Healthy oleander leaves are dark green and glossy. However, various causes can lead to the leaves turning completely or partially brown and drying out. In most cases, care errors are behind this phenomenon.
Brown leaves are not necessarily a sign of disease
Causes of brown leaves
If your oleander gets brown leaves, the following reasons are behind it in many cases:
- The oleander was not watered enough and is too dry. Due to the lack of water, the plant dries up.
- Especially in winter or at the end of it, brown leaves indicate a lack of moisture.
- You put the oleander in full sun straight from its winter quarters. In this case, the plant reacts with burns, which are expressed in brown leaves.
- If the leaves do not turn completely brown, but only the leaf edges, then you probably meant it a little too well with the fertilization of the heavy feeder - brown leaf edges usually appear as a result of over-fertilization.
Brown leaves after winter break
All these reasons are comparatively harmless, because the shrub can regenerate quickly. But be careful: Brown leaves in particular after the winter break can also be an indication of an infection with the Ascochyta fungus. This disease is colloquially referred to as dry rot, as the affected plant looks dried up despite sufficient watering.
Appropriate countermeasures
Before you take any action, you should first find out the real cause - only then can you take effective action. However, be aware that the brown leaves will not turn green again and you will have to wait for new growth. Take a very close look at the affected oleander: Can you spot fresh shoots on the leaf axils? If so, then just pluck off the brown leaves and shorten overly long shoots. The oleander will sprout again all by itself. In other cases, however, only a radical pruning helps.
tips
Incidentally, brown leaf spots can also be an indication of an unsuitable location.