GrowingHQ
Whole plant

Sudden leaf drop

A plant shedding a noticeable number of leaves over a few days, rather than the occasional old leaf every plant loses. The commonest single cause is something that happened weeks earlier, which is why the connection is so often missed.

What causes it, and how to tell them apart

Work down the list making the observation under each heading. GrowingHQ will not guess which one you have — the observation is the answer.

  1. Transplant shockvery common
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Transplanting

    Checked 2026-08-13

    How to tell

    The plant was repotted, moved or planted out within the last few weeks. Ficus in particular drop leaves days or weeks AFTER the change, so count back three or four weeks rather than three or four days.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Ficus — leaf drop

    Checked 2026-08-13

    If it is this, do first

    Leave it alone and keep conditions steady. The usual mistake is to react by moving it again, which starts the process over.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Transplanting

    Checked 2026-08-13

  2. Cold damagecommon
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Frost damage

    Checked 2026-08-13

    How to tell

    A cold night, a draught from a door, or a windowsill with the curtains drawn across it — the gap between glass and curtain gets far colder than the room. Tender plants are damaged well above freezing.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Frost damage

    Checked 2026-08-13

    If it is this, do first

    Move it off the windowsill at night or away from the draught.

    source

    Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Protecting plants from frost

    Checked 2026-08-13

  3. Overwateringcommon
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Overwatering — houseplants

    Checked 2026-08-13

    How to tell

    The compost is wet and leaves are dropping anyway, including newer ones. Leaves falling from a plant in wet compost is a root problem until proved otherwise.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Overwatering — houseplants

    Checked 2026-08-13

    If it is this, do first

    Stop watering and empty the saucer. Check the roots if there is no improvement within a fortnight.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Overwatering — recovery

    Checked 2026-08-13

Where GrowingHQ holds more for one plant

This page lists the causes across every plant. The plants below are the ones where something about that plant changes the answer — different candidates, or a different observation that separates them.

Houseplants

Commonly reported on