Question
T. Hostili
Hi,
I've had this plant for about 1 year and it has been growing beautifully. It has flowered many times. It is in a 16" clay pot, fast draining soil. It needs water about 2x per week and I have been giving it golden harvest fertilizer and liquid seaweed plus iron. It gets sun all morning. Recently some of the leaves are developing large white areas. I don't know what to do.
AnswerBetty,
This is a plant that I have not grown. However after a bit of research your problem may be water droplets on the leaves if you are watering during sunny hours. The water droplets can act as small magnifying glasses and burn little spots in the leafs. I have had that problem with a few plants.
You may also have a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium helps supports healthy veins while keeping a healthy leaf production and its structure. Magnesium is significant for chlorophyll-production and enzyme break downs. Magnesium which must be present in relatively large quantities for the plant to survive, but yet not to much to where it will cause the plant to show a toxicity.
Magnesium is one of the easiest deficiencies to tell?the green veins along with the yellowness of the entire surrounding leave is a dead giveaway, but sometimes that抯 not always the case here. In case you have one of those where it doesn't show the green veins, sometimes leaf tips and edges may discolor and curl upward. The growing tips can turn lime green when the deficiency progresses to the top of the plant. The edges will feel like dry and crispy and usually affects the lower leaves in younger plants, then will affect the middle to upper half when it gets older, but it can also happen on older leaves as well. The deficiency will start at the tip then will take over the entire outer left and right sides of the leaves. The inner part will be yellow and or brownish in color, followed by leaves falling without withering. The tips can also twist and turn as well as curving upwards as if you curl your tongues.
Magnesium gets locked out of soil growing at pH levels of 2.0-6.4
Magnesium is absorbed best in soil at a ph level of 6.5-9.1 . (Wouldn't recommend having a pH of over 7.0 in soil) anything out of the ranges listed will contribute to a Magnesium deficiency.
You can restore magnesium in the soil by putting 3 tablespoons of Epsom salts on top of the soil and watering it in. The amount is determined by the size of the pot. In a 4 inch pot you would use 1 teaspoon. A 16 inch pot is a lot deeper hence 3 tablespoons. Watering as much as you do washes fertilizer including magnesium out of the soil. Magnesium is also needed for blooming. If the plant hasn't bloomed recently magnesium deficiency may be the problem. Good luck!
Darlene
