How to prevent unseasonal leaf shedding in indoor plants

Quick tips for keeping a check upon unseasonal leaf shedding in indoor plants

1. You can just search a bit on google and first know about the shedding habits of your plant
2. check for any insect growth like mealybugs, ants or whiteflies
3. See to that you are not giving your plant very hot or very cold water
4. See that your plant is getting sufficient amount of sunlight
5. Don't over or under water your indoor plants

• Seasonal leaf shedding
• What is unseasonal leaf shedding
• Causes and cures of unseasonal leaf shedding

Seasonal Shedding :

                    Seasonal shedding is when your indoor plant sheds its leaves in a particular season. Though most of the plants like shedding their leaves in the autumn and some may even shed in late winters and that is just normal. But the problem arises when your plant sheds its leaves in a time period when it is not known to be shedding its leaves. But before moving into it, it is important to understand what seasonal / normal shedding is.

Why plants shed their leaves : Shedding their leaves is a periodic process in any plant's life cycle. While most of the plants have their leaves shed in the autumn, there are a few plants which don't practice this. So leaf shedding is natural process and its based on the environment and the climate in which the plant thrives.

Leaf Shedding

Protection from cold weather : According to Britannica, plants in the colder regions shed their leaves in autumn just before the winter arrives so that the plant can protect its leaves and further the stems from severe frosts and fracturing. Plant fractures is of coarse something the plants needs to avoid and it does so by shedding off its leaves.

Throwing out the waste material : On the other hand there are some plants which store the waste products produced in their leaves, and hence they need to shed off the leaves. Such plants are observed to shed their leaves multiple times in a year. For instance if you are planting nuts tree or have one nearby, you may have observed that the leaves are shed twice a year and I myself have observed this.

Extreme dry conditions : Whereas in areas with unfavorable climates, plants shed off their leaves so that they can conserve most of their energy and use it in the upcoming unfavorable conditions. For instance, if you see a plant with leaves in a dessert, you will see that the plant won't be full of leaves, instead, the plant would have very few leaves and shed its leaves quite often. This is because the plant needs to focus its growth in the roots to get more water and thus sheds its leaves to help focus more on the growth of its roots.

Regular Shedding : Leaf Shedding is not always a seasonal activity, a protective measure for cold temperatures, or for sustaining unfavorable climate. Sometimes plants do shed away some leaves for particular reasons. The difference is in the number leaves shed. in such cases, plants may shed off about 2 - 3 or sometimes even 4 - 5 leaves in a day. But that's normal for any plant if it is producing new leaves in good numbers. This means it is just getting rid of its old leaves.

What is unseasonal leaf shedding :

                    Unseasonal leaf shedding is when your plant sheds its leaves abruptly without any reason and that too in bigger numbers. As mentioned above, losing about 2 to 3 leaves in every few days is normal when your plant is growing new leaves at a much higher rate.

                    Unseasonal Leaf shedding can have may causes behind it and is a clear indication that there is something wrong with your plant. unseasonal leaf shedding can be cured if you can correctly identify the reason behind the abrupt leaf fall. Of course, if you don't take corrective measures in time, the plant will react to that problem. The only thing is that the plant reacting to the problem may take a bit of a while and until then your plant would have gone through much damage. So its always helpful to find out the correct cause for the leaf fall and take preventive measures yourself.

                   

Causes and Cures for unseasonal leaf shedding :

                    There can be various causes behind unseasonal leaf shedding. Below I have listed some of the top reasons behind unseasonal leaf shedding which I have observed in my plants and the cures for the same. The cures given below are that ones I have tried myself and have achieved success in regaining the growth of my plant.

• Pests
• Over or Under watering
• Thermal shocks
• Lack of sunlight

Pests : Pests can be huge problem in your garden. In fact some of the pests can force your plant to shed its leaves as too save its life.

Pests :-

1. ants
2. whiteflies
3. mealybugs

1. Ants : Ants are not directly responsible for unseasonal leaf shedding in your indoor plants. As I have observed in my indoor plants [ mainly holy basil ] that these ants will start to come into the indoor plants during or a few weeks before monsoons. I have a complete article on how to care for your plants during monsoons. So if interested then check it out by clicking here.

                   So these ants have 2 main reason for pilling on your indoor plants, these are shelter and breeding. Ants need good shelter for surviving monsoons, if your plant is planted in the ground then your plant will get use to these mild pests like ants and also learn to co exist them. But it is not the same in indoor plants. While the next reason ants pile up on your plants is for breeding, this actually is the cause behind unseasonal leaf shedding by ants

cure : You can just take a mild organic shampoo and add very little of it to a spray bottle. Then add at least a litre or so water to make the solution. Then spray this solution on your plants. Do take care that you spray the solution thoroughly and only on the leafs. Also spray at night and wash the solution off with clean water the next day before your plant starts getting good amount of sunlight. ie:- before about 8 am.

                    If you fear that the shampoo solution may hurt your plant then you can opt for mixing a pinch of black pepper powder in about have a liter of water and spray it on your plant leaves.Similar to the above option, you will have to do the spraying work at the night and wash out the solution early in the morning.

    Sorry if the ant/ants are not visible clearly. I cropped it from another picture of my holy basil plant.

Whiteflies : Whiteflies are small white colored insects which turn in small flocks and mainly come to your plants for breeding. At start they will come in numbers less than 10 but then they start breeding and growing like wildfire. These insects suck the sap from you plants and force your plant to shed majority of its leaves so that it can resist those insects.

Cure : You can use the natural repellents available in nursery shops or you can just take a few leaves of a Neem tree soak them in water for few hours and then just separate the water and make it luke warm. afterwards you can spray that water solution o your plants.

                    The second cure is lime water. You can just fill your spray bottle with water and add a pinch of lime into it and mix thoroughly and then spray on your plant. Also do remember to check underneath the leaves cause that's where these insects stay. And as mentioned above, try doing this at night, if you wish then its fine if you don't clean the plant with clean water the next day.

Mealybugs : Mealybugs are small weird looking insects which may tend to grow on your indoor plants.These insects too are the ones who suck the sap out of your plant. It has also been observed that sometimes the infected plants turn blackish and may shed tier leaves.

Cure : Mealybugs are comparatively easy to handle then  whiteflies, but this only applies when they are alone. Many times indoor plants are infected with mealybugs and ants together and this combo is very difficult to deal with. Ants provide the mealybugs with protection in return of food from the mealybugs. This way they are really disastrous for pants.

                     For curing these pests from indoor plants, you can try the cures for ants given above and try them first. After the ants are gone, the mealybugs are left with no protection and then it may be easy to deal with them. You can just make the use of the organic pesticides available in the nursery shops near you. They work really well against mealybugs. Chemical pesticides are not recommended as it may hurt your indoor plant as a side effect.

Over and Under watering:

over watering and under watering are the 2 of the main reasons plant die. Unseasonal and sudden leaf shedding is a type of a signature symptom for the death of your plant because of over or under watering. If you are having you plants planted in the ground then over and under watering may not be a problem, the reason is that all the water that you give your plant finally reaches the water bed and does not pile near your plant. This way the roots get some water and need to grow for accessing more water.

                    But on the other hand if you are having your plants potted in pots in your home, then over and under watering may be a serious problem which may cause your plant to die. There is a very minute difference between over and under watering your plant. It will neither bother your plant if you water it a bit more in once in a while nor if you forget to water it for a day. However this may result into some unusual activities in your plant if continued for a long time. Unseasonal leaf shedding is a an example of such unusual activities which many times indicates under or over watering.

under watering : Under watering is when you water your plant too little. As I mentioned above, if you just forgot to water it a day, it will not bother your plant at all. But if you make this a continuous practice, then your plant may start to die. When your plant doesn't get enough water then it is not able to make its food. It doesn't get enough water but still receives the same amount of sunlight and other resources, this may lead to your plant leaves wilting/crumpling.

cure: You should immediately water your plant if you notice anything like wilting. When you water it, it will have all the constituents to make food for itself and you will see your plant's health restoring to normal in a few hours. But however if you don't water your plant then it may start to dry off, shed its leaves and finally die.

You may also notice such cracks in your soil.
Disclaimer : My plant was pulled away by birds and didn't die due to under watering

Over watering : Over watering is actually the situation many people don't realize. The possibility of under watering is comparably low because you will not purposely not water your plant for many days [ except if you are out for a long vacation ]. So even though under watering is a major factor behind unseasonal leaf shedding and further dying, over watering is even more serious.

                    Many planters don't realize that they have been watering their indoor plant a bit too much. In such situations, if the soil is not well draining then that water will stay for long time in the pot resulting into damage to the root of your plant. Also over watering will keep the whole soil a bit too moist providing the perfect environment for some pests to live and replicate.

cure : Unseasonal and sudden leaf shedding is a strong point showing that you are ever or under watering your plant. If you are over watering it then you can consider not to water it for a day or two. This way you will give the plant roots enough time to soak the water in instead of adding more and more water continuously. You can also do a finger test to determine if you need to water the plant. Just the video mentioned below.

If the soil doesn't stick to finger then water it. If it does then do not water

But however the weather and water needs of the plant change from time to time. In different weather, your plant's water requirements are different. I have written a complete article on how to care for your plant during monsoons. You can check it out by clicking here.

Thermal shocks : Thermal shocks are when your plant experiences a sudden change in temperature. This may happen because of change in seasons resulting into change in temperature. Though this change is very gradual and may not affect your plant unless you live in some extreme area where the weather conditions change quite frequently. For eg : London.

                    This may also happen if you give ice cold or very hot water to your plant. The plant is not able to handle such a sudden thermal shock and may shed its leaves as a side effect. Though giving luke warm water to your plant is fine once in a while but you should keep the check that your don't give your plant very hot water or very cold water. If you do so then it may have adverse effects on your plant roots. Also if you also spray this hot or cold water on the plant leaf, then it may damage them too.

Lack of sunlight : Similar to conditions like under and over watering where the plant may die because of too much or too less of water, you indoor plant may also shed its leaves as a sign of dying if it doesn't get enough sunlight. Plants make their food from sunlight and water. This process is called as photosynthesis. So if your plant does not get enough sun light then it may start abruptly losing its leaves.

                   Also if you keep the plant in sun  for more time than required then that may also lead to drying off and if occurred repeatedly then it may also lead the plant shed its leaves.

So that's all for today's post. These are all the causes for unseasonal leaf shedding that I have observed in my plants. If you have any other reason then do share it in the comments section below and I will immediately update the post.