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Bay Laurel Plant Leaves Brown

9 years ago

My bay laurel (laurus nobilis) plant developed a problem while overwintering in the house. Many older leaves begin to turn brown at their tips and the brown area spreads to the rest of the leaf. It then drops off the plant. There is a lot of new growth which appears ok. I am wondering what this is - a fungal, bacterial, cultural, etc. problem. The leaves that fall off do not look like normal bay leaves that are ready to be dried. They can be yellow-ish, curled, or mottled but not a bright or dull even shade of green.

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Comments (3)

CA Kate z9
9 years ago
Could your plant have gotten sun burnt from being by a window? I'd just take off the damaged leaves and be happy with the new growth. My plants outside will get sunburnt if water gets on the leaves in full sun. I have to be careful when I water the Bay and the Meyer Lemon.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
9 years ago
The plant itself looks very healthy. Personally I'd ignore those leaves. They are old anyway and will be lost soon. Presumably it's going to spend the summer outdoors where it will be much happier. Bay is hardier than some think and I'd only bring it in at the last possible moment to keep the indoor period as short as possible. It's well able to take low 30s. Lower in the ground.
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This is how you can reply: For the first month, we watered twice/day at 30 minute intervals. The watering schedule was about 6am and then again at 6pm. The next month, we watered once/day. Recently, we haven't been watering as much due to the almost daily showers, lasting 30 minutes to 1 hour. One flowerbed, where the browning first appeared, is encased by cement (driveway, walkway, and house). Our soaker hoses run at the base of all our shrubs. We ran the soaker hose along the backside of the base and around the front side of the base so that water is reaching the shrub on all sides. In some sections, the soaker hose is criss crossed. We will remove the soaker hoses once our irrigation system is installed, of course. I honestly don't think it's a moisture issue considering the other species of shrubs in our flowerbed are thriving. These are the only shrubs that we have issues with.
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review link.. lets discuss.. anything you did contrary ... but listen ... ANY browning.. after transplant.. and after a summer ... is USUALLY a watering problem ... the plants went into shock at planting.. and could not cope with summer ... your base problem.. is that.. they are evergreen... and the problem is only showing now ... it does not appear.. that you mulched them.. in fact.. it looks like pure peat moss.. which is bone dry ... you may never get that wet again ... its integral to the beast ... IMHO ... its a watering issue during the summer.. take a hand trowel .. and dig 3 to 6 inch holes.. AND FIND OUT... if there is any moisture at depth .. its your soil... and you have to figure it out.. no guessing ... find out ... tell us what you find.. we will help if not moist .. put the hose on trickle.. and water deeply.... all this is covered at the link ... including clay soil .. if you have that. ... lets get them properly hydrated before winter ... i have done a lot worse.. a little leaf damage is the least of your problems ... the future is all in the buds .. so look at those.. i think i see a fat and happy one in the first pic ... a dying plant would have dead buds ... ken ps: new stock is usually rather pest free .. and for me.. that rules out bizarre disease and bugs ... pps: if you have heavy non draining soil.. you might find them water logged.. which is still a watering issue ... Here is a link that might be useful: link
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ingardener
Original Author
9 years ago
I thank you for your input. The problem 1st arose before I started exposing it to more direct sun in early spring. The plant seems to be doing better outside but I still wonder about the health of the plant given the condition of the leaves after they drop. I did prune it somewhat recently and have started feeding it some liquid fish fertilizer. I guess I'll keep fingers crossed.

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