Why is My Calibrachoa Dying? (How to Save it)


Calibrachoa dying

Calibrachoa is one of my bedding plants due to its long flowering period. Mine often flower from Early Spring till Fall!

I absolutely love them, but I did run into a few problems when I first started growing them.

I have since learned that the secret to preventing your calibrachoa from dying is to replicate the conditions of their natural habitat, with full sun and well-draining soil.

I discovered I needed to water my calibrachoa a little less often than my other bedding plants, which, in contrast, loved moist soil.

We also need to acknowledge that Calibrachoa (also known as ‘Million bells’) is a flowering plant that is a perennial in mild climates but regarded as an annual in cold climates that experience frost as it is not cold hardy so if you live in a cold climate like me, they die back in Winter.

So, what’s causing your calibrachoa to die? The most common reason for a dying calibrachoa is because of root rot due to overly damp soil. Calibrachoa prefers a soak-and-dry pattern of watering, so if the soil is consistently damp because of poor drainage or overwatering, then calibrachoa leaves turn brown and droop with a dying appearance.

Has your calibrachoa that has stopped growing or flowering with its leaves turning yellow? I learned this is likely to be because of a lack of nutrients and the plant requires additional fertilizer.

The secret to prevent calibrachoa from dying it is important to get the balance of watering right to avoid root rot or drought.

Keep reading to learn the best practices of care to prevent calibrachoa from dying and how to save your calibrachoa so that it recovers and displays flowers…

Calibrachoa Dying of Root Rot (Calibrachoa Leaves Turning Brown)

So this is the one that got me. I niavley assumed when I first started growing calibrachoa that they enjoyed a good soak frequently and loved moist soil. Oops! I treated my calibrachoa the same as my pansies in my flower beds.

The most common reason your Calibrachoa is dying is excessive moisture around the roots.

As I mentioned, I find it helps if we appreciate how our plants grow in the wild so we can understand how to care for them…Calibrachoa are native to South America and Mexico, where they thrive in well-draining soil, open areas, and full sun.

Fortunately, we do not need to live in a Mexican climate to grow them, but we do need to mimic some of the conditions in our gardens.

If the soil around the roots of your calibrachoa is kept damp or boggy, then this promotes the conditions for fungal diseases such as root rot, which thrive in overly damp soil that does not drain efficiently.

The symptoms of a calibrachoa suffering from root rot are foliage and flowers turning brown (perhaps yellow) with a drooping appearance. When this happened to my calibrachoa, the leaves turned a kind of dried-out brown with yellowing areas, and the whole plant drooped!

So I did my research and I learned that Calibrachoa thrive on a soak-and-dry style of watering where they are watered generously once per week and the soil is allowed to dry out somewhat (without drying completely) so that the roots are not sat in consistently damp soil.

Why is this method so effective? This style of watering replicates the conditions of calibrachoa’s native environment.

However, we have to consider that the soil around your calibrachoa can be too boggy because of:

  • The use of trays underneath pots or containers. Calibrachoa grows very well in pots and containers, however, if you place a saucer or drip tray under the pot then this prevents excess water from escaping after watering or rainfall and causes the soil to become saturated which is the cause of root rot.
  • Pots and containers without drainage holes in the base. I love to plant calibrachoa in pots, but I’ve noticed that lots of pots for sale these days are decorative, they may not necessarily have drainage holes in the bottom, so the excess water cannot escape, and the roots develop root rot, so the plant turns brown and dies back.
  • Calibrachoa dying in hanging baskets. Calibrachoa is an excellent plant for hanging baskets (I use it personally due to its resilience to drought) as it can tolerate soil drying out between bouts of watering. However, one client of mine had a hanging basket lined with plastic sheeting or other material that can retain too much water, which causes the soil to be boggy, and the calibrachoa wilts, turns brown, and dies back due to root rot.
  • Calibrachoa dying due to overwatering. Are you watering too often? Is the soil still damp? If you are watering your calibrachoa every day then this is far too frequent for the calibrachoa to thrive and flower. Scale back the watering to once per week (I’ve found 2 or 3 times per week during a heatwave or drought for hanging baskets) to replicate the typical moisture conditions of calibrachoa’s native environment.

To be honest with you, if the calibrachoa has severe root rot, it is very difficult to save it, so prevention is better than cure.

However, when this happened to mine I was able to diagnose the problem quickly and save it by creating better drainage conditions and water it less regularly…

My Steps for Reviving a Calibrachoa Plant:

  • Remove any drip trays or saucers from underneath pots to allow excess water to escape so that the calibrachoa’s roots are not sat in boggy soil.
  • If your calibrachoa is planted in a hanging basket, then I would check to see if there is a plastic lining and remove it, as this could be retaining too much moisture.
  • Shelter the calibrachoa from rainfall and refrain from any watering for at least 1 week. I put mine under my porch to shelter it from the rain whilst the soil dried.
  • Keep the calibrachoa in full sun, and do not use fertilizer. I cut back any brown or yellow foliage with a sterile pair of pruners. I recommend wiping the blades with a cloth soaked in alcohol disinfectant after each cut to prevent spreading any fungal spores to otherwise healthy plant tissue.
  • Always plant calibrachoa in multipurpose compost as compost can retain enough moisture for the calibrachoa to thrive, yet it has a structure that allows excess water to drain away from the roots to prevent the soil from becoming saturated. If I’m planting in garden borders, I like to amend the soil with some horticultural grit or sand as this increases drainage. Generally, when in pots, I don’t always use sand or grit due to the more favorable drainage characteristics of pots, but I would recommend it if you live in an area with high rainfall.
  • Avoid planting calibrachoa in clay soils altogether as clay retains too much moisture which causes root rot and results in a dying calibrachoa. If your garden has clay soil or boggy areas then plant calibrachoa in pots instead as it is far easier to create favorable drainage conditions in pots and containers rather than in garden soil.

Pro tip: Are you in a climate with higher rainfall? Then, my secret is to plant calibrachoa in clay pots, clay is porous and allows the soil to dry out more evenly. This reduces the risk of root rot significantly and your calibrachoa should thrive!

If you follow the best practices of care and achieve the right balance of watering so that the soil has a chance to dry out then this significantly reduces the risk of root rot and the calibrachoa should show signs of recovery after a week if it is water stressed as mine did, and also place it in full sun.

However, I must caution that calibrachoa that has been in saturated soil for a long time often does not revive. If so, I’d throw it out and discard the soil, and it may harbor fungal disease pathogens.

Calibrachoa Dying Due to Under Watering (Wilting Foliage and Flowers)

Calibrachoa in a well draining container.
My calibrachoa in a well-draining container outside my house in full sun!

Whilst by far the most frequent cause of calibrachoa dying that I see is because of overwatering and damp soil, calibrachoa can turn brown and wilt with shriveled leaves due to underwatering.

Whenever this has happened in my client’s gardens (I work as a landscape gardener and in a garden center), it typically happens straight after planting. This is when the calibrachoas most vulnerable to drought as the roots are not yet established in the soil.

Through my experience, I’ve found that calibrachoa requires a balance of soil moisture, which is best achieved by growing the plant in good compost in pots, containers, and hanging baskets and watering it with a good soak once per week.

However, if there is a significant heat wave, wind, arid conditions, or if the soil is too sandy (or stony), then the calibrachoa’s water requirements can increase, so don’t get caught out!

I’ve generally found that my calibrachoa in hanging baskets are more vulnerable to drought thanks to their greater exposure to wind and less capacity for soil compared with pots and containers.

So what happened to my calibrachoa is that there was a heat wave so severe that the sun had dried out the soil completely to the point it baked hard, which caused water to run off the surface rather than soak into the soil and reach the roots.

So ensure that you water the soil around your calibrachoa slowly to ensure the moisture infiltrates the surface rather than deflects and runs off down the side of the container away from the roots.

Pro tip: My favorite way to rehydrate a calibrachoa plant in a hanging basket after the soil has dried out completely is to take the basket and place it in a wheelbarrow of water for 20 minutes or so. This ensures the water properly absorbs into the soil rather than trickling off the surface. You’ll notice a significant difference in the weight of the basket after it has properly soaked in the water. My own hanging basket was so dry it floated! Therefore, you only need 3 or 4 inches of water in the wheelbarrow (or some large container), and the soil should draw up the moisture.

There are a lot of factors that determine watering frequency that we need to consider (such as rainfall, temperature and humidity) but in hotter climates or if there is a heat wave, it is best practice to water calibrachoa once every 3 or 4 days to achieve the optimal balance of moisture.

If you think drought is the reason for your calibrachoa dying, then what I recommend you do is test the soil to a finger’s depth, monitor the soil’s moisture throughout the week, and water as soon as the soil feels somewhat dry.

This can help you to establish how frequently to water the pot or basket specifically for your climate so that the calibrachoa can recover.

My own dying calibrachoa with wilted leaves recovered from drought within a week, so as long as you determine the optimal watering frequency for your climate, yours should revive!

Why Are My Calibraocha Leaves Turning Yellow?

If your calibrachoa leaves are turning yellow, then from experience, this indicates a deficit of nutrients in the soil.

You see, Calibrachoa grows quickly and, therefore, requires a good hit of nutrients in the form of fertilizer to grow, flower, and prevent the leaves from turning yellow.

I always find this is a common problem for calibrachoa growing in smaller pots, containers, and hanging baskets as small pots have less capacity for soil, and, therefore, the roots have less access to nutrients.

I personally haven’t seen this issue when calibrachoa is planted in a flower border in garden soil, but it could possibly happen if you have very stony soil (which is lower in nutrients).

How to Revive Calibrachoa with Yellow Leaves

I can tell you from experience that the solution is very simple. My way of reviving yellowing calibrachoa is to fertilize your calibrachoa pots with a half-strength all-purpose fertilizer if the leaves are turning yellow.

For calibrachoa in pots, I prefer to use an all-purpose fertilizer such as miracle-gro as it contains all the nutrients that calibrachoa requires at the right concentration to avoid problems associated with too much fertilizer which can burn the roots of your plants.

Calibrachoa all purpose plant food
The fertilizer that I use for growing calibrachoa.

For optimal flowering and to prevent leaves from turning yellow, use fertilizer once every 2-4 weeks to keep your calibrachoa in the best condition.

When I personally did this, my yellow leaves greened up in around 2 weeks, which was a great turnaround! I observed the leaves grow faster, and they began to flower for months!

Poor growth? Your Calibrachoa Requires Full Sun

Is your calibrachoa showing poor, spindly growth with few flowers and looking unhealthy? Then, it requires more sun.

As we previously discussed, calibrachoa is adapted to growing in open areas in warm climates and locations with at least 6 hours of sun in its native South American environment. Remember what I said about replicating the conditions of its native environment for calibrachoa to thrive?

To ensure the calibrachoa is healthy and has its best flower display, it is important to locate it in the sunniest area of your garden. This is why I love to plant them in pots and place them on a sunny patio.

I should note that more hours of sun also help to reduce the risk of root rot through increased evaporation and ensure the plant is healthy, making it more resistant to disease.

I recommend moving pots and containers to an area of full sun and locating hanging baskets in a sunny location to help revive calibrachoa. I’ve always seen from experience that they are resilient, hardy plants that are likely to come back once you have given them the right environment.

Is Your Calibrachoa Dying in Cold Weather?

Let’s remember that our calibrachoa is native to warm areas of South America, and it is not resistant to frost, although it can occasionally tolerate a light frost (Hardy in USDA zones 9-11).

Therefore, calibrachoa is often regarded as an annual flowering plant for hanging baskets and pots in cool climates that experience frost in Winter as they die back in Winter, with the foliage often turning black.

However, they are perennial in their native environment (they come back every year and even potentially flower all year). You can protect calibrachoa in cool climates by growing them in pots, then moving them to a heated greenhouse for the Winter, and returning them outdoors once the threat of frost has passed.

Horticultural fleece can also help to protect the cold-sensitive calibrachoa from cold nights and occasional frost.

Personally, I have stopped using a heated greenhouse due to rising energy costs and grow them from seed each year, which is more rewarding and a lot cheaper!

Have you grown calibrachoa from seed? Or perhaps you have some more questions? Please leave a comment below and I’ll reply! I love to hear from you!!

Key Takeaways:

  • Dying calibrachoa is usually caused by fungal diseases such as root rot caused by excess moisture around the roots. Calibrachoa requires the soil to dry out between bouts of watering, so if the plant is overwatered or in boggy soil, the leaves turn brown and wilt, resulting in dying calibrachoa plants.
  • Yellow calibrachoa leaves are caused by a lack of nutrients. Due to its fast growth, calibrachoa is a heavy feeder and requires fertilizer once every four weeks to prevent yellow leaves and promote flowering.
  • Calibrachoa can suffer from drought, which causes the leaves to wilt. In pots and hanging baskets, it can be vulnerable to drying out too quickly in hot weather. Increase watering to once every 3 or 4 days in hot and dry weather.
  • Calibrachoa is native to South America and prefers full sun with well-draining soil. Calibrachoa in too much shade often has poor growth and few flowers. Ensure your calibrachoa is located in full sun for it to recover and display flowers.

Mark Bennett

Mark Bennett is the writer at gardener report. I'm a qualified botanist, landscape gardener and garden center plant troubleshooter! I grow and care for all the plants I write about so I have lots of first hand experience, in troubleshooting problems with plants and providing step by steps tips for recover. I love hearing from you so please leave me a comment and I'll reply!

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