Troubleshooting Leaf Loss
When a succulent starts dropping leaves, it can be really alarming. And there are lots of reasons that succulents lose leaves, so figuring out what’s wrong isn’t always straightforward. This section will list the most common reasons for leaf loss, and how to narrow down what’s happening with your particular plant.
Overwatering
Too much water is a common culprit for all sorts of problems with succulents, including leaf loss. If you’ve overwatered, the leaves (especially toward the bottom of the plant) will feel soft and mushy, and they may turn yellow or transparent.
Underwatering
Although it’s much less likely that you’ll underwater your succulent than overwater it, a neglected succulent will lose leaves. The leaves will be wrinkled and dry-looking, and some leaves may turn brown before they drop off the plant.
Lack of Sunlight
Succulents need plenty of sun — a minimum of six hours of bright, indirect light is a good guideline for most succulent species. When a succulent is kept in a spot that doesn’t get enough light, it will start to get a stretched appearance. That means that the plant will get taller (as it reaches toward the light source) but have a lot of space between the leaves. Leaves can fall off, and new leaves will be smaller than established ones.
Extreme Temperatures
Succulents naturally come from dry, warm climates, and they do well in most homes where temperatures are kept relatively constant year-round. But if your succulent gets exposed to very hot or very cold temperatures, that can cause leaves to get damaged and fall off. If the succulent is exposed to too much heat, its leaves may turn red or orange, or look dry and wrinkled before they fall off. If it gets cold and frost-damaged, the tips of its leaves are likely to turn soft and brown or black.
Overfertilization
Succulents don’t need much (if any) fertilizer, so it can be easy to overdo it if you are fertilizing your succulent houseplants. Leaves will drop off suddenly, and the plant may look weak overall. If you’re going to fertilize your succulents, restrict it to the summer growing season only, and dilute the fertilizer to half the strength recommended on the instructions.
Natural Leaf Drop
This one is good news: As succulents grow, they naturally lose some leaves toward the base of the plant. In this case, the leaves that drop off may turn brown and dry up before dropping off, or they might look perfectly normal before they fall. If your plant is losing lower leaves occasionally, and is otherwise healthy, there is no need to worry.