I have a problem with leaves falling on my ixora's plant and would like some advice on how to treat. Also yellowing leaves on some and brown tips on leaves of others. Could you give some advice on how to treat. Thanks

Hi gracebarto to All Things Plants!

I live in Florida where Ixora are commonly grown as hedge/landscape plants. I have a couple of Flame of the Woods (Ixora) in the ground as a small hedge and one Flame of the Woods (Ixora coccinea 'Maui Red') that I keep in a container trained as a tree form. Ixora like high humidity so you might try misting the leaves daily to see if that helps. You can also sit the containers on trays of pebbles, making sure to always keep a bit of water in the trays which will raise the humidity levels around the plant.

Hopefully others who grow Ixora will pop in with some tips too!

Hi Grace, and welcome. A picture or pictures of your ixoras would help a lot. It would also help to know where (approx.) you live.

Are these new plants? In pots or in the ground? Sun or shade? Weather conditions and soil are two big culprits of discolored leaves.

I live in Rockhampton, Queensland Australia. The plants are only about three months old and are in the ground. It is currently winter here and I wonder if this is part of the problem. Grace

Yes, winter weather can cause leaves to discolor and drop. How cold does it get there in winter? I would think Queensland would have similar weather to ours here in Florida, but we do get temperatures below 5deg. C at night in winter and occasionally (rarely) down to 0deg. sometimes.

If your nights are getting cold, your ixoras are probably dormant right now. You need to slow down or stop watering altogether, and don't fertilize either. They really can't metabolize much water or plant food right now. Don't let them dry out completely, but be very sparing with the water.

Another month or so, you should start seeing healthy new growth begin and that is your indicator to give some fertilizer (but a very light dose for new-ish plants) and gradually increase watering as the weather warms up. You can tell if there is too much fertilizer, as the new leaves will develop brown, burnt looking edges.

I do not think cold weather would be much of a problem in Rockhampton. It is near the coast and low temps are usually around 50F (10). Grace is about 400 miles to the north of Brisbane where my daughter lives. I often have to remind myself that in Australia, warmer temps are to the north, colder to the south. Rockhampton is pretty humid year-round as I remember.

https://www.google.com/webhp?s...

Thanks for help -
am still not sure why the leaves are falling off - we have had some single digit low temperatures centigrade in the last few weeks - maybe this accounts for the leaf loss. also I need to check the ph of the soil - may not be acidic enough.
Grace

My problem with my Ixora is that the branches are getting dried completely the leaf also our drying out out like if they were burned by something. I was checking the plant and I did not see any leaf spot in the area where the burn branches are. Please take a look at the picture that I took of it and if you can help me I greatly appreciate it. Also if you can advise me where to physically take the branches so they can advise me what is it. Best Regards.