Content
Why do seedlings lose leaves: subtleties that every summer resident should know
31.01.2023 00:01
Updated: 13.04.2023 18:00
The seedling period is the most important in the life of every gardener.
The future yield of the plant depends on how strong and healthy the seedling grows.
People face various problems when growing seedlings, such as leaf fall.
To understand and eliminate the cause, you should pay attention to the subtleties that every summer resident should remember.
Reasons for leaf shedding
In essence, there is one reason for shedding leaves: the plant cannot provide itself with adequate nutrition and moisture, so it gets rid of leaves, which are second in importance.
This measure helps the plant feed the top, on which its further development depends. But there may be several reasons for this phenomenon. And all of them are related to care.
Reason one: lack of lighting
In spring, plants do not have enough light. Despite the fact that daylight hours are increasing, they have not yet reached summertime and the brightness of sunlight is much lower. Therefore, experienced gardeners illuminate seedlings even on sunny days from 5 to 11 am and from 4 to 9 pm. If this is not done, the seedlings experience a lack of light, the process of photosynthesis is weaker than necessary, as a result, the plant does not have enough nutrition for active growth. And it sheds "extra" leaves.
Reason two: violation of temperature conditions
If it is too cold, all life processes slow down. To survive, the plant sheds its lower leaves. If it is too hot, the same thing happens. For example, the seedlings are near the radiator. The temperature is different for each plant. If we take heat-loving peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, then the lower limit is 15 degrees, and the upper limit is 20.
Important: sometimes the air temperature is normal, but the soil ball cools down significantly, for example, when there is a draft from the window.
Reason three: overwatering
Everything is simple here: the roots rot from over-watering. As a result, the above-ground part of the plant cannot receive enough moisture and nutrition.
The opposite situation may occur – the plants are overdried. But most often, gardeners, trying to please their green charges, water them too often.
Reason four: feeding
As with watering, there are two opposite problems here. The gardener tries to provide the plants with nutrition and feeds them. As a result, the young tender roots are burned, the earth lump is salted. It is best not to feed the plants, but to add biohumus or well-rotted compost to the soil when picking or replanting. This nutrition will last for 3-4 weeks.
Pale leaves, reddening of the lower part of the leaf or brown tips indicate a lack of nutrition. In this case, it is better to carry out several additional feedings (after 7-10 days) on the leaf, taking a third of the recommended dose of complex fertilizer for seedlings.
These are the main reasons why seedlings shed leaves. Keep a close eye on the plants and determine the exact reason for the shedding of leaves before you grab water or fertilizer.
