Anthurium is a flowering perennial capricious tropical plant of American origin. Growing it at home is troublesome, since the flower is very picky about the conditions of detention and instantly reacts to even the slightest violations of the usual way of life. The first sign of poor health of anthurium is the appearance of yellowness on the largest leaves. This problem is very common, and there are several reasons for the yellowing of the leaves. Knowing them, you can quickly take measures to save the plant.
Violation of watering rules
This reason is most common among indoor plant lovers. Moreover, it is very important not so much the number of irrigations and volumes, as the composition and quality of irrigation water. Do not water the flower with tap water taken from the tap just before watering. It must be at least softened with citric acid or vinegar and allowed to settle a little. The added acid (in small amounts) should not taste. The ideal option is rain or melt irrigation water. The composition should not contain harmful substances (for example, lime or chlorine).
The temperature of the water also matters. Anthurium needs water from 18 to 24 degrees Celsius.
The frequency of watering depends on the drying out of the soil in the flower container. As soon as the topsoil is no longer wet, the plant should be watered immediately. An excess of moisture should not be allowed, since this will cause the root part to rot due to the increased level of humidity. The appearance of rot on the roots can be determined by the yellowing leaves of the anthurium. If you do not take action in time, the plant will die very soon.
An effective measure of salvation in this case is the urgent transplantation of an indoor flower into a new potting soil mixture. When transplanting, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the root part, cut off all diseased parts, and sprinkle the cuts with activated charcoal or charcoal powder.
You will also need a new flower pot, the volume of which should freely accommodate the entire root of the plant. There should be something between tightness and spaciousness. Both of these will negatively affect the development of roots, and therefore on the further development of anthurium. Drainage should be at least thirty percent of the volume of the pot, since it depends on it whether water stagnates in the container. For the drainage layer, sea pebbles, shards from clay products, and expanded clay are suitable.
If, during transplantation, it is found that most of the root system has suffered from rotting, then it will be impossible to save the anthurium.
Lack of fertilizing and fertilization
The rich bright green color of anthurium leaves and the healthy appearance of the flower depend on the sufficient formation of chlorophyll, the presence of which depends on several important elements - nitrogen, sulfur, iron, manganese.
Yellowed large leaves in the lower part of the plant, as well as small and pale young leaves that appear, just indicate a lack of nitrogen.The main rescue measure is the introduction of nitrogen-containing organic or mineral fertilizers (for example, bird droppings, manure, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate).
With a lack of sulfur, young leaves in the upper part of the plant begin to turn yellow, and with an overabundance of yellowness appears along the edge of large leaves, which first curl up, and then acquire a brown tint and dry out. In its pure form, sulfur is not applied as a fertilizer. It is present in many complex dressings, which contain magnesium, potassium or ammonium sulfates.
The lack of gland appears on the leaves as yellowing between dark green veins. This disease is called leaf chlorosis, and it develops gradually, moving from young leaves to the whole houseplant. A substance such as vitriol could solve this problem, but it will take a lot of experience and caution. Even a minimal overdose will destroy the anthurium.
Small yellow spots on leaf plates (drip chlorosis) appear with an excess or deficiency of an element such as manganese. Over time, the leaves begin to wrinkle and later fall off. Such antifungal and bactericidal drug as potassium permanganate is recommended for use in therapeutic (for this problem) and preventive measures. A weak pink solution of potassium permanganate is used for watering once a month.
Violation of lighting requirements
Sunburns from direct rays of the sun remain on the leaf plates in the form of large yellow spots, which later dry up and acquire a dark brown and even black hue. Anthurium is recommended only diffused, albeit bright enough, lighting. Treatment of such spots will not bring any positive result; the leaves affected by burns will have to be completely removed. But what must be done is to rearrange the container with anthurium as soon as possible to a more suitable place without direct sunlight (for example, on a window on the east side of the house).
The appearance of pests
The main pests of anthurium are spider mite, mealybug, aphid, scabbard, nematodes. These pests feed on the sap of leaves and delicate stalks, which leads to yellowing and leaf fall. At the initial stage of such an invasion, it is necessary to carry out therapeutic water procedures with warm water with a temperature of about 50 degrees Celsius. All leaves and stems must be thoroughly rinsed. And to combat the scabbard, you will need an alcohol-containing liquid preparation, which (with the help of a cotton swab) you need to wipe all the places of its presence on the flower. These procedures can be performed 2-3 times.
If the invasion of pests has already reached a large size, then spraying with warm water will not help. Here it is necessary to act with more stringent methods in the form of special chemical insect control agents (for example, Fitoverm, Neoron, Aktellik and Fufanon).
Dangerous diseases
Root rot, leaf chlorosis, septoria and anthracnose are the most common anthurium diseases.
Leaves with a yellow-brown border or spots of the same shade are septoria or anthracnose. Such leaf lesions spread very quickly throughout the entire leaf mass, therefore it is necessary to act very quickly. If only a few leaves are infected with the disease, then the flower can be saved with the help of drugs such as foundationol (0.2% solution) and copper oxychloride (0.5% solution). Having completely removed diseased leaves, it is recommended to treat the entire plant with one of the preparations.
For the prevention of chlorosis, it is recommended to use iron chelate as a top dressing. It is because of the insufficient content of iron and magnesium in the nutrition of the plant that this disease develops. Such fertilization must be applied periodically to prevent an overabundance of these substances.
Rotting of the root part of plants (root rot) appears for several reasons:
- Excess water during irrigation;
- Cold irrigation water;
- Very low air temperature.
Anthurium can be cured only by transplanting it into a new soil mixture and replacing the flower container.
Thanks for the article! I'm running to save my anthurium all the leaves have turned yellow and even the flowers may have been affected by the conditioner?