Money tree - what to do if leaves fall?
Problems in the development, growth of a houseplant are often associated with the fact that the wrong care is organized for it. Leaves signal problems. They begin to turn yellow, wither, fall off. This condition of the flower may be related to the temperature and humidity in the room. Even such an unpretentious tree as a money tree, or a fat woman, with a careless attitude towards it, can shed its foliage.
Have money tree a lot of advantages - it easily tolerates adverse conditions: drought and poor lighting. Often it is brought into the house in order to improve, strengthen the material condition. This legend is trusted, therefore the popular name of the fat woman is associated with money. But even the most unpretentious plant has problems. And when the leaves begin to fly around the tree, it is immediately clear that the situation needs to be urgently corrected. And this requires knowledge about the life and development of plants of this species.
Content:
- Biological structural features of the fat woman
- Leaves fall off the money tree: the reason is improper care
- Useful tips: how to properly care for a plant
- The leaves of the fat woman fall - the result of illness, pest attacks
- Preventive and therapeutic measures to eliminate diseases, pests
Biological structural features of the fat woman
A feature of succulents, which include Money Tree, or Crassula, or Crassula, is their high ability to survive in drought conditions. No wonder their homeland is the southern part of the African continent with a hot sun and barren dry soils. Such an existence taught the fat woman to accumulate, collect moisture in the leaves. Therefore, they are plump, fleshy. And the moisture evaporates slowly due to the small diameter of the sheet plate.
In addition, the arrangement of oval leaves allows some of them to be in the shadow of others. They are assembled into sockets, which allows moisture to condense at their base. The thick skin of the leaves, together with a waxy coating, also protects the money tree from drying out.
The process of photosynthesis in Crassula is also different from that of ordinary plants.
The stomata, open at night, store carbon dioxide in the form of malic acid, which is consumed in photosynthesis during the day. The trunk of the money tree is partially or completely lignified with small growths. This helps to retain the nutrients and moisture inside it.
After six to eight years of life, subject to the rules for growing a fat woman, small flowers are formed, pale pink or white stars of which emit a faint aroma.
The unusual structure of the money tree contributes to its spread among succulent lovers.
The money tree leaves fall: the reason is improper care
A rare occurrence for a fat woman is when leaves begin to fall off the tree. And the reason for the process may be careless plant care:
- Drying of succulent leaves is associated with improperly organized watering.Some believe that if Crassula is home to the arid lands of Africa, then it should be watered extremely rarely. With the complete drying of the soil in the pot, the money tree leaves lose their elasticity, become thinner and fall off. But excessive moisture, stagnation of water in the soil leads to decay of the roots, shedding of foliage.
- Excessive ultraviolet radiation is dangerous for succulent leaves. Crassula becomes covered with light spots, indicating burns. Leaves become lethargic, fall off.
- The shedding of foliage by the money tree can also be associated with an excess of fertilizer. Excess mineral salts and trace elements are especially dangerous.
- Excessively low temperatures in the room can lead to the exposure of the stalks of the bastard.
- It is not worth watering a southern plant with cold water, otherwise it will lose its juicy dark green decoration.
Knowing the rules of caring for a money tree is an important point in growing a succulent.
Useful tips: how to properly care for a plant
To create comfortable conditions for the growth of Crassula means to promote the stability of the appearance of the tree:
- The illumination of the place plays an important role in the development of the plant. In any case, the window sill on which the pot with the fat woman is located should be well lit. If there is not enough light in winter, fluorescent lamps will solve the problem. But the plant does not withstand direct sunlight.
- The following requirement for indoor temperatures: during the growing season - no more than 25 or 27 degrees Celsius, in winter fifteen above zero is enough.
- Succulent is watered no more than once or twice a week. When the top layer of the soil dries up more often. In winter, the amount of watering is reduced, but not brought until the soil in the pot is completely dry.
- Spraying the money tree is not required, but it is better to monitor the purity of the leaves by regularly wiping them with a damp cloth.
- From dressings, mixtures for succulents are used, introducing them during the growing season once every two weeks, alternating organic with mineral complexes. During dormancy, the plant does not need fertilizer.
- An important role is played by the soil for the money tree. It should be light, loose, nutritious with an obligatory drainage layer. If the substrate is prepared on its own, then take an equal amount of leafy, soddy soil and sand.
- The fat woman is transplanted if necessary, with the aging of the plant. You can see an aged tree if it loses its foliage, despite the creation of comfortable conditions for Crassula.
The leaves of the fat woman fall - the result of illness, pest attacks
Although the money tree is rarely exposed to diseases, pathogenic organisms - fungi - penetrate into the leaves and roots of the plant with excessive humidity of the air, soil, high temperatures. They cause damage to vital parts of the money tree. At the same time, they become covered with rot. Depending on the type of parasite, it can be gray rot, root.
Getting sick, the money tree begins to wither, its leaves dry and fall off. Bacterial lesions begin when the tree withers, its leaves turn brown and fall off. It is difficult to cope with pathogenic bacteria - you will have to part with your green pet. And fungal pathologies are amenable to both treatment and prevention.
Among the pests, mealybugs cause the pathological condition of the indoor succulent.
Having got on the leaves of the bastard, they are in constant search of young tissues of the green organism. Massively spreading along the flower, they lead to baldness of the crown of the money tree, and then to its death. Typical signs of an attack on crassula by a spider mite are the appearance of light spots on the leaves, entanglement of the affected areas with cobwebs. Rosettes of leaves covered with scabs begin to fade and fall off. The insect can cause irreparable harm to the succulent, as it sucks out all the juices from it.Moreover, during the growing season, the spider mite displays several generations of the parasite.
The scabbard is easily recognizable by its wax carapace. Despite their small size, the pests, feeding on the sap of the leaves, contribute to their death. The money tree looks naked, ugly and sick after the invasion of the scale insect. The female of the parasite lays a large number of eggs per season. Without the destruction of the parasite, Crassula will die. If the green pet does not have enough attention, then it begins to wither, its immunity decreases. Then diseases and pests can damage not only the leaves of the plant, but also destroy it completely.
Preventive and therapeutic measures to eliminate diseases, pests
To prevent diseases of the money tree, conditions are created for him that will not allow pathogenic fungi to develop. The humidity in the room should not be higher than 60 percent, the air temperature - below thirty degrees. Watering should be done as the topsoil dries out in the pot.
Whey is a good remedy to protect the leaves from fungal mycelium. One part of it is dissolved in two parts of water and the leaves are wiped with this liquid. In this case, the plant will receive excellent foliar feeding.
To destroy the rot that has taken possession of the succulent, spraying with the fungicide Previkur will help.
If a root lesion is found, the plant must be transplanted into another pot with rinsing and disinfection of the root. During the procedure, weeping parts are cut off.
You need to fight pests using proven methods:
- The shield is washed off by treating the leaves with soapy water or destroyed with an insecticidal agent such as Aktara.
- To combat the spider mite, the leaves affected by it are removed from the plant, and the crassula is washed under the shower. After drying the tree, the fat woman is disinfected with Actellik.
- When attacked by a mealybug, the plant is treated with insect repellents three times, and then transplanted into a new pot, replacing the soil.
Taking care of the succulent will cheer up not only the flower, but will bring joy and prosperity to the house.
More information can be found in the video:
I had a money tree for a very long time, but it never bloomed. There was one omission on my part, I did not transplant the old plant and it gradually disappeared, the leaves wilted. She broke off a process from it and planted it already. But for some reason he froze and does not grow. Stands in one place, does not disappear, has released a couple of leaves but does not want to grow. I cannot understand the reason.
My money tree began to crumble after moving to another apartment, obviously the air here is drier and there is more light. I immediately rooted a few more shoots in case the plant died. It's a pity, of course, the flower was very large.