Most people choose to decorate their homes with succulents due to their not so demanding caring requirements. There are many sources saying that succulents are hard-to-kill and easy to care plants yet you find yourself encountering problems with them.
One of the most common problems faced by succulents is leaf discoloration. It’s well-known that succulents use their fleshy parts as a water reservoir during droughts, which helps them sustain during dry periods. But these fleshy parts (stems and leaves) are also susceptible to diseases and disorders that discolor them with brown spots.
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Even if succulent plant leaves are thick, fleshy and filled with water, you don’t have to water them more than other plants. However, the reverse is true. Succulents thrive better when the soil dries between waterings.
Important: if succulents remain in wet soils they will suffer from edema which will lead to brown, corky sports on the leaves.
Succulents may suffer from brown spots on leaves due to their sensitiveness to fertilizer. If you give your succulent plants too much fertilizer, the salts that are contained in fertilizers accumulate in the soil and can burn the roots. As the salty soil solution moves upward in succulents, it may also burn the leaves and cause brown spots.
Keep in Mind: Succulents are susceptible to a host of fungal leaf-spot diseases. These pathogenic fungi require water to reproduce sexually and to spread, so these diseases proliferate in moist areas and foggy climates. As a fungus takes hold of a plant, it may form brown spots on leaves that may eventually join to form large lesions. Once the disease is present, there’s no cure.
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But the most common reason for brown leaves on succulents is sunburn or sun damage. If you’ve recently moved your plant to a bright location, or if you’ve recently had a heatwave or intense heat and you notice your plants have brown spots on their leaves, these spots are equivalent to sunburn.
Don’t Panic! Brown spots from sunburn don’t really harm the plant but they do leave a permanent mark on the leaves. These spots will not fade but the leaves will eventually fall off as new growth develops.
Solution: to prevent brown spots on leaves caused by sunburn, you have to move the plant to a shadier location or provide some shade.
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