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With the arrival of Christmas, it is common to see those pretty red-hot bract plants that bloom around this time. Indeed, we are talking about the poinsettia, Poinsettia, poinsettia, Christmas plant, Christmas flower, Christmas plant, Christmas flower, Christmas Eve plant, federal star or Euphorbia pulcherrima, the undisputed queen of this time of year.
However, poinsettia is a difficult flower to care for in some respects, which is why many people think it is a seasonal plant when, in fact, we can make it outlive its bloom for several years with proper care. For example, a common symptom that the plant is not well is seeing it with limp leaves. If you have a poinsettia with withered leaves or that seems to be having a hard time, this Green Ecologist guide is for you. Join us, and learn why the poinsettia is with withered leaves and what to do to be able to retrieve it.
Why does my poinsettia have fallen or withered leaves
There are several reasons why a Christmas flower can show drooping or limp leaves. These are the possible reasons that answer your question about why my Christmas plant has fallen leaves:
- The first of them is the most obvious and natural, this plant loses flowers and leaves after flowering, which tends to occur around February in the Northern Hemisphere. If you see that your poinsettia loses its leaves at this time, don't worry: it is its natural cycle. It will need proper care and pruning to be able to recover well in the next season, but nothing happens that you have to worry about.
- A poinsettia with flabby leaves it can get like this because your location is not correct and is too exposed to drafts. These plants tend to do better indoors because they do not tolerate exposure to gusts of wind or continuous currents, which overdry them.
- A sick poinsettia It may also be due to the fact that it is in a area with insufficient light or with an environment that is too dry for her. In fact, it is very common for these plants to have a hard time and dry out because we put them at home, in rooms where they are close to heat sources such as heating. The sources of heat sources at home are very harmful to them and we must always avoid having them near them.
- Another possibility is that the Christmas plant has the fallen and soft leaves due to excess water, which can be caused by watering the plant too often and with a lot of water and / or because it does not have good drainage. You will also notice that the substrate never or almost never dries, that between watering and watering the soil is actually still wet. You have to look more than the surface of the substrate, so it is recommended to sink your finger or a wooden stick a few centimeters to check the degree of humidity of the soil.
- Finally, another reason why you can have a poinsettia with the limp leaves, which can then wrinkle or dry out, it is because the plant is in a room with fumes or dirty air, to which the plant is also sensitive.
What to do if my poinsettia has fallen leaves
Depending on what is the cause of the diseases of the poinsettia or its discomfort, the measures to be taken will be different. Here are some tips on what to do if the poinsettia has limp leaves:
- When we want to know how to recover a poinsettia flower with fallen leaves due to excess dryness in the environment, such as that which will usually occur in homes that have the heating on for many hours, we must try to rehydrate the plant. For this, the first thing will be to remove it from drafts, possible areas with smoke and artificial sources of heat, as they dry out the environment, as much as possible. Then, help yourself with a water spray or atomizer, and lightly pulverize its green leaves, but never the red bracts, which should not get wet. This will bring some moisture to the plant to recover. You can repeat the process every 24 or 48 hours, always without flooding them or having them constantly wet.
- Another case is that of the Poinsettia withered from excess water. The poinsettia needs a substrate with the best possible drainage, as well as a pot with holes that removes excess water. If your pot does not meet these requirements or you have watered it too much, it will accumulate excess moisture that can kill the plant. Remember that the Christmas flower must be watered from a plate under the pot, the technique of immersion irrigation, which you should leave for about 15-20 minutes and then remove it, this way you will avoid that the aerial part of the plant accumulates a humidity that does not suit it. Here we tell you how often and how to water the poinsettia. If you see that the poinsettia is drowned because it has fallen leaves and soaked earth, you will have to transplant the Christmas plant to change the substrate, removing the one that is flooded and using a new one. Place the plant in a new pot with good drainage and with more new substrate and do not water it until after a few days if you see that it has already recovered from the excess water. In this other article we tell you in detail How to transplant the poinsettia.
- You may find yourself in front of a plant that looks very bad or that seems already dead, but is actually still alive and with a chance of being saved. In very serious cases, it will be necessary to apply a very aggressive pruning, leaving only a third of the stems of the plant, leaving a knot in each one, and apply healing paste on the cuts. The latter is very important to avoid diseases to the plant and, in addition, you can make yours at home with very little effort and in a totally ecological and very economical way. In addition, it is also necessary to thoroughly disinfect the pruning tool before using it, and make sure that it is properly sharpened. In this other post we talk about when and how to pose the poinsettia.
Poinsettia care
Here we explain the basic care of the poinsettia:
- Watering the poinsettia: every 72 hours approximately, when the substrate dries and from the plate.
- Location: protected from wind currents and heat sources.
- Light: Put it near a sunny window, watch out for the magnifying glass effect, especially when watering.
- Pass: twice a year, in autumn and spring.
- Pruning and transplantation: in February, every year.
In this other post we talk more about Caring for the Poinsettia and also about How to make the Poinsettia turn red.
If you want to read more articles similar to Poinsettia with withered leaves: why and what to do, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.
