Why does Strelitzia augusta have brown leaves?

Strelitzia has green leaves

The Strelitzia augusta can it have brown leaves? Sure! In fact, any plant, no matter how hardy, can have them. And our protagonist, like any other, can end up like this for various reasons. But which ones?

It is important that you know them, because even if there are some that are not worrying, there are others that are. So It’s time to find out why Strelitzia augusta it has brown leavesand what to do to prevent your situation from getting complicated.

Contents

Leaves are nearing the end of their life

The Strelitzia alba is very tall

As long as it is for natural reasons, the fact that the leaves are turning brown because they are dead is nothing to worry about. Because? because the Strelitzia augustalike the rest of the evergreen plants, They produce new leaves and let the oldest, which are the lowest, die.i.e. the lowest.

To know for sure if this is the reason or another, we will have to see if there are any pests or discomforts, because if so, we will have to continue looking for the cause of this browning of the leaves. And it is that when these die naturally, the plant shows no other symptoms; and it also looks healthy, with the rest of the green foliage.

touch the wall

One of the things that should worry us the least is the sheets rubbing against the wall, because there is a very simple solution: just remove the plant; and if it is not possible, because we have planted it on the ground, we will not have to do anything because, as it grows taller, there will come a time when it will not have this problem anymore. In this case, some sheets may be damaged, but nothing happens.

Anyway, let me tell you it is important that this be avoided; that is, it is better to place it at some distance from walls or walls beforehand so that all its leaves continue to look green. How far is it? It depends on whether you have it in a pot or on the ground: if it is in a pot, you just have to move it away from the wall until you can see that it is no longer rubbing; and if we are going to have it on the ground, we will plant it at least one meter from the wall.

Cold

The Strelitzia augusta resists heat very well (as long as it’s not too extreme, i.e. it will hold up to 40, maybe 45°C if it contains water, but not more), but frosts do a lot of damage. From my own experience I can say that it withstands 0 degrees, even occasional frosts down to -1.5 ºC, but only if the thermometer then rises above 7-10 ºC.

Strelitzia augusta is outdoor

Related article:

Can Strelitzia augusta be kept indoors?

But if we have it outside, without protection, in a place exposed to the most intense frosts, then we will see that the leaves turn brown and “burn” overnight. What to do? Well, if it’s in a pot, we’ll get it into the house as soon as possible and cut off anything that’s damaged; if it is outside, we will protect it with an anti-freeze cloth (like this) without removing anything. And to wait.

watering problems

It may be watered too much, in which case the central leaves will be the first to turn brown, or on the contrary, it is watered little. In the latter case, it will be the lower, lower leaves that will look bad first. How can we get it back? We will do the following:

  • over watering: we will stop watering for a while, and we will treat it with a versatile fungicide like this in case there are fungi, since they are microorganisms that usually appear when the humidity is very high. Also, if we have it in a pot with a plate under it, it is better to remove it or try to drain it after each watering.
  • lack of watering: we are going to water We must pour the water conscientiously, until the soil is well soaked.

From there, it will be necessary to adjust the frequency of watering so that this does not happen again, and for this it is best to check the humidity of the soil with a stick, following the advice that we offer you in this video :

The land is not suitable

When it is a very compact and very heavy soil (or substrate, if it is for a pot), the air cannot circulate well between the grains that compose it. In addition, the roots have difficulty growing in the conditions. And that’s without counting that in this type of terrain it is difficult to properly control irrigation, because when they are wet, they retain this humidity too long; and when they are dry, they find it difficult to absorb water. So of course the Strelitzia augusta It can end up with problems of lack or excess of irrigation due to inadequate soil.

What can we do? In these circumstances, The most advisable thing is to remove the plant from the place where we planted it and put it in better soil.. This soil can be a quality universal growing medium like this. We will make a large hole, approximately 50 x 50 cm (or better if it is 1 x 1 meter), and we will fill it with this substrate; and if it is in a pot, we will put the universal substrate of a well-known brand, such as Flower for example.

If you follow these tips, your bird of paradise may be doing very well soon.

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