Pilea Help!
I’ve had these for 3 years (one is momma the others a few of many babies💕) and for a long time now they’ve been losing lower leaves either to yellowing and drooping (no squishiness or crunchiness though) or sometimes the stem part will go brown at the leaf base and spread to the leaf. I also notice this strange splotchy discoloration (yellow or honestly maybe white even) on some leaves, always the older ones and always around the edges of the leaf. Here is the story of what I’ve tried in the last 1-1.5 years:
they were on a table getting only indirect medium to bright light from a south window. I suspected maybe they needed more light, so I moved them to my greenhouse cabinet and a spot in a west window (I have more than the two in these pictures so I’ve tried a few spots). No change. One other was moved to a spot getting indirect light from a west window as well.
I thought for a while it was root rot so I repotted in a more well draining homemade mix (definitely has fox farms soil, orchid bark, and perlite but unsure of ratios or additional mix ins like charcoal or worm castings potentially- it’s been a while). I don’t remember having to remove a bunch of rotten roots really, but this was last spring. No change.
I also thought maybe the direct sunlight from my west windows or the grow lights in my cabinet were too much as I noticed reddening of some leaf edges. so I’ve moved them to just to the side of the west window where they get more indirect light. Another one is sitting further back in the room getting indirect light from the same window.(Didn’t really expect change here, just worth mentioning for context)
I’ve started watering a little more frequently and adding 1/4tsp per gallon of superthrive foliage pro to the water. In case it was root stress from infrequent watering or a nutrient deficiency. This is new as of this spring/early summer.
At this point, I have 3 of these bad bois all experiencing these issues, plus one I gave to my mom last month that also has these issues still. I’ve tried both letting the leaves fall off naturally or trimming when they show these symptoms. I don’t know if this is just normal drop of older leaves, environmental conditions, or pest related. I treat all my plants with systemic granules when I repot just in case, and occasionally microbe lift bmc at a few drops to a gallon for all my plants if I start noticing fungus gnats from new plants still in their settling in phase. It seems like this happens to a lot of lower leaves and if i removed them, the plants would look like leggy sparse little trees. I wish to make them happier and more full and healthy looking than they are. Any guidance and education is very much appreciated❤️