Happy Urban Dirt

One of the most pretty leafy plants is undoubtedly the begonia maculata. The problem occurs when begonia maculata loses leaves. Has this happened to you?

In general, this plant should not lose any type of leaves unless we are talking about their natural cycle. But if you have noticed that they are starting to fall out and you do not know why, we will discuss some of the reasons that may be causing this problem.

My begonia maculata is losing leaves. What is happening to it?

When you come home with a begonia maculata, you know it will decorate your entire home with its dotted leaves. In fact, they are prettier than the flowers themselves.

The problem is, After a while, you may notice that the plant starts to lose leaves and if you don’t fix it quickly, it may die within a few days.. And you definitely don’t want that.

But why does begonia maculata lose leaves? We give several reasons.

To adapt to a fresh home

As you know, moving from one place to another causes stress for plants. This is a common occurrence and the reason why many stores and nurseries advise not to repot plants for a few weeks. It is enough to leave them in one place and they will adapt to the fresh climate.

At the time It often happens that the plant loses color and even leaves. However, if this decrease is not excessive, nothing should happen, as it is a natural process in plants and it is normal for fresh plants to start sprouting after this time.

However, if this does not happen, we will have to intervene to prevent it.

arid environment

One of the cares you should provide your begonia maculata is humidity. And when you don’t provide it properly, the plant is very “dramatic” when you realize that something is wrong. More precisely, throw away the leaves.

If this happens, one of the reasons may be that it is not receiving enough moisture. And what is that? Well, between 50 and 60% minimum. It doesn’t need as much as a fern, but it suffers greatly when the environment is arid, and one of the first consequences that comes with it is the dropping of leaves.

So if this happens to you, have a moisture meter on hand to check how much of this element is in the environment.

And how is this solved? There are several ways. If the humidity fluctuations are not too great, you can remedy this by spraying it with water or placing a plate with pebbles and water nearby. (or even perlite and water) to provide more humidity.

If the humidity is much lower than it should be, we recommend buying a dome and placing it there during the hottest months. This will make the humidity more consistent and you will be able to control it.

bad drainage

If your begonia maculata is losing its leaves, have you noticed the soil? As you know, this plant needs humid soil. But when it starts to clump together and doesn’t filter water well, water can accumulate in it, which, when it comes into contact with the roots, causes them to rot.

This is actually the worst thing that could happen to her because it could kill her.

The solution is plain: remove the plant from the pot and place it in a fresh substrate mixed with perlite or similar. A good solution is to exploit a universal substrate with humus or coconut fiber and perlite. Try to exploit 50% of the latter and 40 and 10% of the former respectively. This way you will get a more suitable soil for begonia maculata.

Excess delicate, heat or fertilizer

Another reason why begonia maculata loses leaves is due to two problems: delicate or fertilizer.

We don’t actually lose them all at once, but the leaves turn brown to the point that they fall off and wither.

But why?

In the case of a lamp, this happens because it is placed in a place where it receives too much sunlight, usually direct sun which causes the leaves to burn and starts with these symbols. If you do not realize this, eventually the entire sheet will remain brown and with it will lose its properties.

on my parthigh temperatures will also destroy begonia maculata, to such an extent that the plant’s growth slows down and the leaves start to turn brown (because they get burned due to low air humidity).

In the end, a subscriber can be both the best and the worst thing you can give them.

And when the dose is too high for the plant or when we exploit the wrong fertilizer, the plant reacts this way.

Over-watering

We continue with the topic of problems that cause begonia maculata to lose leaves. This is probably the most earnest problem, to the point that you can lose the entire plant if you don’t notice it.

To do this, simply touch the ground and check if it is saturated or water-soaked.. The difference? Take a handful of soil and squeeze it. Can you get any water out of it when you do that? Then the plant is too waterlogged and the roots rot.

With that in mind, do what we told you about soil drainage: change the pot and soil (only arid soil, don’t water it until you see some reaction from the plant). And wait.

No delicate

When begonia maculata lacks delicate, its leaves lose their characteristic color and turn yellow. Of course, they eventually fall off. Unless you catch them in time.

And the solution is plain: give it more hours of delicate. Of course, don’t confuse more delicate with exposing it to direct sunlight. And less in such a situation, which will be feeble anyway. You need to provide it with more hours of indirect delicate and over time, if it responds, gradually expose it to direct sunlight for a few hours, but only in the morning (around 9am in the south of Spain, until 11am in the north) or in the afternoon (from 8pm in the south, from 7pm in the north).

Is it now clear to you why begonia maculata is losing leaves?