Plant leaf problems

Overwatered plants often have yellowing, limp leaves, leaf drop, soft growth, or wilting despite wet compost. The confirmation is in the root zone: heavy wet compost, water sitting in an outer pot, poor drainage and dark, soft roots all point to overwatering or root rot.

Brown crispy edges usually mean the leaf margins dried or were damaged. Common causes are underwatering, irregular watering, low humidity, heat, wind, root damage, salt build-up, overfeeding or scorch. Check moisture and exposure before you feed.

No. Holes are often from slugs, snails, caterpillars, beetles or vine weevil adults, but wind, hail and shothole diseases can also leave holes or torn areas. Look for fresh feeding, slime, droppings, pests at night, and whether spots formed before the tissue fell out.

Remove fully yellow, dead, badly diseased or heavily infested leaves when it helps hygiene or appearance. Keep partly green leaves if they are still feeding the plant and not spreading disease. Never strip so many leaves that the plant cannot photosynthesise, especially on vegetables.

Only if the plant genuinely has a magnesium deficiency, which is not the most common cause of yellow leaves. Guessing with Epsom salt can delay the real fix. Check water, roots, light, pests, pH and the yellowing pattern first.

The plant can often recover, but damaged leaf tissue rarely turns perfect again. Judge success by new growth, fewer pests, slower spread and better root function — not by expecting old yellow, brown or spotted areas to turn green.