What to do if the leaves fall off the poinsettia

poinsettia leaves fall

If at Christmas you bought a poinsettia, surely over the following weeks you have realized that this begins to lose its leaves, becomes wilted or even appears to be dying. Watching your poinsettia drop its leaves is not a pleasant thing, especially if you have a beautiful specimen.

But what could be the causes of this? Why it happens? We give you some keys that can explain what is happening.

Poinsettia: why the leaves fall

Poinsettia: why the leaves fall

Let's start from the basis that The Poinsettia is not an easy plant to care for. Contrary to what they can tell you, in reality we are talking about a difficult one and that, if it is not given the necessary care, it is lost very soon. In fact, once purchased, it may be common for you to find that the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off.

Now, we cannot tell you that the fall of the leaves is going to be the reason for a single cause. Actually you can there are several different reasons which are the ones that we are going to treat you next.

'Cause it's your "bed" time

In case you don't know, the poinsettia loses its leaves in february. Only if you keep it indoors and strictly meet its needs will you be able to keep it all year round. But the normal thing is that in February you start losing them.

In fact, many recommend that, on those dates, so that the plant hibernates correctly, without losing energy in those leaves, all the leaves and branches should be cut, leaving only the base.

Of course, after the cut it is good to add a little cinnamon as it will act as a healing agent and, in addition, it will help prevent parasites or fungi from entering that can kill it.

If done well, in September it could sprout again. And it is one plant that during the summer has nothing. It is in September when it shines again.

Stress in the poinsettia

Something common when you buy a poinsettia is that, when you take it home, suddenly the leaves begin to fall. You should not worry because it is something natural. It is one of the plants that suffers most from changes and this is expressed in the loss of leaves, especially the lower ones, which begin to turn yellow and end up falling off.

Now, this stress should not continue beyond a week or two; If it continues and the plant loses its upper leaves, then it may mean that there is some care that we are not carrying out correctly.

The plant experienced a drought

poinsettia care

One of the poinsettia care is irrigation. And in case you don't know, she is very "sybaritic" with this one. She doesn't like to run out of water; but don't drown it in this liquid either.

One of the reasons your plant may be losing leaves is because you have subjected it to a drought. And by drought we can understand leaving it one day without water.

Only with that your plant will lose quite a few leaves.

The solution is to water deeply, but keep in mind that this, although it may seem that it improves (the leaves return to a horizontal position and it looks more alive) is not going to exempt you from losing a few and that it no longer looks as pretty as before.

Your poinsettia is drowned

If before we talked to you about a drought, now we do it about the opposite situation, which has too much water. The reaction it will have is the same as if you have not watered it enough, which is why many make mistakes when it comes to giving it a solution.

But there is a key: the ground. If you see that it is soaked for too long, it means that you have overdone the watering. The problem is that the roots of the Poinsettia are very delicate and may have started to rot if you don't see it in time. And what does it mean? Well, unfortunately, there is nothing to do.

The poinsettia has been wrapped for a long time

Surely when they gave you your poinsettia, the wrapping was so pretty that you didn't want to take it off. But when you have done it you have found that a lot of leaves have fallen.

Know that it is normal. And it is that the Poinsettia does not like to be wrapped at all, especially because the plant itself gives off a toxic gas, ethylene, which spreads through the air outdoors, but if you have it wrapped up it is poisoning itself.

Your plant has been cold

Another reason why the leaves of the poinsettia drop is due to the cold. Within its care, maintaining a warm and constant temperature is essential for it to be healthy.

To give you an idea, If your plant is less than 10 degrees for a few minutes, that causes you to notice how the leaves fall off in the following days. The solution is that, when you buy it, or you are going to move it, protect it as best as possible, even putting it in the car you must have heated the interior first.

motifs fall leaves poinsettia

The environment is too dry

In general, a poinsettia can survive dry air well. But up to a point. And it is that if that dryness is high, then it begins to suffer and cause the poinsettia to drop its leaves.

A warning that it gives you is that you see that the soil dries out too soon (after 2-3 days). If that happens, we recommend that you put a humidifier on it or place it on a plate with pebbles and water so that they generate the humidity it needs.

It's really hot

To give you an idea, a poinsettia lives "well" between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius. But if it gets too hot, as well as too cold, it will start to lose its leaves.

That is why it is so important to give it a constant temperature.

has no light

Another problem that can end up with the loss of leaves in the poinsettia is that it does not receive light. If your plant is always in the shade, or even in partial shade, it will eventually lose the leaves it has.

It needs a very bright site with several hours of sunlight.

Now you know what to do if your poinsettia drops its leaves. Has it ever happened to you? Did you manage to recover it?


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