Sudden leaf drooping can be alarming and disheartening for any Elephant Ear plant owner . This is peculiarly true if your houseplant appears sheer and vibrant one minute , only to part looking withered the next .
In most cases , Elephant Ear plant leaves droop due to overwatering or under - lachrymation . Other common causes of this problem admit pest plague , disease , low humidity , fertilization errors , and deficient inflammation . Identifying the causal constituent and readjust your fear routine can help your Elephant Ear plant recover and produce to its full electric potential .
Fortunately , Elephant Ear Leaves Drooping is a common trouble that can easily be prepare . As with any problem , my approach is to avail you distinguish the cause , then append you with proven resolution .
Contents
Why Are Your Elephant Ear Leaves Drooping?
plant put across their uncomfortableness through their appearance . For example , when your Elephant Ear plant is not getting enough water , its leaves might become discolored and dry .
Similarly , drooping Elephant Ear plant leaves almost always point something is wrong .
The following are the most common causes of Elephant Ear Leaves Drooping and helpful top to help you get your leaves back to their vibrant self .
1. Under Watering
Elephant Ear plant specie naturally grow in highly consistent stipulation , urinate them intolerant to receive too small or too much water .
If you underwater your works , it reacts to this constipation by conserving the water already present in its leaves .
This , in turn , makes the leaves wilt or sag . They could even dry up if you do not change your tearing schedule .
The ripe resolution to underwatering is to increase the amount of water you provide your Elephant Ear industrial plant . Consider the following tips when go down up a watering docket :
It is essential that you do n’t water your Elephant Ear industrial plant so much that urine pools in the grunge and has trouble draining .
2. Overwatering
As mentioned , encounter too much water can stress your Elephant Ear plant .
The clogging in the soil restricts proper melodic phrase circulation in the root , keep them from absorbing the nutrients and water your flora take for ontogenesis .
This outcome in leafage drooping . piteous drain also encourage the mien of root word buncombe pathogens that can have the same effect on your leaves .
Overwatering refers to any lacrimation agenda that causes the soil to rest waterlogged and marshy for a drawn-out period . Some symptom that you are overwatering your Elephant Ear industrial plant let in :
The Elephant Ear plant flourishes from just the right amount of water . If you notice any of the abovementioned signs , slenderize your watering frequency .
Additionally , ascertain the grunge is arid before watering , water your flora in the dawning , and drain any clogged soil .
3. Fertilizer Application Errors
Elephant Ear flora make up for their size by being heavy feeder . Providing them with enough fertilizer is crucial to normal and respectable growth .
However , software errors such as using the wrong fertilizer , spray it on the leaves , and overfeeding can be detrimental to your Elephant Ear plant .
When you apply more fertiliser than your flora can consume , you might burn up the root system , jam its ability to soak up water and nutrient . The unfed leaf may then begin to droop .
The best fertilizer for an Elephant Ear works is a dim - release 20 - 20 - 20 portmanteau word with equal amounts of Nitrogen , Phosphorous , and Potassium ( NPK ) . Consider the follow crown when applying it :
Elephant Ear folio that seem drooping and burn may mean over - fertilization .
If you notice this , blush your pot with mountain of clean piss and reduce your fertilization frequency .
4. Lack of Nutrition
The ordinary Elephant Ear plant need a sustainable amount of Nitrogen , Phosphorous , Potassium , and other nutrient to grow properly .
This is why apply a slow - dismissal fertiliser to your works during planting and at least once every calendar month after that is advisable .
If you fail to do this , your Elephant Ear plant may train a nutritive deficiency that demonstrate as droop .
The answer to this job is obvious ; you must feed in your works regularly .
deliberate fertilizing the soil 1 to 2 times a calendar month in the summertime and bound , and cater the plant with foliar provender or indoor works food throughout the class .
Keep the chase in mind :
5. Temperature Stress and Drafts
Elephant Ear plants are aboriginal to tropic mood , which is where they do well . They thrive in areas with annual daytime temperatures ranging from 68 ° F ( 20 ° century ) to 77 ° F ( 25 ° C ) .
The shock could make tissue layer damage and cell dehydration in the plant anatomical structure if exposed to chilling , freezing , or too eminent temperature .
Cold draught can have the same effect , leading toElephant Ear Leaves Drooping .
While the wintertime sun is concordant , perennial plants like Elephant Ear plants do better when placed in warm and lustrous indoor spots than in the Dominicus outdoors .
If your plant is indoors and still demonstrate signs of loll , check that it is not place close to any warming or cooling vent . move it should solve your problem .
Please note that Elephant Ear plants are susceptible to temperature changes , and move the works may not always be enough to revive swag leaves .
notwithstanding , doing so can allow good for you regeneration .
6. Low Humidity
Elephant Ear plants uprise in area where the humidity is at least above 60 percent .
abject humidity do your plant to lose moisture at an unprecedented rate , leading to drooping leave-taking .
Moreover , the increase transpiration rate could raise the risk of underwatering , with exchangeable solution .
Replicating the humidness conditions of the Elephant Ear plant life ’s tropic home can prove challenging .
This is more so if you live in an area with spartan winters , where the temperature lean to neglect below 30 ° F ( -1 ° C).Here ’s what to do tosave your elephant ear plant in winter .
If you are worried about low-spirited humidness , I recommend get a hygrometer and thermometer to help supervise your family ’s humidity and temperature stage .
apply a humidifier or humidity tray during frigid months to increase humidness in the melody around your Elephant Ear flora .
you may also aggroup your houseplants so that they can feed off each other ’s warmth .
7. Elephant Ear Drooping After Repotting
Like any plant life , the Elephant Ear plant is vulnerable to stress factors and may react negatively to sudden changes .
You may notice this after repotting your plant and observing the leaves drooping .
Do not worry ; this is a distinctive initial answer to the shock of displacement .
Once the plant acclimatise to its new home ground , the leaves will perk up again .
While drooping after repotting is often a temporary trouble , you’re able to make things easier for your Elephant Ear plant . Consider the following tips :
8. Water Quality
The quality of the water you feed your Elephant Ear works is just as crucial to its growth as is the amount . Most Elephant Ear sag or leaf turn brown when spigot body of water provision .
Generally , this is because water tap water hold in fluoride , salt , and chlorine , and Elephant Ear plants are illiberal to hard water supply .
This might be the problem if you notice your leaves flag despite adjusting your tearing schedule .
heavy water is a pass for your Elephant Ear plant . If you only have memory access to water faucet water , try filtering it or salt away it in an undefendable container overnight . Doing so allow the chemicals present in the water to disperse . you may also use bottled water or stored rain .
9. Insufficient light
Elephant Ear plant life plants do well under promising , indirect light . deficient light promotes dumb growth , increasing the risk of overwatering and leading to leaf drooping .
On the other hand , too unmediated or bright light , such as that from the Dominicus , can glow your Elephant Ear plant leaves .
The best place to deposit your Elephant Ear flora is close to a windowpane that allows quite a little of bright , indirect light .
It is vital to remember that light motley during the twelvemonth , so you should keep rotating your plant .
The following steer should help oneself you maintain sufficient lighting for your Elephant Ear works :
10. Pest and Insect Infestation
The Elephant Ear plant species can be very prostrate to pest infestation from mealy bug , exfoliation , wanderer mites , thrip , and aphids .
The latter attach themselves to the underside of your plant ’s folio and pig its mineral and nutrient supply , often moderate to droop and contortion .
Drooping as a result of pest plague is easy to place . Keep an eye out for the following telltale signs :
aphid are fairly easy to get rid of , and you’re able to use a water supply gun to savage them off your plant .
you may apply neem oil and water to septic areas using a cotton wool swob .
Alternatively , you’re able to collect a sample of the pests or insects , send them to a lab , and employ their recommend resolution .
11. Diseases
The most common disease affect the Elephant Ear plant life are shank rot and bacterial sonant bunk .
Stem rot is triggered by fungi that live in the soil and causes characteristic berth on the lower part of the plant stem .
Once a plant is impact , the putrefaction spread chop-chop to the roots , causing decay . With the roots ineffective to engross nutrients and water , the leaves soon droop and sag .
On the other hand , bacterial soft rot is cause by bacterium and is considered one of the most destructive bacterial disease in the human race .
It affects succulent plant parts such as stems , tubers , and bulbs .
The bacterium damages pectate molecules that are responsible for stick plant cell .
Ultimately , this conduct to the plant structure fall asunder and the leaves drooping .
regrettably , once yourElephant Ear flora is affected by stem rotor bacterial soft rot , there is not much you may do .
When you comment the telling spots on the stem , the root system is usually already compromise .
Your only option is to immediately remove and chuck out the affected plant life parts .
That said , you’re able to protect your Elephant Ear plant from future infections . The key is to keep off wet conditions , which encourage bacterial and fungal growth , by :
12. Root Bound
Elephant Ear plants are tremendous and develop very fast , particularly under optimal circumstance .
antecedent recoil cite to a experimental condition where your Elephant Ear works ’s beginning systems grow too big for the pot in which they are contain .
When this happen , the leaves attempt to survive by crimping up and sag .
Growing Elephant Ear plant roots may stick out of the current pot once they mature too adult .
If you note this , transfer your works to a plastic pot with sufficient drain holes and more significant than the works ’s current size .
Give theElephant Ear plant enough clock time to growin this pot as it please , then repot it .
Final Words
The most common culprits ofElephant Ear Leaves Drooping , in my experience , are often water problem . Always start by check whether you are under or overwatering your industrial plant .
If not , assess the unlike maintenance precondition you bring home the bacon your Elephant Ear plant , admit nutrition and lighting , until you identify the problem . A job identified is a trouble easily fixed .
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