Why is my rose bush with yellow leaves? Reasons and solutions

Why is my rose bush with yellow leaves?

If you have a rose bush and it is one of those that throws roses at you, surely seeing yellow leaves is a trauma for you. What can happen to a rose bush with yellow leaves?

If you also need to have an answer and know the reasons why the leaves of your rose bush turn yellow (and what to do in those cases), keep reading because we have compiled all the possible causes and the treatments that could work for you.

lack of chlorophyll

One of the first reasons why you may have a rose bush with yellow leaves is a lack of chlorophyll. In case you don’t know, this is a green pigment with which plants absorb energy from sunlight. But if it does not have, or it is very little, then photosynthesis does not carry it out correctly.

What does this imply? Well, among other things, the plant is not receiving the energy it needs, which weakens it and makes it susceptible to diseases and pests.

In the case of the rose bush, if it does not get enough sunlight and also does not have enough chlorophyll, it can mean the death of the plant. That is why you have to see if this is really the problem and apply some treatment to restore the chlorophyll (or have more sunlight).

pink roses

pink roses

Plagues and diseases

As you know, rose bushes have many pests and diseases that affect them, and that can cause the appearance of yellow leaves on them.

Mites, diseases caused by fungi that affect the sap of the plant, insect attacks, etc. they will make the leaves change color inevitably… Or almost.

If you detect that there is a pest doing its thing, the best thing you can do is wash the entire plant with neem oil or alcohol to eliminate it. If it is very strong, you may also have to treat it with a product such as an insecticide.

Lack of excess water

As with other plants, in the case of rose bushes, if you go too far with water, or fall short, it has consequences.

On the one hand, if the plant lacks water, the leaves will turn yellow and end up falling off. In addition, you will notice that they are like paper, and that they break easily to the touch.

On the other hand, you have the opposite, that is, there is an excess of water. When this happens the roots of the rosebush suffer. A lot. And that causes the plant to stop sending energy to the leaves, which is focused on trying to recover from that drowning that you have caused it.

And it is that, believe it or not, it is through the roots that the plant absorbs both water and oxygen. And if you can’t do it then the plant weakens and may die.

The solution in this case will depend on what happens.

If you have gone too far with water, it is best to remove it from the pot and change it to another with dry soil, without watering too much (even if it is dry). You will have to wait a few days to see if the plant recovers.

In the event that there was a lack of water, then you will have to increase the irrigation. Of course, we do not mean that you are going to go from not watering it to drowning it. In fact, if you do that you will go directly to the problem of you going too far with the water. It is better to water more times but with less quantity so that it does not have a problem.

pink rose bush

pink rose bush

lack of nutrients

Another of the problems of a rose bush with yellow leaves can be the lack of nutrients. This reason is usually one of the main ones in the case of specimens that have been in the same place for a long time (either in the pot or in the ground) and have not been fertilized in a long time.

Over the years, The plant feeds on the nutrients from the soil until it stops having it and that is when it begins to have deficiencies. In addition, the soil itself increases the pH to a very alkaline level, which is not recommended for rose bushes, since it lacks iron, zinc or manganese, elements that it lacks.

To avoid this, what you can do is add those nutrients. To do this, you can do it with subscribers in the irrigation or even through spraying so that they go directly to the leaves of the plants.

heat stress

Heat waves are tremendous. But not only for the human being, but also for the plants themselves.

When temperatures get too high, plants, like rose bushes, tend to get stressed and what they do is the leaves turn yellow and fall off. It is a response to that heat.

In general, when the thermometer drops again, it should recover and put out new leaves (as long as it is the right time, otherwise you will have to wait until the following year).

In this case, try to take care of it as usual, even if it has no leaves, because you will be preparing it for the following year.

rose bush full of flowers

rose bush full of flowers

Natural growth of the rose bush

If you have a rose bush with yellow leaves, surely you have read everything we have given you as causes. But the truth is that one of the first questions you should ask yourself is which leaves are turning yellow.

And it is that if they are only the ones at the bottom of the plant, nothing is really wrong with it. She is perfectly healthy.

The only thing that is happening to it is natural growth. In other words, the plant is drying the lowest leaves (those that are close to the base of the trunk) because it is going to give way to new leaves that will sprout at the top.

In this case all you have to do is remove them so that they do not become a source of infection or where pests or diseases can enter.

As you can see, there are many causes that can end a rose bush with yellow leaves. But if you catch it on time, you don’t have to say goodbye to your plant, but treat it so that it recovers its vitality and returns to having the green leaves it has always had. Has this ever happened to you with your rose bushes? What happened to them and how did you fix it?

Why is my rose bush with yellow leaves? Reasons and solutions

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