The condition of its leaves is a true indicator of its maintenance status. As long as the leaves on the money tree are lush green with a noble sheen, everything is fine. Leaf drop and yellow discoloration signal that your penny tree is not doing well. Since the damage patterns can be traced back to a variety of triggers, a detailed cause analysis sheds light on the darkness. This guide shows what causes the problems and provides help in solving them.
countermeasures
artificial light
root cause
- lack of light
solution
- Change of location and artificial light in winter
A frequent stumbling block is unsuitable lighting conditions. The succulent money tree comes from the sun-drenched regions of South and East Africa. At the north window or even in a dark room niche, the succulent reacts to the lack of light there by dropping the leaves. During the winter, leaf loss can occur even on the south window when a dense cloud cover blocks the sunlight for days.
How to solve the problem:
- spend the Pfennigbaum in a sunny to shaded location
- ideally on the south window with 90-100% light intensity or on the west window with 80-90% light intensity
During the dark season, compensate for the lack of light with special plant lamps or a daylight lamp. A brightness of at least 800 lux for a period of 9 hours should be ensured. To increase the light output without additional light sources, place a blackboard covered with reflective aluminum foil behind the jade bush.
repot
root cause
- wet substrate
solution
- Repotting and modified watering
One of the key functions of proper care is a low to moderate water supply. As a succulent, the money tree stores water in shoots and leaves, from which it feeds in dry seasons. If you continue to water even though the natural reservoir is full, the substrate will become waterlogged. As a result, the leaves turn yellow and fall off. Check with your fingers whether waterlogging is the cause of the dilemma. This is how you bring the imbalance in the water balance back into balance.
Here's how to do it:
- repot the jade bush and completely remove the wet substrate from the root ball
- Spread shards of clay or expanded clay over the water drain as drainage
- Use a mix of 2 parts cactus soil and 1 part quartz sand as a substrate
- insert the root ball into the dry soil while maintaining the previous planting depth
For the next 10 days, the stressed money tree is allowed to regenerate in the partially shaded location and is not watered. Modify the water supply from now on in such a way that you only water in the summer when the soil is well dried. From November to March, only water in sips so that the substrate does not dry out. So that no excess water collects in the saucer and rises again, fill it with expanded clay balls or grit.
fight pests
root cause
- Spider mites, mealybugs and mealybugs
solution
- Control by natural means
If you don't let your money tree lack anything, pests don't stand a chance. On the other hand, if the care program becomes unbalanced, sucking and biting parasites do not miss this opportunity. In winter it is primarily spider mites, mealybugs and mealybugs that afflict your penny tree.
Since the exotic houseplant is already weakened by a lack of light and heating air, even small irregularities in the water and nutrient balance can attract pests. In the early stages, the infestation can be recognized by white webs and cotton balls. The leaves will turn yellow, dry up and eventually fall off.
How to combat it with natural means:
- Immediately isolate the affected jade bush from other indoor plants
- pack the pot with the root ball in a plastic bag
- Rinse the trunk, shoots and leaves upside down with a strong jet of water
- Wipe off all green plant parts with a cloth soaked in alcohol
- Treat inaccessible leaf axils with cotton swabs and alcohol
- Alternatively, fight the pests with an insecticide containing neem, such as Compo Bio insect-free neem
If you are confronted with a stubborn infestation, the money tree is naturally robust enough to withstand the following control method: The entire plant is packed in an airtight plastic bag for a week. The high humidity in combination with the lack of oxygen puts an end to spider mites, mealybugs and mealybugs.
acclimatize
root cause
- Sunburn on the balcony
solution
- Change of location and acclimate in spring
If a Crassula ovata is exposed to blazing sunlight unprepared, damage occurs that is mistakenly interpreted as symptoms of diseases. Yellow spots with a brown border are formed on the leaves. Only the areas where the sunlight hits are affected. In contrast to true leaf spot disease, the spots do not spread further, so parts of the leaves remain green.
How to solve the problem:
- do not cut off the affected leaves
- move the money tree to a partially shaded location for 14 days
- put it back in the sun after acclimatization
Crassula ovata suffers from sunburn, moving to the balcony in May to spend the summer under the open sky. Although these are sun-loving plants, they depend on a gradual acclimatization process. By starting the move with a 2-week hardening phase in a semi-shady place, you effectively prevent sunburn.
lime-free water
root cause
- leaf chlorosis
solution
- Water with lime-free water
Leaf chlorosis is one of the diseases that are triggered by deficiency symptoms. Yellow leaves with green leaf veins are characteristic. This symptom indicates that important nutrients such as iron and magnesium are no longer transported to the leaves via the pathways, although they are present in sufficient quantities in the substrate.
The minerals are blocked by too high a lime content, which causes this problem, especially in tropical plants such as the penny tree. If very hard water comes out of the tap in your region, it should not be used for watering. How to fix leaf chlorosis on Crassula ovata as follows.
Here's how to do it:
- cut off yellowed leaves
- From now on water the money tree with collected rain or stale tap water
Since changing the water supply does not remedy the deficiency overnight, the acute iron deficiency can be compensated for with a special fertilizer. Iron chelate fertilizers such as Compo Fetrilon 13 are excellent for this purpose. These contain the nutrient in liquid form so that it is available more quickly. Administered as foliar fertilization, the missing iron is available where it is needed. In order to administer the solution properly, please make sure that the temperature is above 18 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the money tree should not be in direct sunlight.
Since the excess lime in the substrate fixes magnesium at the same time, this micronutrient should also be administered as a supplement. Kieserite is an excellent magnesium fertilizer and is mainly found in the Alps. The natural fertilizer works independently of the pH value of the soil, so that it is absorbed by the roots despite the high lime content. Epsom salt is cheaper and more quickly soluble in water. It supplies the magnesium that is missing in native and exotic ornamental trees and eliminates chlorosis on leaves.
pruning
root cause
- Root rot as a result of improper wintering
solution
- Cut back, repot, winter cool and dry
Not only leaf shedding and yellow discoloration give reason to complain about Crassula ovata. The trunk, the shoots and the leaves become soft and wrinkled explicitly during the tricky winter period. Unsuitable framework conditions trigger the problems. As long as not all parts of the plant are softened, the following package of measures can get the money tree out of trouble.
How to proceed:
- Cut back all soft shoots down to the healthy tissue
- pot out the Crassula ovata and shake off the substrate
- Cut out rotten root strands
- Repot in a mix of succulent soil, lava granules and sand
The Pfennigbaum feels best in a bright location with cool temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius from October/November to February/March. The windowsill in the unheated, south-facing bedroom is a wisely chosen winter home, as is the unheated conservatory.
If more than half of the roots are shriveled and are cut off, there is a risk of total failure. Therefore, ensure the continued existence of your Crassula ovata by cutting head or leaf cuttings from the shoots that have not been softened for propagation.