Why do leaves on plants turn black?

3 August 2022

Why do black spots appear on leaves and what happens if black spots start to cover the leaves? When we see a plant’s leaves turning black, it’s normal to worry about its health.

Black leaves are symptoms created in plants due to poor care, often related to watering. In some cases, browning of the leaves is an indication of a more serious attack by an insect or by diseases.

This is a problem that can occur in all plants from flowers and indoor plants, to aromatic plants, horticultural plants and trees in our garden,

The browning of the leaves gradually makes the plants weak and reduces their photosynthetic activity, while in the case of diseases it can very quickly lead to significant problems up to the destruction of the plants.

As with other leaf symptoms, such as yellowing of the leaves and curling of the leaves, to be able to keep our plants healthy and green, we need to identify the problem early and take the appropriate countermeasures.

In today’s article we will analyze the main causes of browning of leaves and see in which ways we can deal with them to keep our garden and balcony plants beautiful, healthy and full of life.

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What causes browning of plant leaves and how do we treat it?

Blackening of the leaves is due to 3 main causes: a) excessive watering and moisture in the soil, b) fungal and bacterial diseases, c) attack by an insect.

Let’s see in detail what symptoms the plants show and how we can protect them in each case.

1. Leaves turn black due to excessive moisture in the soil

Excessive moisture in the pot or soil can cause black spots and extensive browning of plant leaves. This particular problem is typical for indoor plants, when we water too often and with more water than they need.

The same thing happens to all potted plants when we have poor drainage, resulting in excess water not being removed when watering. We may also notice yellowing of the leaves, drop of leaves and flowers.

To deal with the problem of excessive moisture, before watering the plants we check that the soil is dry. We avoid planting the plants directly in pots and choose pots that have holes in the base to drain water.

10 secrets for proper watering and healthy plants

2. Leaves turn black due to disease attack

In several plants, for example, in the cultivation of pears and in the cultivation of apples, the leaves turn black due to the attack of diseases such as fusicladium and bacterial burn. The fusicladium creates black spots in the medlar cultivation as well.

Treatment for bacterial blight on pears and apples

In ornamental plants, such as roses, we see black spots and black spots on the leaves due to infestation by the rose black spot disease.

Treatment of rose black spot

To avoid the development of diseases, we plant at sparse distances and prune the plants for better ventilation.

To treat browning caused by fungal and bacterial diseases, we spray the leaves with organic preparations such as copper and wet sulfur that we get from agricultural stores.

3. Leaves turn black due to insect infestation

In several fruit-bearing trees, such as lemon, orange and mandarin, mealybugs and mealybugs secrete a honey-like substance (honeycomb) that makes the leaves stick.

On the honeydew, in a second stage, the tobacco fungus appears which causes blackening of the leaves, as well as the fruits.

Smoke, treatment of the fungus that causes browning in plants

Similar blackening of the leaves by the tobacco fungus is also found in the vegetable garden, in the cultivation of cucumber, in the cultivation of pumpkin, in the cultivation of melon, in the cultivation of watermelon as well as in the cultivation of artichoke.

Smoke, treatment of the fungus that causes browning in plants

To deal with the powdery mildew and powdery mildew as well as the appearance of smoke on the leaves of the plants, we spray with organic preparations of potassium salts or summer slurry together with copper.

And a secret about the blackening of plant leaves

Black spots on the leaves of the plants can also appear due to burns, especially on hot summer days and when we spray the plants during midday hours with strong sunlight.

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