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| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 22, 2008 | I'm not sure whats going on, but my Money Tree has a few leaves that are browning at the tips (Pic attached). It is not all of the leaves and the leaves that are brown are all on the same stem??? What's wrong? Another issue is that the leaves have light spots on them. Some of them look like a lime green/yellowish color and others are brown like small cigarette burns...Is this normal? Finally...Some of the leaves look like they have a small piece missing...I don't know what could be causing this because it seems like even the new leaves that are growing in have this issue. This is my routine: I water about once a week sometimes less because I read that these plants can withstand dry periods and do really well. I am using a smart release fertilizer (Osmocote 19-6-12) that I added to the soil about 3-4 weeks ago. There are about 3 new stems that have recently grown and sprouted leaves and I can see other stems starting to poke out...I'm so confused. Last week there was one tiny stem with little leaves sprouting out, but it shriveled up and fell off. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. HELP!!!
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| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 22, 2008 | Here's a pic of the small yellowish spots...unfortunately it's hard to see...
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| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 22, 2008 | Here's a pic of the leaves with a chunk missing...
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| plantladylin East Central, FL Zone 9a April 22, 2008 | The leaves with the yellowing areas and browning may be a fungus of some sort. The ones with chunks missing looks like an insect has been chewing on your leaves. I'm wondering if you might be over watering. I have a small money tree and this time of year I only water it every two to three weeks. In summer I will have to water more often. Mine is located outside on my deck near the swimming pool where it's very humid. Not much information in a href="/guides/pf/">a href="/guides/pf/">PlantFiles: [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com] I found this info when googling: [HYPERLINK@www.valentine.gr] |
| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 23, 2008 | Thanks plantlady. I have not seen any bugs on my pachira. I did notice some gnats about a week ago around one of my other plants so I bought a powder to mix with the soil that keeps gnat eggs from hatching. I put it in all of my plants soil just in case. Could gnats have chewed the leaves like that? I hear these gnats are called "fungus" gnats so maybe there is some fungus infecting my plant. At this point what should I do to help my poor tree? |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a April 23, 2008 | I'd check your watering--anytime I have fungus gnats there's usually an overwatered plant (or tray of seedlings) in the area. The rest of your symptoms don't sound particularly like overwatering to me, but given the presence of the fungus gnats it's worth at least checking. |
| plantladylin East Central, FL Zone 9a April 24, 2008 | I don't think fungus gnats chew leaves like that. They are probably from as ecrane3 said, an over wet plant. I have had these dredded gnats before and usually find a plant saturated and not draining properly. I would keep an eye on those leaves with the edges missing. I don't have a clue what it's from but I'm thinking some insect, possibly one that comes out at night. I have a begonia on my deck which is screened in and kept finding holes in the leaves but could not find any bugs. Then one evening I was out there and it was almost dark ... I picked a half dead leaf off the begonia and there was a little wormy bug on it. Apparently they were feeding at night. |
| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 24, 2008 | Okay. I will check the plant tonight and see if I can catch some bugs chewing. As far as the watering I will cut back to once every 2 weeks. The pot my tree is in doesn't have any holes at the bottom, but I was told that I could set up a drainage system by putting rocks at the bottom of the pot before planting so I did that. Could that be part of the problem? |
| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 26, 2008 | Well I've checked the tree several times the past 2 nights and haven't seen and bugs on it. The weird thing is that I've noticed more chunks missing on a few leaves. I have no idea what to do. These bugs are either invisible or really smart. I also need advice about my potting method (posting above this one) Any suggestions please???? |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a April 26, 2008 | Unless this is one of those plants that enjoys wet feet I'd put a drainage hole in it and get rid of the rocks. Even if it doesn't mind wet feet, putting in a drainage hole may help with the fungus gnats and won't hurt the plant. I also wouldn't necessarily cut your watering frequency in half without actually sticking your finger in there to see what's going on with the moisture level. |
| SemiGreenThumb Sandy Springs, GA April 28, 2008 | Thanks for the advice ecrane. I did put a drainage hole in the pot and removed the rocks. When I re potted the plant I noticed that the roots are very small and there aren't many of them. So I cut my fertilizer in half hoping that the plant will focus more on its roots than producing new growth. Is there anything else I should do to help root growth? Also, I still keep noticing more chunks of leaves missing, but I haven't noticed any bugs. I check the plant randomly throughout the day and at night, but I don't see any bugs. I'm not sure what step I should take now. Is there a generic insecticide that's good for most bugs that I can get? Or should I spray the leaves with soapy water? Help Please...I'm afraid my plant will be all chewed up... |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a April 28, 2008 | To help root growth, you might try getting some SuperThrive and use that when you water, it's a root booster and I know there are some people who swear by it for helping transplants get their roots going. I don't remember to use it often enough to know if it really makes a difference or not, but some people definitely think it works. Most insecticides are more effective if you can catch the bugs in the act and spray it on them, I'm not sure how well they'll work if you spray when they're not there. |
| rainman73 Warsaw, IN May 1, 2008 | I'm just a beginner, but might this plant actually be a shefflera, the "umbrella plant"? |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a May 1, 2008 | No, it's definitely a money tree (Pachira). They do look somewhat similar though. |
