Leaves shrivelling up on a baby privet

lillilland

I have little privet plants I'm growing right now (which hopefully will be bonsai in the future!) and the leaves on one of these have been curling up at the tips and eventually falling off.

I keep the plants inside, but it's gotten cold recently where I live, so at first I thought it was due to the drop in temperature and the air being more dry. I've moved the plants to a smaller room and turned on the humidifier. The leaves are still curling and slightly darkening at the tips, which spreads to the other parts of the leaves and then falling off. I touched the leaves that were darking/shrivelling up and they don't feel dry at all.

Does anyone have any ideas about what is causing this, and what I can do to remedy the situation?

Thanks in advance.

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Mcspeed

Sounds like wet feet and not enough light.

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zen

Are there privet (ligustrum), growing outdoors, up there in Ontario?
I know that ligustrum are evergreen here in GA but in colder climates the same plant is deciduous. This says that you should be able to leave them outdoors, so long as they're protected from harsh winds. By this same standard one should be able to "fake" a warmer winter (while still making sure that there IS some sort of dormancy period, as ligustrum aren't actually tropical) inside a room that is sufficiently (but not dripping) humid and warmed only slightly, to maintain green on the tree.
There is also light to consider if you want to keep leaves green, hence keeping the tree from going completely dormant. This means that if there isn't enough light the tree will eventually die, if it isn't dormant.
I would say IF there are privets growing outside where you live, get yours outside too. If not, you'll need some grow lights,....and that's another thread altogether.
:-)

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Joanie

Sounds like it may be root rot. Is the soil drying out between waterings? If the roots are rotting, they can't absorb water and it is the same effect visually as if the tree were drying out.

Always let the soil dry between waterings. You want the soil to be just damp before you water it again. Use your finger or a chopstick to test it. Then, water it until the water runs out of the drainage holes. Don't water again until the soil is just damp once more.

Joanie

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