Why amaryllis leaves turn yellow: the causes of this disease, possible pests and other ailments, as well as their treatment, depending on the problem

Amaryllis is a perennial bulbous plant that is part of the Amaryllis family.

A representative grows from the bulb, its diameter reaches 11 centimeters. The leaves are oblong in shape up to 50 centimeters, and up to 3 centimeters wide.

One bulb throws 1-2 full fleshy arrows 40-70 centimeters high. Funnel-shaped inflorescences appear on them.

The appearance of amaryllis is similar to lily and hippeastrum. The plant is capricious in care and highly susceptible to diseases and pests. Knowing the intricacies of dealing with problems, they are not scary.

Leaf problems

Most often, when growing amaryllis at home and in the garden, you can encounter a number of problems. All problems have their own causes and their treatment in each case individually.

Why are they turning yellow?

There are two reasons why leaves turn yellow:

excessive soil moisture;
parasite attack - thrips or aphids.

It is necessary to reduce the frequency and abundance of watering, as well as to etch pests.

Important! Drying of the leaves may indicate the transition of the plant to a dormant period. In this case, it is necessary to completely stop watering the amaryllis and wait for the complete drying of its terrestrial part. When the leaves dry, cut them off.

Turn pale

Most often this problem occurs:

when choosing the wrong pot;
due to the lack of good drainage in the soil.

There should be impressive openings in the bottom of the pot so that excess water goes into the pan when watering. Good drainage is one of the most important stages of planting a plant, it is he who passes moisture through the soil faster and helps him evenly distribute, thereby preventing stagnation of water and excessive overmoistening of the soil.

Get dark or rot

Darkening and even decay of leaves develops due to:

high level of humidity;
lack of heat in the room;
excessive watering of amaryllis.

To avoid the problem, you need to move the container with the plant to a drier and warmer room. The permissible moisture level for this indoor flower is 40-50%. Also, when watering, you need to make sure that moisture does not get on the amaryllis leaves.

Other troubles

There are also problems associated with amaryllis flowers.

The plant does not bloom

This houseplant may not bloom for a number of reasons:

lack of lighting;
lack of soil nutrition;
the bulb is too deeply buried in the ground;
any root disease develops;
the flower did not go to dormancy this year;
the plant has not been transplanted for a long time and it requires the separation of young bulbs.

Reference! If amaryllis is grown from seed, then it will bloom no earlier than 7 years later, and from the bulb blooms for 3 years.

About why amaryllis may not bloom and how to solve this problem, read here.

Petals are getting lighter

This reason occurs when a flowering plant has been exposed to direct sunlight for a long time. To avoid the fading of the petals, you need to place a flower pot on the southeast or southwest windows, and on very hot days, shade the amaryllis.

How to deal with fungal diseases?

Like most houseplants amaryllis susceptible to infection by fungal diseases.

Red rot

When infected, red spots and stripes appear on the surface of the leaves. To cure the flower, apply:

Bordeaux mixture - you need to prepare a solution of lime and copper sulphate, for this, both components are diluted with water with a total volume of 5 liters. The diseased part of the plant is sprayed with the finished solution.
Fundazole - prepare a solution in a proportion of 10 grams of the drug per 0.5 liters of water. Watering the soil, 2 treatments in 2 days are enough.
Maksim - for processing, prepare a working solution of 1 ampoule per 1 liter of water, water the solution with a solution of the plant 2 times after 3-5 days.

Further, a visual and informative video about the fight against red rot on amaryllis bulbs:

Anthractose

When infected, dark spots with brown smudges appear on the leaves of the plant. Occurs due to excessive watering. To cure amaryllis, it is necessary to carry out treatment with fungicides and reduce the abundance of watering.

The first signs usually appear on the leaves: brown spots with a dark brown border gradually grow over the other aerial organs of the plant.

Over time, the spots merge and deepen, forming obstacles to the movement of nutrients. Later, dark purple or brown rim appears at the spots. Drugs used for treatment: Ridomil, Skor Acrobat.

Stagonosporosis

The main symptom of the disease is the appearance of red spots on the surface of the plant, they appear on the leaves, stems and even the bulb.

Stagonosporosis is contagious. If you began to notice adverse changes in the appearance of the flower, it must be urgently removed from nearby healthy specimens. It is not possible to cure the disease, the flower eventually dies.

Stagonosporosis develops due to sharp temperature drops in the room and abundant watering.

Gray prel

This disease manifests itself in the form of brown spots throughout the terrestrial part of the plant. One and the main reason for the development of gray rot is the constant waterlogging of the soil.

If traces of the disease were found on the surface of the leaves, it is necessary to immediately transplant the plant into a new soil composition with a good drainage system. As a prevention of the onset of the disease, it is enough to observe a moderate watering regime.

Fusarium

When infected, a rapidly wilting plant is observed. On the part of the bulb that is visible above the soil, rotten wounds can be considered. Root rot develops due to:

dense soil composition;
excessive watering and stagnation of water in an earthen coma;
lack of nutrients.

To save the plant, you need to disinfect the soil and the pot, for this, a solution of Fundazole is suitable.

Important! The root rot pathogen is stored for a long time in the soil and on the surface of the plant, therefore it is recommended to isolate it from healthy representatives.

Pests

Amaryllis is susceptible to attacks by a number of pests. What parasites can infect a plant and how to deal with them?

Worm

This is a white, waxy small insect that develops in the onion flakes of a flower. Sooty fungi form in the pest feces. The affected plant gradually loses its leaves and slows its growth..

To identify the parasite, it is necessary to remove the onion from the soil composition and carefully examine it, since the worm is hiding under the skin. After that, it is necessary to etch and plant in a new disinfected soil.

To get rid of the pest, insecticides are used: Aktara, Fitoverm, Spark, Rogor. It is necessary to carry out the treatment of bulbs and soil with a solution of the selected drug, the dosage is indicated on the package.

False shield

False shield is a small brown insect. Appears in columns on plant leaves. When infected with a parasite, the leaves along the veins and the trunk of the plants become covered with plaque formed from a large accumulation of scale insects.

In damaged plants, growth and development are delayed, the leaves turn yellow and fall prematurely. Brown or light rounded scales appear on the leaves of the affected plants, which are difficult to separate from the leaf.

Pests contribute to warm and dry weather.. Females appear on plants imperceptibly in May-June, and actively lay larvae in July-August. For the fight apply:

cool soap solution with 20% alcohol to wipe the leaves;
a solution of Aktara (0.4 grams per 1 liter of water) is used for irrigation;
solution of the drug Actellik (1 milliliter per 1 liter of water);
Bankol solution (0.7 grams per 1 liter of water).

Thrips

then small parasites of brown color. They are clearly visible on the leaves of the plant. The pest affected plant slowly turns yellow.

To combat thrips, it is recommended to use drugs: Spark, Aktara, Fitoverm. How to prepare a working solution for pest control is indicated on the factory packaging with the drug. To fix the result, such processing should be carried out 2 times with an interval of 5 days.

Mealy bugs

These are small white bugs that form columns on the terrestrial part of the plant. The affected plant is covered with a whitish bloom and white spots. The worm is able to form large colonies, thereby creating large areas of damage to the plant. They suck out all the amaryllis juices, so it gradually begins to dry out.

To get rid of the pest, you need to regularly wipe the leaves with a cool soap solution. If there are a lot of pests and the plant is heavily covered with plaque, the help of insecticides will be required: Admiral, Aktara, Fitoverm, Spark.

Onion tick

If, for no reason, the ground part of the plant begins to rot and wilt, the cause is probably a bulb damage with an onion mite. To identify it, you need to remove the bulb from the soil composition and carefully inspect. The pest is very small, its size may not reach 2 millimeters. the body of the parasite is oval with a narrowing towards the end, the body color is light yellow.

This pest eats bulbs. If the root of the amaryllis is severely affected by a tick, the bulb literally crumbles in your hands. Inside the bulb you will see white dust as a result of eating by ticks. The parasite appears due to the heat in the room.

You can save the plant in rare cases, but pre-treatment of the bulb before planting in the soil will help to protect it. You can use a solution of potassium permanganate, and Celtan is also suitable.

Conclusion

Amaryllis is very demanding in care (you can find the rules for caring for this plant at home here). If you do not follow all the rules, then the plant is very susceptible to infection by diseases and pest attacks. But this is not a sentence, almost always you can find a way to treat the plant. But still it is better to avoid infection of the flower, and it is better to carry out all sorts of preventive measures more often.