We know why variability on adenium leaves disappears, as well as on other flower problems
At home, an unpretentious adenium can be affected by diseases for which it does not have immunity.
The main task in this case becomes the most accurate determination of the cause of the disease and the adoption of measures to restore the health of the plant.
You will learn about the causes of problems and diseases of the plant, about their treatment; read about pests, and you will also become aware of how they look in the photo.
Foliage problems
Dries
For an adult plant, even in very good shape, this is normal. The trunk, as it grows, is freed from excess leaves, they dry and die. If the leaves are very dry, the cause may be unbalanced soil.
Attention! A common mistake is to add coconut fiber to the soil mixture yourself.Often this fiber is of poor quality and enriched with sea salts. Exactly an overabundance of minerals in the soil causes adenium's health problems. The solution in this case will be a transplant of the plant into a newly purchased balanced soil manufactured in the factory.
The tips of the leaves fade
Why do the tips of the leaves dry? A similar problem affects almost all young adeniums in the offseason. The tips of the lower leaves dry while new foliage appears on the top of the head. So the plant reacts to changes in temperature conditions. In this situation, it is recommended to increase the temperature of the content.
Turns yellow
Why do leaves turn yellow? There can be two reasons for this phenomenon:
- If the bulk of the leaves turned yellow and there were almost no green leaves, while healthy leaves began to fade, and the caudex lost weight, then the adenium freezes. This problem is solved by simply moving the plant to a warm and bright place.
- If part of the leaves is yellowed, this may indicate a sharp decrease in the light received by the plant. More often this happens in the fall. If such symptoms are noticed, watering should be reduced. It is best to moisten the substrate in the morning as the caudex becomes soft.
Falls off
It happens that the adenium does not bloom and discards the leaves. If this happens in the fall and the number of dried and fallen leaves is small, then for adenium this is the norm. If this happens before the beginning of the dormant period, there can be several reasons for the discharge of leaves:
- The planted in unsuitable soil. The problem of transplantation is being solved.
- Incorrect pruning of the plant. When cutting, you need to focus on the dimensions of the caudex. The procedure is permissible only if it is wide enough (how to properly form the caudex in adenium and what to do if it dries and fades, you can read in this article, but here we talked about how and when to cut off the adenium at home) .
- The plant may lack moisture. The solution will be the competent adjustment of irrigation.
- Foliage may fall if the adenium was abruptly transferred from a warm room to a cold room or if it stood for a while in a draft.
It disappears variability
Why does variability on leaves disappear? If the adenium begins to grow completely green leaves, there may be four reasons:
- Lack of lighting.
- General weakening of the plant.
- Excess nitrogen fertilizing.
- Degeneration (return from mutation to the original form).
For the first three reasons, it is enough to adjust the care. In the case of the last problem, nothing can be changed. The mutation process may, on the contrary, intensify and the plant begins to grow exclusively with white leaves. This is dangerous for the flower and can lead to its death. But the appearance of just a few white leaves should not be a concern. Normally, this happens after pruning or in the spring-summer period. By autumn, the leaves will turn green.
Round spots
The reason for this type of adenium disease lies in high humidity. The disease is fungal and after the leaves it attacks the plant's caudex. The solution will be preventive treatment with fungicides twice a season.
Burns
If brown spots appear on the plant, these are sunburns. Despite the fact that the birthplace of Adenium is a desert, you need to gradually accustom it to the bright sun. If a burn is received, then it will go off slowly and will disappear only after leaf renewal.
If the humidity of the soil and air is very high, adenium can get a bacterial burn. Outwardly, it is very similar to the sun, but the methods of struggle are to collect the affected leaves, treat with an antiseptic and improve the soil.
Soil improvement refers to its treatment with special bactericidal agents.
Pests
Mealybug
Insect living in leaf sinuses. It affects young shoots, foliage and buds. Signs of defeat are:
- White, waxy, cotton-like coating.
- Sugar discharge in case of prolonged illness.
Adenium stops growing and begins to experience flowering problems. Severe damage leads to death.
Methods of struggle:
- If the disease is in the initial stage, the plant can be treated with a soapy solution, cleaning off the worms and their excretion. In the future, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatments with a mild soap or alcohol solution.
- Spray the plants with special preparations in accordance with the instructions. Repeat treatment weekly.
Bed bugs
Sucking insects that appear on pods with adenium seeds and seriously damage them. It helps in this case, the processing of special drugs. Mustard solution may also help. Dissolve 100 grams of dry powder in ten liters and spray the plant damaged by pests every three days.
Caterpillars
May appear on the adenium due to transfer from other plants. This often happens when keeping the flower outdoors in the summer.
Small caterpillars or their larvae are light green in color and often poorly distinguishable from the foliage of the plant. The insect eats holes in the leaves, the growth of adenium slows down.
As a control measure, it is necessary to manually collect all the caterpillars from the flower and destroy, and treat the strongly affected areas with insecticides.
Aphid
A sign of damage is twisted leaves. When this symptom occurs, you should examine the back of the leaves. Aphids are very clearly visible. Her larvae look like insects of gray-green color.
Destroyed easily. It is enough to carry out one treatment with any specialized drug.
Coccids
Generic name for scale insects, false shields, and worms. Sucking insects damaging leaves and shoots of a plant. Coccids emit thick, sticky substances coated with black, soot deposits. It is better to fight them at the stage of larvae.
Adult insects are covered with "shields" and are more resistant to various kinds of drugs. Most often, adenium suffers from a root worm, since the pest prefers dry, breathable soils.
Reference! The root worm feeds on juice from the roots, injecting into them a substance that negatively affects the plant. At the affected adenium, the leaves fade, and the roots become covered with white coating.The following measures can save the flower:
- Soil treatment with special preparations (Dantop, Mospilian, Aktara). The most effective method, since the larvae of the worm are covered with an impenetrable cocoon, which only chemicals can destroy.
- Root hot bath:
- Place the adenium in hot (+55 degrees) water and hold for 15-20 minutes. Then dry for 20 hours.
- Remove the flower from the pot with an earthen lump.
- Peel the roots off the ground and rinse thoroughly.
- Cut off all affected areas of the root system.
- Rinse the roots with an insecticide.
- Plant in a new pot and fresh substrate.
Photo
And so the pests look in the photo:
Diseases and other problems
Flower does not grow
Why does the flower not grow and what to do about it? Most often this happens in low light during dormancy. You can fix the problem by adjusting the care:
- organize a plant long daylight hours - 12-14 hours;
- eliminate the absence of drafts;
- maintain soil friability;
- Adenium pot should not be too spacious.
Why drops buds?
This leads to stress (most often cooling), associated with changes in conditions during the budding process.
Maximum care should be taken for the plant during the set of buds.
We talked about how to make adenium bloom at home, in this material.
Rotting
Decay of adenium is promoted by low temperature and high humidity. The top of the plant begins to dry and the leaves fall. For prevention, watering should be limited in winter and in cloudy weather.
What to do if the flower is rotten? The following steps will help get rid of rot:
- It is necessary to assess the scale of the lesion. For this, the plant is removed from the pot, the roots are washed.
- All diseased tissue should be trimmed. It is very important to remove rotten tissue completely, even small black dots. The darkening of the cut should not frighten - it's just the oxidation of the juice.
- Coat the roots with gruel from antibiotics and leave to dry. Better in a well-lit place. Drying time depends on the size of the slice. A large cut will require at least ten days.
- After complete drying, adenium is planted in a dry substrate along with a tablet of glyocladin at the roots.
Branches dry out
Due to the slow movement of the juice. Having discovered a similar phenomenon on adenium, the main thing is not to cut off the dried areas - this will not help. A treatment option will be the complete smearing of the plant with tetracycline gruel with foundationazole and irrigation with stimulants. Adenium should be in the bright sun.
Healthy adenium pleases the eye with abundant flowering, bright foliage and a strong trunk. Even with minimal care, this flower reacts with gratitude, retaining an excellent decorative look year-round.
Compliance with simple recommendations will allow owners of this outstanding plant to be proud of the results of their efforts.