Image – Wikimedia/Fernando Losada Rodríguez
Although magnolia or magnolia is a widely cultivated type of plant, doubts sometimes arise as to why its leaves fall off. You may see it well one day, and the next day it will begin to lose its foliage, at first little by little, then more and more quickly as its situation worsens.
Leaf drop can be quite a serious problem if it is caused by an external factor that the plant cannot cope with. So let’s see why magnolia leaves are falling and what we must do to avoid losing it.
There are several reasons why the magnolia may lose all of its leaves and/or only a few. Sometimes, as we said, this will be due to one (or more) conditions that exist where it is, such as:
- Weather too hot or too cold. For example, if it is very hot in the summer, with temperatures above 35°C, most magnolias struggle.
- The soil remains dry or very wet for a long time. These plants do not tolerate drought or waterlogging.
- Air humidity (or ambient humidity) is low or very low. When it is below 50% every day and several days a week in a row, the leaves become dehydrated.
- The wind blows almost constantly. Although the air humidity is high, if the wind is very strong it also dries the leaves; and if it is low, then the life of the magnolia will be in serious danger, because it will dehydrate very quickly.
- Lack of availability of certain soil nutrients (i.e. they can be there, but “locked”, inaccessible to the roots).
On another side, we see that the leaves are falling for no apparent reason. The magnolia is fine, healthy. So why is it losing leaves? The answer is: because their life is over. And it is that, although our tree is always green, like the magnolia grandiflora for example, this does not mean that it does not renew its leaves. It will be, little by little and throughout the year.
The case of deciduous magnolias (which are mostly of Asian origin, like the magnolia stellata), they are left leafless in autumn or winter, depending on when and how much the temperatures drop in the area, and renew them in the spring.
Now, let’s dig deeper into each cause:
Contents
Weather too hot or too cold
What is the right climate for magnolia? Well, a temperate, without having extreme temperatures. In reality, the ideal temperature range for this is around -7°C minimum and 30°C maximum.
Although it supports moderate frosts down to -18°C, if it is an evergreen tree, it will prefer occasional frosts; that’s to say, it is more important for him that during the winter the temperatures remain low (above 10 and 0ºC) that there are many consecutive frosts. Only hardwoods will need, yes or no, frosts to be recorded several times throughout the winter season.
If we talk about high temperatures, the magnolia grandiflora it will withstand a heat wave with a maximum of 38ºC if it is in the shade; but one magnolia liliflora for example, with such a high value, it might run out of leaves.
What to do? Well, you can’t regulate the weather, but we can take steps to improve the magnolia, for example, protect it from the sun by putting it in the shade, or indoors if you are interested, in addition, that the frost does not hurt it (This is especially interesting if the plant is very young, as it is more vulnerable).
The soil remains dry or very wet for a long time
As we said before, no magnolia tolerates neither drought nor permanent “wet feet”. For it, the soil where they will grow should be light, fertile (i.e. rich in organic matter) and spongy to the touch. When this is not the case, the leaves will fall either because the roots are almost always dry, or on the contrary, that is, because the soil remains moist for a long time.
What to do? Well, if possible, for example If we have the magnolia in a pot, we recommend planting it in a new pot with a quality substrate, specific for acid plants.like that of the Flower brand, or if you wish with coconut fibre, which is also acidic.
If it is in the ground, it will depend on how long it has been since it was planted:
- If it is less than a year old, it will be extracted -with care-, with a good clod. For this, it will be good to remember the diameter of the pot in which it was, since this will be the diameter that said root ball should have. Then a larger hole is made, 1 x 1 meter wide and deep, and it is filled with a substrate mentioned above, such as coconut fiber, and finally the tree is planted.
- If it has taken root for more than a year, it will be better to readjust the irrigation, or install a drainage system in the case of land that has difficulty absorbing and draining water. It can also be useful to install a drip irrigation system, as this allows more water to be used, thus preventing its loss.
The air humidity (or ambient humidity) is very low
A magnolia will be magnificent if, in addition to benefiting from a suitable climate and growing in light, fertile soil, it is located in a place where the air humidity is above 50%. When it is lower, especially if it stays low daily or almost daily, the roots have to work faster to absorb the water they find in the soil and push it towards the leaves…and yet sometimes these leaves fall, because they lose water faster than the roots are able to send it up.
What to do to avoid it? The first thing is to make sure the humidity is really low. To do this, I recommend buying a home weather station, because this way you will have this data and others (such as temperature, date and time, for example) at your fingertips. Once you know it is low and stays low for a long time (days), you will need to water its leaves with lime-free water daily.and always at the end of the afternoon, when the sun is no longer in the sun (if it is in the shade, you can do it at any time).
The wind blows almost constantly
This can be related to the previous point, because in the end, no matter the humidity, if the magnolia is in a particularly windy area, it will have the same problems as one in an area with low humidity. . But, Here the procedure would be different:
- If the air humidity is low, then of course we will have to spray its leaves daily.
- But if the wind blows so hard and constantly, the tree will have to be protected from it, for example by planting plants nearby that are more resistant to the wind and can cut it a little; or move it to a more sheltered location if it’s in a pot.
Lack of availability of certain soil nutrients
Image – Wikimedia/Mateo Hernandez Schmidt
Sometimes leaf fall is caused by the lack of certain nutrients. In the case of the magnolia, It is important that you know that if it is planted, for example, in clay soil, it will show significant iron and manganese deficiencies., so that its leaves could turn yellow and even fall directly. In very acidic soils, there may be a lack of calcium, an essential nutrient for the proper functioning of all parts of the plant, since it is part of the cell walls.
So, to make the magnolia go well again, The first thing we will do is check the pH of the soil using a soil pH meter., like this one for example. If it is 7 or more, we will fertilize it with a specific fertilizer for acid plants (on sale here). And in case it is acidic but has a pH of 4 or less, it is best to add a little calcium, or to fertilize it with an algae fertilizer (on sale here), because it is alkaline and will gradually rise. pH.
But in any case, the instructions for use on the container should be followed.
Magnolia may be leafless for no reason, but if it loses them when it should be growing (i.e. spring and summer), as long as it is not evergreen, it may you have a problem. We hope that the tips we have given you will help you relive it.