4

The leaves of my coleus have been going limp. A few days ago, I noticed that the leaves were limp. I guessed that I probably hadn't given enough sunlight but the leaves were back to normal when I woke up the next morning. I have never had this issue before. I got my coleus about 6 months ago.

At 1 PM today I noticed that the leaves were limping again. I gave it a little water, gave it a lot more sunlight, and by 2 PM it was fine again. So naturally, I assumed that it was because of not enough sunlight but it still doesn't make sense why it would be fine overnight last time this happened.

Some other information that might be useful:

  1. I water my coleus daily, every morning to the point where the soil is moist enough. And throughout the day if I see that the soil is entirely dry, I spray some water.
  2. I don't use fertilizers.
  3. I live in Tehran and pollution is a huge problem. It has gotten a lot worse these days. here is the AQI. I'm not sure if it has to do much with the state of my plant but I thought I'd mention this just in case.

Note:
It is winter now, and some might think that my plant is getting less sunlight because of it but in winter here there's still a lot of sunlight.

I have uploaded some photos here. They are all from today, before and after the issue.

Edit:
The average temperature during the day within the past two weeks in the city has been 8 degrees (c). I'm not sure about my room temperature but it has not changed and I had no problems before. I use a radiator in my room that's below the table on which my plant is.

Limp leaves:
enter image description here

Back to normal:
enter image description here

Zara
  • 141
  • 4

1 Answers1

2

I suspect the problem is the radiator beneath the table. No houseplant likes to be above or close to a heat source - the reason it recovers overnight is because presumably, the radiator is not in use at night. I note the pot appears to be very wide but I can't tell how deep it is; if it's less than 6 inches, then likely the roots will be spread out across the soil in the pot, which means they will dry out more quickly.

They do appreciate some sunlight, but don't respond well to full sun all afternoon, when it is likely to be hotter coming through the glass. It seems you have the watering right - not letting the soil dry out completely and watering appropriately, but the air around the plant will be very dry when the radiator is running. I suggest you either move the radiator or the plant so it is not sitting over a heat source. If you cannot do that, then using a pebble tray twice as wide as the pot, half filled with water, with the plant balanced on top of the pebbles, not in contact with the water, may help by supplying humidity. Further care instructions here: Indoor Coleus Care: How To Grow A Coleus Houseplant.

Bence Kaulics
  • 1,908
  • 3
  • 13
  • 30
Bamboo
  • 131,823
  • 3
  • 72
  • 162
  • I was guessing the radiator was causing issues too but it is weird since I had no issues with the same heat before and it is running at night too, but I will locate the pot somewhere else and see if it helps. The pot is about 12cm (Around 5 inches). I never thought about the depth of the pot before so thank you for the information! – Zara Jan 03 '21 at 16:44
  • 1
    Then air humidity might be the greater problem,, if the radiator is on all night. Although temperatures fall overnight, which might mean the room less warm even with the radiator, but regardless,room humidity wil have dropped with the heat. – Bamboo Jan 03 '21 at 18:07