every once in awhile my echium closes up its leaves around its center. and i dont know why. i thought maybe it needed water but it seems when i water it, it turns yellow and leaves fall off. i konw it is drought tolerant so i dont konw what the problem is. moisture? humidity? heat?
any ideas?
I would say the plants that fold up their leaves are under stress, that applies to any plant with the exception of a few that do that naturally when touched and reopen a few moments later (Sensitive Plant).
you said after watering, the leaves dropped off after going brown. that's a different problem than lack of water really.
When you water, do you use a hose and water UNDER the foliage at the root area, as IF you water by soaking the foliage, and the plant is already suffering drought conditions, the shock is even greater.
If I were you I would also take a spyglass outside, remove a few leaves, place in sheltered area and look very carefully at the back and front of the leaves, this will maybe show up some sucking Aphids like greenfly, spider mites or other very tiny mites. the hot dry weather conditions are just exactly what these bug like, need to reproduce and feed like there is no tomorrows.
IF these are found, then garden store will have help you can buy or mist with dish soap and water, it may take some amount of misting over a period but it does help stop the breeding as these bugs don't like damp or moisture air around there breeding ground.
Hope this helps a bit.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.
