[0:00]Hi everyone. So today we're going to be talking all about leaves and specifically the many, many things that can happen to leaves that can leave you going, oh my gosh, what the heck is going on? What is wrong with my plant? So I have grouped everything together today by the type of activity that the leaf does. So we're going to look at each activity and all the things that it could potentially be. And just so you guys know, this is going to be a pretty extensive list that we're going to be going through. I have timestamped this video down below. If this is your first time watching this video, however, I do recommend you watch the entire thing because many times trying to figure out what a leaf is trying to tell you requires you to look at several different things that may be going on. So watching this whole video will help you kind of understand what I mean by that, but if you need to re-reference something specifically in the future, just remember that it is timestamped below so that you can quickly find that thing that you're looking for. But before we get into this list, there is one thing that I always want you to do first, no matter what it is that the leaves are doing and that is to check for pests. Almost every single thing that we are going to cover on this list today can be caused by some sort of pest. So the most important thing to always do first, and honestly, you guys, this is true of anything that looks like it's going wrong with your plant, check for pests. Lots of times, that can be what's causing the issue. So definitely best to rule that out before jumping to any other conclusions such as underwatering, overwatering, etc. But the first thing that leaves can do that I want to talk about today is curling. Now, leaves can both curl up on top of themselves as well as curl underneath themselves. But the main thing that you need to know is when leaves are curling, that is typically a sign that the plant is trying to retain moisture for some reason. And usually the reason is, it's losing moisture from something. Now, once again, pest can cause moisture loss in leaves because they're sucking out the contents of the cells on the leaves. Now, if you have thoroughly inspected that plant, and you know there are no pests on that plant, the next thing I would question is, have you potentially overwatered or underwatered the plant? If the plant is drooping and the leaves are curling under for most plants, and I'll explain what I mean in a second. That typically is going to be a sign that the plant has been underwatered. However, checking the moisture of the soil is going to be a very good indicator for you as well. If that soil is feeling bone dry, and you're seeing that, then definitely that leaf curl is being caused by that plant having been underwatered. Now, as I just said a second ago, for most plants, the leaves will curl under and you'll see that drooping movement that a plant is thirsty. However, that does not hold true for all plants. This is one of the reasons that it's very confusing sometimes when you guys are trying to diagnose what's going on with your leaves. Not all plants react the same way. So for example, anybody out there who owns Calatheas, Marantas, pretty much any kind of plant in the prayer plant family, will know that when those plants get thirsty, they curl their leaves as well. But they don't curl them under, they curl them upwards. It's just something that those plants do. So once again, if you know it's been a while since you watered that plant, you're seeing those leaves curling upward, you know there's no pest anywhere on that plant, then that's a good indication that that plant has been underwatered. Now, as I mentioned, overwatering can also cause leaf curl. And this is one of the biggest problems that I know we face as plant parents out there, is understanding leaf signs and symptoms and when it's underwatering versus overwatering, because lots of times the symptoms are the same. However, there are some key differences when we're talking about underwatering and what you see and when we talk about overwatering and what you see. Now, in the case of leaf curling when it's related to overwatering, a good indicator as to the fact that it is from overwatering and not underwatering, first and foremost, is going to be how that soil feels. If that soil is still quite wet or moist, then it is a good indicator that this is not a plant that has been underwatered and is more likely being caused by overwatering. Future Drea here. I realized I never fully explained really at leaf curl and when it happens related to overwatering. So basically, you guys, when you overwater a plant, the leaf curl isn't going to happen like the first time you overwater the plant. Leaf curl associated with overwatering typically isn't going to happen only if you keep overwatering that plant to the point where the plant starts to fail and starts to have root rot and starts to collapse on itself. At that point, you will see the leaves start to become curled, typically they will curl underneath themselves as they're collapsing from the overwatering and dying off. Now, another thing that can cause leaf curl, and this is a big one, is light. If a plant is getting too much light, the excessive light can cause the moisture from the leaves to evaporate more quickly, and once again, curling typically is a sign that your plant is trying to conserve moisture. So in order to do that, what most plants will do is they will start to curl their leaves up on top of themselves to try and block the surface of the leaf from the light. Plants that can't easily curl their leaves because they're too thick or narrow may also stick their leaves up as vertical as possible to try and block the light. So if you are confident that there are no pests on your plant, you're confident that you have not been overwatering or underwatering the plant, then the next thing I would look at is light. Now, another thing I want you guys to be aware of is that sometimes when leaves curl up on themselves, depending on what it is being caused by, they won't uncurl right away.
[5:15]They might never flatten back out, but you won't see more leaves starting to curl. So that will be your indicator in that situation. Now, sometimes hand in hand with too much light comes too much heat, because when sunlight is shining directly on a plant, it is also heating up that plant. And too much heat is something else that can cause leaf curl. However, if you have a plant that is not in direct light, and you're seeing that leaf curl, and you've ruled out everything else we've talked about so far, check and see if perhaps it is getting a draft from a air vent that is blowing heat coming onto it. Because once again, that will dry out a plant and that will cause it to curl to try to protect itself from losing as much moisture. Now, if it is something caused by, for example, a heat draft or just heat in general from something, maybe you have a plant that's, you know, kind of a few feet away from a fireplace, maybe it's off to the side and you thought it was far enough, but it's not. A good way to know if that's what's going on is to look at which leaves are being affected, because typically the only leaves that will be curling will be the ones facing the heat source, not the ones on the other side of the plant. Now, the next thing that can cause leaf curl that I want to talk about is a nutrient deficiency. But I want to make something very clear up front today about nutrient deficiencies because they're going to come up a lot today. The odds of it being a nutrient deficiency that is causing what is going on with your plant is relatively slim, unless you are like somebody who has never fertilized the plant, you've owned it for three years. Then maybe, maybe it's a nutrient deficiency, especially if you haven't repotted that plant either in three years because the nutrients in the soil are now depleted. So, if that's the situation, then maybe for you it could be a nutrient deficiency, but if you are fertilizing on a regular basis, the odds of it being a nutrient deficiency are really quite slim.
[6:58]So, always try to rule out everything else first. But nutrient deficiencies can cause leaf curl. And if it is a nutrient deficiency that is causing your leaf curl, you are typically going to see it on the lower older leaves on the plant first because they're going to take what nutrients they're able to get and they are going to divert them to the top of the plant to the new leaf growth to support that growth. Now, another thing, if a plant is in bloom or about to be in bloom, it is also going to take all of the reserves it has and push them towards putting out those blooms. So in that situation, you might see old and new leaf starting to curl all that plant can care about is protecting that flower because flowers are how plants reproduce. So obviously, that's going to be priority number one for the plant in that situation. So, if you do determine that it is for you a nutrient deficiency, that is relatively easy to fix. Just make sure you start fertilizing your plant on a more regular basis. Now, another thing that can cause leaf curl that I think often people don't think about is treating your plants for pests. Especially if it's a pest spray that you haven't tested on that plant before, and you spray that whole plant down and then in a few hours later, you notice the leaves are starting to curl. That's probably because the plant is having a reaction to something in that pest spray. There was something in that spray it didn't like. Now, another thing is, if you spray a plant down and then you immediately put it back where it normally lives and it's a pretty bright, sunny location, the sun can cause a negative reaction with something in that pest spray, which also can cause all kinds of problems with your plants, including leaf curl. So when you are spraying your plants for pests, just make sure that you give them some time to recover for that spray to completely dry before you move them back into their regular location. And perhaps make sure that you're doing it at a time of day where it's not going to get a ton of bright, bright, bright light immediately after you were spraying it down. But the last thing I want to talk about that can cause leaf curl are viral infections in your plant. However, once again, viral infections are not that common. And usually if a plant has a virus, odds are it had it when you got it.
[9:05]Most people catch viral infections in plants immediately after buying them because they start to notice that something's going wrong with the plant. The odds of a virus just happening in your house is pretty slim, you guys. It really is pretty slim. But honestly, viral infections, leaf curl is going to be accompanied by a whole slew of other things going on with your plant. So if you just have leaf curl, and you don't have like, the leaves aren't turning yellow, they aren't getting weird spots, they aren't, you know, getting pits or scars in them or anything like that, you do not need to worry about it being a viral infection. But let's move on to our next thing that leaves can do, because this is a big one, and I know this is the one that everybody is going to be the most interested in, and that is discoloration on your leaves. And this section, we've got a lot of types of discoloration we are going to be going through today, but we are going to start with the one that everybody always struggles with and that is yellowing of the leaves, because there are just so many things that can cause your leaves to yellow. But once again, lots of times, there are going to be multiple signs of things we're talking about today going on, and you need to look at all of those signs and piece them together to sort out why your leaf is turning yellow. Now, just a quick reminder, you guys, that some leaf loss and yellowing of leaves is normal. Leaves age, they yellow, they die, they fall off. If it is only happening to the oldest leaves, and it's not an excessive number of leaves at a given time. Or if you've recently repotted that plant, because when you repot plants, when they're going through that acclimation phase post repotting, you can see an uptick in yellowing leaves and leaves falling off. So in that situation, also don't panic and think it's something else. It's just a natural part of that repotting process. So, if you're experiencing any of that, that is really not a sign for alarm. Now where it is a sign for alarm is if it's happening at a very frequent rate. Now, once again, first thing you need to do is check for pests, because pest cause distress to leaves and cause leaves to eventually die off as well, and in the process, typically they will turn yellow. But if you're sure you don't have pests, your next thing you're probably going to jump to is I've either underwatered the plant or I've overwatered the plant. And here's the big question of the day, how do you know which it is when you have a yellow leaf? Well, there's a few things that can help you kind of figure it out. First of all, check the soil. If the soil is feeling bone dry, odds are it's yellow because it's underwatered. Now, another thing, yellowing leaves due to underwatering, typically will be preempted by drooping and curling of the leaves. Because the plant is losing moisture, it's getting dehydrated. It's going to start to look a little sad before those leaves start to turn yellow. And then when those leaves do turn yellow, they typically are going to feel a bit dry because the plant has started to lose all of that moisture. And then eventually when it gets to the point of falling off, it's probably going to start to feel a bit like paper, like really dry thin paper. The other thing is, when a leaf is turning yellow because your plant has been underwatered, typically it is going to turn yellow before you start to see browning of the leaf tips.
[12:00]So if you see a leaf that's going through that process that we described before, it has all those symptoms that we talked about about yellowing and underwatering, and then you see the leaf tip start to get brown, that is probably just an additional symptom that that leaf has been underwatered.
[12:29]Now, if a plant has been overwatered, you're typically going to start to see that browning on the tips more quickly than you will on a leaf that has been underwatered. As that leaf starts to turn yellow from being overwatered, that tip also very quickly tends to turn brown. But once again, you're going to have that kind of more mushy, soft effect going on in that leaf versus if it was a leaf on a plant that had been underwatered. Now, browning leaf tips can also be caused by too much heat. Man, can it be caused by too much heat? So, once again, if you've got a direct draft going on on your plant, and actually, it's not even drafts, you guys, because the direct drafts, see, this is another thing where I'm saying multiple things can happen due to one thing that's going on. So, a heat draft on your plant, lots of times is going to dry out that leaf first. So the leaf is more likely to turn yellow than brown. But if, for example, you have a plant directly in front of a fireplace where it's not even blowing hot air, but it's just putting out heat, it will cook those leaves. And when I say it will cook those leaves, it will basically turn them brown and mushy just like that. It's kind of like think about like spinach. When a plant, you cook spinach, and it like wilts down, but if you had it on like way too high of heat, it will start to look like darker and more on towards the color brown pretty quickly. Same thing for your plants. So if you do see leaves that are going like completely brown and mushy, I would definitely check and see if that plant's getting too much heat. And once again, in those situations, it's typically only going to affect the leaves that are actually facing the heat source. Unless, for example, you know, you were out of town and your like AC broke and you live where I live, and it gets, you know, over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and the whole plant was just cooking in your house, then it might affect the whole plant, but you guys know what I mean. Now, lack of humidity is often cited as the number one thing that causes crispy brown leaf tips on plants. I have told you guys before, and I am going to say it again, in my experience, nine times out of 10, it's not humidity that's causing that problem. Unless maybe you are in a place where the entire year you are at 30% or below humidity, and if it is a very, very sensitive plant when it comes to humidity. But in my experience, even right now, I'm looking at my humidity gauge, it's like 31% humidity in here. It has been all week. And like my Calatheas, for example, which is one of the plants that people say, they get those brown tips and it's always because of humidity. They aren't having that problem right now. And so that's why I'm saying, I honestly think people jump to the conclusion that brown crispy leaf tips is related to humidity way too quickly. When more often than not, it's probably related to something else. But that does not mean that it cannot be humidity. If you are able to rule out every other potential thing, then that's all you're left with. But if it is humidity related, you guys, once again, the odds of it killing your plant are pretty slim. Unless it is just a highly sensitive plant that needs like, you know, 80 or 90% humidity to survive. Once again, in those situations, typically that browning is purely cosmetic, purely cosmetic. Now, too much light can cause browning of leaves. And it can happen on the tips, it can happen on the margins, but a lot of times you'll see it happen as dots in the middle of your plant. Now, brown spots on plants, which we will cover here in a bit, can be caused by any number of things. But if you are getting brown spots from too much light, basically, that is leaf burn, that is the definition of leaf burn. Now, as I described earlier, sometimes you can get spots that are white if you're getting leaf burn from too much light, but you can get them to where they go brown. And I feel like when they go brown right away, I don't know how to explain this. It's almost like, if a plant was just getting sunlight, and it was too much sunlight, and it was like over a period of time, so it got those little white bleached spots from having too much light, versus if you took a magnifying glass and magnified the light through that magnifying glass into one spot on that plant. That would probably result in a brown spot that potentially then is going to get crispy and dry and flake off, and you're going to be left with a hole in that leaf. So if you are seeing that, and you know that plant is in a place where it's getting a pretty decent amount of light and potentially some direct light, definitely, I would move that to a less bright location or a place where it's not actually getting direct light. If it clears up and doesn't happen again after that, then that was your problem. If you still are getting brown spots on those leaves, like I said, we're going to cover the other causes of brown spots on leaves here in a second. But as I mentioned earlier, pest sprays can be a problem. When we spray our plants down for pests and we put them back into bright locations, it can cause problems. We talked about it with leaf curl earlier, but it can also cause plants to get brown spots on them as well. So, if you just sprayed down that plant, and you put it back in its spot, and the next day you're like, oh my gosh, it's got brown spots all over it. Odds are, it's having a reaction from that light hitting the pest spray that's on there. Now, something that we have not talked about yet is overfertilizing. Overfertilizing your plants can cause browning on the leaf tips and the leaf edges. However, once again, just like nutrient deficiencies, the odds of it being overfertilizing are pretty slim if you are fertilizing correctly and following instructions on the packaging for the fertilizer that you're using. The odds of you having fried your plant due to overfertilizing are pretty slim. Now, if you are one of those people who is fertilizing with every watering, which some of the fertilization brands say to do that, and you're starting to see browning on your leaves that's not explained by anything else that I've described so far or that I'm going to describe next when we talk about other brown spots on plant leaves, then maybe it could be overfertilizing.
[18:21]If that is the case, one of the easiest things you can do is just back it off and not do every single watering, don't fertilize with every single watering. Maybe back it off to fertilizing once a month for a while and see if that clears up the problem. If it does, then you know you were overfertilizing. But most of the time, most of us aren't just dumping that much fertilizer onto our plants that were causing the issue of overfertilizing and burning of the leaves via basically burning up the roots. But the next type of leaf discoloration I want to talk about are spots, all kinds of spots, all different colors of spots, because lots of times, we see spots on our plants and we're like, what is going on? And there are a lot of things that it could be, you guys. So the first type of spots I want to talk about are brown spots. Now, we did already talk about brown spots as it relates to potentially leaf burn going on on your plant. However, if you are sure that your plant is not getting the spots due to direct light hitting that leaf and burning it, then next I would check for, once again, would be pests.
[19:18]Certain pests can, well, some pests just look brown. So, for example, scale. Scale will look like brown bumps or dots on your plants. Thrips are brown, well, adult thrips are brown, so they can look like brown spots on your plant. Certain fungal issues, such as leaf spot, and leaf spot comes in many different colors, you guys, so it's going to come up a lot here over the next few things we talk about. But fungal infections such as leaf spot can present as brown patches or dots on your plant's leaves. So if you do determine it's pests, obviously, treat for pests. If you determine it is fungal, you're going to want to treat those leaves with a fungicide. Make sure you keep that plant away from other plants, because it can spread, that goes for bacterial infections as well, you guys. And in case of fungal infections, typically you can get rid of it pretty easily with a fungicide. If a particular leaf is really bad off, go ahead and remove it. If you want to remove every leaf that's infected to help clear it up more quickly, that's fine. Just try not to remove too many at once. Once again, we want to try never to cut back more than a third of a plant at any given time. And honestly, you guys, I was going to bring up black spots next, but there's not much different to say. Most of your black spots that you're going to see on your plant are being caused by the same thing. It could be pests that are actually dark colored that you're seeing that are making you think you have black spots on the actual leaf versus it's actually the pest on the leaf that you're seeing. And then also fungal or bacterial infections can present as black spots as well. Now, gray spots on a plant, once again, can be bacterial or fungal in nature. Also, sometimes thrip damage can present itself as kind of grayish, silverish, sometimes sort of whitish coloring on a plant. So once again, always check for those pests first. I can't drive it home hard enough for you guys today. Always check for pests first. But another common issue that can happen on plants that presents as gray spots is what's known as botrytis. And botrytis is a type of like mold. So once again, a fungal infection of sorts, and typically it happens, well, you guys, most fungal infections on your plants happen because of too much moisture on or around the leaves. So if you are having a problem with fungal infections, lots of times, it's because it is just too humid. If you're misting your leaves, stop misting them. If you have your plant directly next to a humidifier, maybe move it further away from the humidifier or make sure you have good air flow. So once again, you guys, drafts, direct drafts like we've been talking about from a heat vent or a AC vent, is different than air flow. When we talk about air flow, that means we want to be circulating the air around. So think your ceiling fan. Your ceiling fan isn't generating colder air. It's not generating hotter air. It's just circulating the air around. So if you are getting a lot of fungal issues, that's another thing you might want to look into, is maybe just getting a simple little fan to put in the room to help circulate the air more. But if you do find that you have Botrytis, once again, you just need to treat it with some kind of fungicide. Remove affected leaves if you want to. Just make sure you're not cutting back too much of that plant. And real quick, you guys, bacterial and fungal infections can actually present on plants almost identically. So, any of these things I'm talking about where I'm like, it could be fungal related, it also could be bacterial related. Now, the difference between the two is if it's fungal related, you can treat it with a fungicide. If it's bacterial related, you don't really have many options to treat it. In those situations, your best bet usually is to remove all the affected foliage, regardless of how much you're having to cut back and then hope that the plant makes it. And once again, make sure you're keeping that plant away from other plants so that it doesn't spread. But the only way to very easily for you guys to know whether it's fungal or bacterial is to treat it with a fungicide and if it gets better, then it was fungal. If it's not getting better, then it's bacterial. And once again, I just told you what to do in that situation, but that is going to be the easiest way for you guys to figure it out. So let's talk about white spots on leaves next. Now, we did previously talk about it potentially being burn marks from having too much light on a plant. But if you know that's not the culprit, first of all, check for those pests, because mealybugs are going to look like white spots on your plant. Juvenile thrips are going to look like white spots on your plant. White flies are going to look like white spots on your plant. And you know, if the spots are moving, it's a good sign it's pest, you guys. It's a good sign that it's pest. But if you know that it's not pest, there are multiple different things that can cause white spots. Once again, certain fungal or bacterial infections can present that way. Powdery mildew is one of the biggest ones that comes to mind. And honestly, powdery mildew can also look slightly grayish in appearance. So if it is a whitish, grayish looking coloring on a plant, it could still be powdery mildew, that botrytis we talked about earlier, though, is typically a darker gray. Like it's definitely, you're not going to be like, is this gray or not gray. It's gray. But another thing that can cause white spots on your plant, especially in the early phases, is something known as edema. And edema happens when a plant's roots take up more water than the plant's leaves can expel through the natural transpiration process that leaves go through. And when that happens, basically that water builds up in the cells on the plant's leaves, and it creates these kind of like translucent whitish colored bumps on the leaf if you will. They're almost kind of like pimple-like looking. And then over time those pimple-like looking things can actually rupture.
