A flowering plant called calibrachoa plants is commonly referred to as “Million bells plants.” These are perennial in mild regions but are classed as annual in cold climates that encounter frost since it is not cold tolerant, and you’ll naturally have dying calibrachoa plants in the winter.
The most frequent cause of a dying calibrachoa is root rot from too moist soil. Calibrachoa like a soak-and-dry watering pattern; hence, if the soil is persistently damp because of inadequate drainage or watering, the calibrachoa leaves turn brown and droop, giving them a dying aspect.
A million bells that don’t produce abundant blooms and have yellowing leaves need more fertilizer because of nutritional deficiency. Get the watering balance perfect to avoid root rot or drought and stop the calibrachoa from dying.
In our guide, you can learn more about the calibrachoa problems you can face, from do calibrachoa come back every year after the temperature drops and more. By the end, you’ll know all the problems and how to revive calibrachoa if it suffers from the most common cause or one of the others brought on by poor growing conditions. (Read Why Is My St Augustine Grass Turning Yellow)
Calibrachoa Dying From Root Rot
Once the plant’s roots start to rot, you’ll see your Calibrachoa Leaves turning brown.
Your Calibrachao is probably dying because the area around the roots is too wet, which is the most common reason.
Native to South America and Mexico, calibrachoa flourishes in open spaces, well-draining soil, and direct sunlight.
The chances of fungal disease like severe root rot, caused by roots sitting in excessively moist soil with poor drainage for an extended period, increase.
Root rot in a calibrachoa shows itself as browning of the leaves and flowers.
To prevent roots from sitting in soggy soil, calibrachoa benefits from a soak and dry watering method where they receive a generous amount of water once a week, and the soil can dry partially, yet not completely dry out.
This method of watering mimics the natural surroundings of the million bells.
Your calibrachoa’s surrounding soil may be soggy because of:
Put trays under containers. Putting a saucer or drip tray under the plant prevents excess moisture from evaporating after watering or rain and causes root rot by saturating the soil.
No-drain pots and containers. Well-drained soil is essential for calibrachoa.
If your pot or container is merely aesthetic and doesn’t offer a good water drainage facility in the bottom, it will cause root rot, and the plant will brown and die.
Million Bells are dying in hanging baskets. Calibrachoa is an excellent hanging pot plant since it tolerates dry potting soil.
In some hanging baskets, the soil is lined with plastic which makes the soil retain too much water, leading the soil to stay wet, and your calibrachoa will turn brown and die from root rot because of too much water. (Learn How To Save A Dying Blue Spruce)
To revive your calibrachoa plant:
To prevent the roots of the calibrachoa from sitting in soggy soil, remove any drip trays or saucers from beneath pots and let excess water flow out of the soil.
If in a hanging basket, water calibrachoa once per week, especially if it rains. If it is in warm conditions, you may need to add another light watering every few days.
Avoid using too much fertilizer. Instead, it is better to use organic fertilizer, such as multipurpose compost. This offers the added benefit of allowing excess water to drain from the roots to prevent the soil from becoming saturated.
Always add compost to the planting area when planting calibrachoa in garden borders to mimic their ideal soil conditions.
The risk of root rot is reduced if you use the finest care techniques and maintain the proper watering balance so that the soil dries out.
If your calibrachoa is water stressed, it should recover after a week if you do this.
It’s important to know that if you have a calibrachoa dying from sitting in boggy soil or water-logged hanging baskets, chances are you won’t be able to revive your trailing petunia from root rot or other diseases like leaf spot.
Calibrachoa Dying Because Of Under-Watering
The most frequent cause of calibrachoa dying is damp soil from overwatering.
However, calibrachoa can turn brown and wilt with shriveled leaves and brown spots because of underwatering.
Calibrachoa needs a balance of soil moisture, which you can achieve by growing the plant in good potting soil and compost in pots, containers, and hanging baskets.
However, if temperatures rise in the summer months, or you face a heat wave, or even if you have sandy soil.
Calibrachoa in hanging baskets is more vulnerable to drought thanks to their greater exposure to wind and less capacity for soil compared with pots and containers.
For your million bells, many factors determine the watering frequency, such as rainfall, temperature, and humidity.
Although, in hotter climates or if there is a heat wave, it is best practice to water calibrachoa once every 3 or 4 days to achieve the optimal moisture balance.
If you think the drought is the reason for your calibrachoa plant dying, test the soil to a finger depth and monitor the soil’s moisture throughout the week and water as soon as the soil feels somewhat dry.
A dying calibrachoa with wilted leaves should recover from drought within a week as long as you determine the optimal watering frequency for your climate.
If you are amid the growing season, you may need to water your plants more than once per week. Watering will be reduced in the winter months or during long periods of cold weather. (Learn How To Save A Dying Rhododendron)
Calibrachoa Leaves Turning Yellow
If the leaves on your calibrachoa are turning yellow, there aren’t enough nutrients in the soil.
Because of its rapid growth, calibrachoa needs fertilizer to supply it with extra nutrients to develop, flower, and prevent its curled leaves from becoming yellow.
This is a typical issue for calibrachoa plants growing in small pots, containers, and hanging baskets because roots in small pots have less access to soil nutrients.
How to Revive Yellow Leaves On Calibrachoa
It’s crucial to fertilize your calibrachoa pots with a half-strength all-purpose fertilizer if the leaves are yellowing to rejuvenate the plant.
To prevent issues with too much additional fertilizer, which can burn the roots of your plants, use an all-purpose fertilizer for calibrachoa grown in pots.
Use a liquid fertilizer once every 2-4 weeks to keep your calibrachoa in the greatest condition for optimal flowering and to prevent leaves from turning yellow.
Adding too much nitrogen will offer lots of foliage, reducing flower development.
Lighting Requirements Calibrachoa Requires
Your calibrachoa needs more sun if it has weak, wiry growth, a lack of calibrachoa blooming with fewer flowers, and possibly dead leaves.
In their original South American setting, calibrachoa evolved to grow in wide spaces in warm temperatures and places with at least six hours of sun.
Your calibrachoa must sit in a sunny area to deliver the best possible flower display.
More sun exposure also increases evaporation, lowering root rot’s danger. It also keeps the plant healthy and disease-resistant.
To help calibrachoa recover, locate hanging baskets in a sunny location and move pots and containers to a spot with direct sun, or plant in a raised bed along with other plants that can offer partial shade.
Cold Weather Calibrachoa Dying
Calibrachoa is a plant native to warm regions of South America, and although it can tolerate lightly cold climates with a light frost.
Because they die in the winter and frequently develop black foliage, calibrachoa is frequently considered an annual flowering plant for hanging baskets and pots in cool locations that see frost in the winter.
The only way to protect calibrachoa in cold climates is to grow them in pots, move them to a heated greenhouse for the winter, and then put them back outside after the risk of frost has passed.
The cold-sensitive calibrachoa can help from the protection of horticultural fleece against chilly nights and sporadic frost.
Dying calibrachoa is usually because of fungal diseases such as root rot caused by excess moisture around the roots.
Calibrachoa needs the soil to dry out between waterings; hence, if the plant receives too much watering or is in soggy soil, the leaves will become brown and wilt, dying the calibrachoa plants.
Nutrient nutrients are the reason for yellow calibrachoa leaves. Due to its rapid development, calibrachoa is a heavy feeder that needs fertilizer every four weeks to prevent yellow leaves and encourage flowering.
Drought can affect calibrachoa, causing the leaves to wilt. In warmer weather, calibrachoa in hanging baskets and pots is susceptible to drying out too rapidly. In hot and dry weather, increase watering to once every three or four days.
South American native calibrachoa needs full sun and soil that drains well.
Too much shadow frequently causes calibrachoa to grow slowly and produce few flowers. For the calibrachoa to heal and produce flowers, ensure it is in full sun. (Read Hen And Chick Plant Dying – What To Do)
Insects and Yellow Leaves
Fungus gnats and spider mites are the most common pests of Calibrachoa plants.
These are tiny creatures that eat plant soil, roots, and leaves. The plant leaves are immediately affected by the fungus gnats’ eating habits.
Small insects hiding around and yellowish leaves on your calibrachoa show that fungus gnats are killing your plant.
The same pesticide solution that you used to treat leaf spot disease can also be used to treat fungus gnats. Neem oil is a great solution to deal with these insects.
However, a dishwasher soap and water solution will work even better as a pesticide for fungus gnats, and an application onto the affected leaves helps prevent spreading.
Conclusion
You can see from the above that there are a few reasons why my calibrachoa is dying. The plant dies, yet on most occasions, it is desirable.
If the weather is too cold such as in the winter months, it makes sense to take your plant inside, yet this doesn’t help when you have a bug infestation.
