Many people have asked the question “why do African violet leaves curl up when cut?” This is a legitimate question as many plants experience a type of curl when they are being cut. When the plant is young it will have this type of curl and will continue to grow for many years to come.
The reason that the leaves start to curl up is that they are exposed to an excessive amount of light. If the light is very bright then the plant will not experience a growth spurt. The leaves will remain small and close together. They will also not be found to have many leaves at all.
The plants will curl up due to too much light being emitted on the top of the plant. Excess amounts of light will cause stress to the roots causing them to curl up. In addition, if the plant experiences an excess amount of heat from an extreme summer it could also cause the leaves due to high temperatures to curl up.
Most times the leaves do not curl up because they are in poor health. Many times they are suffering from root rot or a fungal disease. A large percentage of African violet plants are infected with a fungus called Phytoseiia solanacea which affects the underground stems and can cause the plant to die. A plant suffering from this disease will have dry soil and brown spider mites feeding on the leaves.
Other reasons why the leaves curl up is because the lighting they receive does not match the kind of light their roots need to survive. Leaves start to curl up because the light they receive is not adequate for healthy roots. For example if your lights are low light then the roots will stay close to the ground because they need all the light they receive; however when the lights are high like at the time of the evening the roots start to rise.
It is important to provide your African violets with a sufficient amount of light so that they can grow healthy. If they don’t get enough sunlight their roots will stay close to the ground because they are relying on the light for nutrients. Another reason why the leaves start to curl is because the soil they are growing on is too acidic. African violet leaf stems don’t like acidic soil. If the soil they are growing on receives less than ideal amounts of calcium, iron, manganese and other trace minerals then they will eventually die.
If you want to stop your African violet leaves from curling up then you must fertilize them. You can visit my blog for more information on how to fertilize your African violet leafs. The correct amount of fertilizer is based on the size and age of your African violets. If you want to prevent your leafs from curling up then you should water them less than normal during hot weather. If your African violet leaves curl up when you water them then you should cut back on the watering.
Excessive light can be one of the reasons why African violet plants curl up. Since the leaves depend on the sun for most of their nutrients. When the leaves are constantly in the open, the plant depends on the sun to get most of its energy. This means that if you leave the lights on for too long a period of time then the leaves will start to turn brown. The best way to avoid this is by taking short naps or leaving the lights on for shorter periods throughout the day.
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