What to do? You should pay attention to the location of the flower: it should not be in direct sunlight and in a hot, dry room.
- If the leaves suddenly turned black and fell off, The problem lies in the wrong watering. Most likely, the soil is waterlogged, that is, you water the flower too often or too abundantly. Despite the fact that the flower loves moisture, excessive watering will only harm it.
- If they constantly turn black, despite proper care, then the problem is most likely in the composition of the soil that is not suitable for the flower.
- If sometimes getting dark but they constantly wither, the problem is an excess of fertilizers. You should not feed a recently transplanted plant: the new soil contains enough substances necessary for growth.
It is also undesirable to fertilize Ficus in winter, since an excess of minerals in the ground with a lack of sunlight and heat leads to a weakening of the plant (read more about caring for ficus in winter).
IMPORTANT! It is better to put the flower on the north window so that it receives enough light, but at the same time the rays of the sun do not injure the flower.
REFERENCE! The soil for ficus should be slightly acidic or neutral, most often the so-called “leafy soil” is mixed in a pot (sold ready-made in flower shops) with peat and humus in a ratio of 2:1:1, it is possible to add a small amount of sand.
A diseased plant must be transplanted into a suitable soil substrate.
IMPORTANT! Excess fertilizer leads to salinization of the soil, which adversely affects the condition of the plant. Ficus should be fed every two months with a weak solution of a special fertilizer.
Yellowing
Yellow leaves are a common nuisance faced by Ficus owners. ATTENTION! You should not put a ficus pot next to a door, fan or air conditioner, as well as on a window if it blows. REFERENCE! The main element needed by the plant is nitrogen, in addition to it, phosphorus, potassium and calcium are included in mineral fertilizers. White dots on Ficus, what is it? Dry white dots on a plant that are easily erased from a leaf are called powdery mildew and are contagious for flowers by a fungal disease. White spots appear if the plant is standing in a room with stagnant air or if fungal spores have got into the damaged leaves. How to cure Ficus? The plant can be treated folk remedy- wiping with a solution of laundry soap or modern - spraying with a preparation containing copper salts. If white coating on Ficus look “fluffy”, then the reason for their appearance is mealybug infection of the plant. In this case, it is necessary to carefully treat the flower, removing plaque and pests and then washing it with warm water, and then spraying it with an active drug. ATTENTION! The Actellik solution must be made in strict accordance with the instructions, and the drug itself, due to its toxicity, must be kept away from children and pets. If Ficus has brown spots on the leaves, then the cause should be sought in excessive watering: most often such a lesion indicates rotting of the roots. If brown spots appear on the leaves of the flower, it is necessary to transplant the plant as soon as possible, cutting off the rotten roots. Large brown spots on the edges are a sign of an excess of minerals, in this case it is worth reconsidering the fertilization regimen of the plant: we remind you that you need to feed the flower only during the growing season (spring and summer) and with a frequency of once every two months. There are several possible causes why Ficus leaves fall: If Ficus dropped its leaves in autumn and winter - absolutely normal and natural phenomenon, you should only worry if they crumble during the growing season, that is, in spring and summer. Let's take a closer look at what to do in the video below: new land and cut off rotten roots.
white bloom
brown spots
What to do if Ficus leaves fall?
What to do in this case? It is recommended to allocate a permanent place for the flower and rearrange it as little as possible. Also, sudden changes in temperature and humidity should not be allowed. You should not put a flower in a draft.
Incorrect soil composition. You should buy special soil for ficuses or make your own soil mixture (the earth is mixed with sand, peat, humus, expanded clay is added for loosening).The effect of temperature on the plant
- If the plant is frozen, it is necessary to remove it from the draft (if it is standing on a ventilated window or under an air conditioner) and ensure a constant temperature of about 20 degrees.
A frozen flower should be sprinkled with settled water at room temperature and not watered until new shoots appear. After the plant comes to life, you can water and fertilize it as usual.
- If the plant is standing in a hot room with insufficient air humidity, then the tips of the leaves dry in Ficus, and they also begin to dry, curl and fly around, shoots may fall off.
If the flower is too dry, water it with settled water at room temperature, move it away from the battery and spray it with water every day.
Has the flower slowed down or stopped growing?
The reason should be sought in improper care (incorrect solar and temperature regime, excessive watering, lack of feeding). Fixing the care problem will bring your Ficus back to life. For prevention it is necessary
There are about eight hundred varieties of ficus, which can take the form of a tree, shrub or liana, can be evergreen or deciduous. In most often grown ficus Benjamin, creeping ficus, rubber-bearing, lyre-shaped and other species.
Most of them are unpretentious - these plants love well-lit places with diffused light, do not require frequent watering, tolerate low temperatures well in winter and even grow better in coolness, and love warmth in summer. Ficuses are intolerant of two situations: when they change their location or when they stand in a draft.
Ficus leaves live up to 2-3 years, then fall off, this natural process, new ones grow in place of fallen leaves, so a healthy plant always has a dense green crown.
If the ficus began to lose leaves faster and more abundantly, then you need to look for other causes of such a reaction and eliminate them.
Causes of falling leaves in ficus
One of the most common reasons ficus has a strong draft. These plants love calm air and respond to light breezes with yellowing and falling leaves. Find a suitable place for the ficus - with enough light and well protected from drafts. But remember that after a rearrangement, the plant gets used to a new place for a long time and reacts to the movement by dropping leaves in the same way. Ficuses are very susceptible to stress, and moving them from place to place can also cause leaves to fall. They react especially sharply if you put them in dark places.
A well-lit ficus quickly begins to be covered with new light green leaves.
Ficuses are unpretentious when it comes to watering, they can withstand prolonged drying out. But these plants do not react well to waterlogging, if they are watered often and plentifully, the leaves may also fall off. If this is the reason, then you need to take a break in watering for two weeks. If, as a result, the ficus continues to lose leaves, then this means that the roots have had time to rot - the flower needs to be transplanted by removing the rotten roots.
Despite the fact that ficuses do not tolerate too wet soil, they love humid indoor air - ideally about 75%. Dry air also leads to the dropping of leaves, so it is advisable to spray the plant more often.
Sometimes a ficus due to a lack of nutrients, in which case it is necessary to feed it with minerals and organic fertilizers twice a month in spring and summer. Also make sure that there are no pests on the plant, such as red spider mite, which causes the appearance of small white spots on the leaves and their fall.
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