Anemic coffee tree

have a coffee tree (coffee aribica) which is about 2 feet tall. It has always had leaves with browning tips (chlorine, too much water, too little water???), but now the lower 2/3rds of the plant has leaves which are turning yellow, and they eventually fall off. I fertilize every month or so with an orchid fertilizer (sorry, that's what I use for most indoor things and it seems to work just fine) so I think that it should be getting enough nutrients. It's in a south facing window so does get sun, but it's just now started this yellow leaf thing. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks

I can see some of the leaves have green around the veins and yellow elsewhere, that would imply chlorosis so you might try adding some chelated iron. You might also check the pH of your soil--if the pH is too high the plant can't absorb the iron even if there's enough around. Also, what are the NPK numbers on the orchid fertilizer? It's possible it has too much/little of one of those, or it might not have the same amounts of other minor nutrients as a normal fertilizer would. I know there are a couple different kinds of orchid fertilizers, and if you're using the one with the high P number which is for orchids when they're blooming, then you may want to switch to a fertilizer with less P and more N and that could help with this problem.

The other possibility to explain the leaves that are yellow and falling off would be under or more likely over-watering--but that doesn't generally cause the green veins in a mainly yellow leaf, so if all the leaves go through that chlorotic looking phase before turning completely yellow, it's probably chlorosis instead. Otherwise, if some leaves just turn yellow without ever going through the stage with the green veins it's possible you have two problems going on at the same time. If that's the case, I'd address the watering issue first since that'll kill the plant faster, then fix the chlorosis.

The browning tips could be from lack of humidity (very common with houseplants, especially in dry climates or anywhere in the wintertime), you can make it better by misting the plant regularly but I don't think the brown tips are connected to the leaf drop problem you're seeing.

Hi- to me, it looks like you're overwatering your plant because the yellowing is at the bottom. I can see where ecrane is referring to the green veins being chlorosis because I've had some plants do that. But I noticed your plant is mostly just doing that on one leaf, and the other leaves it's more general yellowing around the edges. And chlorosis doesn't restrict itself to the bottom leaves. So that's why I don't think that's what's causing the yellowing. Plants need less water and fertilizer in the winter, and it 'tis the season, so I'd try cutting back on those.

Thank for your thoughts. My orchid fertilizer is 19-31-17, and the side panel lists chelated iron at 0.33%-is that enough? And I don't think it's overwatering because I don't water it until I see that it is just starting to wilt, then I water it until water runs out the bottom of the pot. I repotted it in the summer to a larger pot, because it was drying out very quickly. how do I check the ph of my soil? just like I do the fish tank? Do you think it is salvageable?
While trying to check this out, I ran across a fertilizer recipe called Becky's beer formula, (homemade) and it got rave reviews, so I think I'm going to switch to that. It's the one with beer, ammonia, epsom salt, molasses, etc. Maybe that will do the trick.

How often are you fertilizing? I wonder if maybe it's getting too much fertilizer?

Hi judyats- it sounds like while you're waiting a long time between waterings, at the times when you do water, it is too much. The plant isn't doing much growing during this season. I do believe that your plant will die if you continue to water it so much.

I posted about the beer fertilizer on the a.v. forum but I'll copy and paste it here:

I always thought you should water thoroughly, and since the soil is a bit porous, that's why I watered it until it came out the bottom. I only fertilize about 3-4 weeks and then I use a weak solution Guess I'll try to water less and a bit more often, and see how that goes. thanks so much for your input.

You're right- I like to make sure my pots are pretty wet, too. I only cut back starting in the fall and during the Winter. Then in the Spring, they start drying out so fast that it seems like I'm almost always watering them. But maybe that's just because I've gotten used to a more lax schedule. haha Good luck, Judy. I hope she bounces back quickly for you. ; )

Hey to all.

Perhaps a little late to jump in, but I also have a coffee tree; mine's about 2 1/2 feet tall and does great. I think it really needs a little bit of water almost every day, particularly in winter. You always hear to water less in the winter, but if the plant is inside and you're using central heating, the plant dries out faster and so it needs a steady small source of water. Just a little. Every day.

Hope it all goes well.

I don't think it's too much water. Maybe too much fertilizer or the wrong type fertilizer is frying the plant. I wouldn't use Orchid Fertilizer, but a general house plant type and at a diluted amount.

Plants in winter time do dry out faster, especially in a home with the heat on. I can't imagine watering EVERY day, but if it dries out that fast I guess you would need to water daily. I would keep it away from heat vents and also cold drafts too.

Please DON'T give up on your plant ... I say if it still has any green on it, it's still a viable plant. Just need to find out the proper care for the type of plant. Here's the DG link for Arabica.

Lin

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2057

I would be really cautious about the watering every day thing--it is SO easy to overwater when you do things like that, and I seriously doubt that the plant actually needs to be watered every day. If you add exactly the right little amount every day you may not run into problems, but getting that exact right amount is tricky and I think you're better off checking the plant every day or two by sticking your finger down in the soil, if it feels dry an inch or two down then water it but if it still feels moist then leave it alone. Way more people kill plants by overwatering than by underwatering, so I always advise people to err on the drier side. I've always compensated for the dryness of the air in the winter by misting the plants more, but I never needed to water them signficantly more often (I live in a climate now where it's dry inside the house all year round, but I used to live in the midwest with summer humidity and winter dryness). The only time I've found that plants need to be watered daily was outdoor containers that were baking in the sun during our 115 degree heat wave last summer.

kator--I'm not trying to suggest that you change what you're doing if it's working for you, but it's so hard to get that exact right little amount of water I think there's a big risk of getting the amount wrong and overwatering, so that's why I'm suggesting that other people should be cautious about trying that.

ecrane3: I can't imagine watering every day either. I have MANY houseplants .... so many that it takes me a couple of hours to water everything. I have always kept all of my plants on the dry side. I only water every other week or so, even in the heat of summer! We do have high humidity down here in Florida, so that does help. I thought the only folks who HAD to water every day were those folks living in the desert of Arizona and New Mexico! LOL. I know it gets real hot during the summer in those areas of the country, sounds like where you are in Ca it gets pretty hot too! 115! Wow! I don't think I've ever experienced temp's that high .... we wilt when it gets to 90 down our way, but with all the humidity when it's 90 or above, it REALLY feels HOT!

Lin

It doesn't usually get that hot here--our avg summer temp is somewhere in the mid 80's, we just had a brutal heat wave one week this past summer and I found I was having to water all my outdoor containers every day to get them through it (at the time, I had about 250 containers out there that I was holding until I could plant them in the fall so it took me hours!). But there's no humidity which makes it better--although 115 felt hot even without the humidity!

I just can't imagine temperature's of 115 degrees, humidity or not!

Lin