Why is my new indoor plant losing its leaves?
When a new houseplant starts dropping leaves and dying, adjusting light and water often isn't enough. If the plant continues to discolor and lose foliage, it may need repotting, but many struggle to find the right soil on a tight budget without resorting to unsuitable, heavy outdoor dirt.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Moving the plant to different locations to adjust light exposureDid this help you?
- 2Reducing or altering the watering scheduleDid this help you?
- 3Considering giving the plant to a local garden shop to care forDid this help you?
- 4Repurposing soda bottles, water jugs, or yogurt/ice cream tubs as pots by poking holes in the bottomDid this help you?
- 5Using a hammer and nail underwater to punch a hole through an un-drained potDid this help you?
- 6Reusing existing potting soil instead of buying new soilDid this help you?
- 7Growing plant seedlings/propagations in waterDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I got a dying plant on my hands. Not sure if it even is holding on enough to revive.”source ↗
“That did stop the discoloration but the plant was still losing its gorgeous leaves.”source ↗
“This did nothing and now I am running out ideas as to what could be causing this die off!”source ↗
“Can i use reuse the soil i have rn in the pot cuz i dont think i can use the soil in my backyard as a new soil as it is very clay heavy”source ↗
“i dont exactly have a new pot or money to buy one or even soil”source ↗
“Can i even save the poor guy at this point😭”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2Plants dying in thin, compacted soil under a maintenance bond
- 2How to tell if a dying plant will come back next year
- 4How to get rid of fungus gnats without changing the soil
- 10Why is my evergreen turning brown after winter?
- 2Why are my bushes turning brown after watering?