Help! Zebra Plant losing all leaves

I purchased a Zebra Plant (Aphelandra squarrosa) about a year ago. It remained inside until spring, which is when it was warm enough to put outside in a protected, but brightly lit area, where it stayed all summer until it became cool. I live in Atlanta, zone 8. When I brought it in, I repotted it because it was almost potbound. Now all but one leaf has dropped off. I thought that my cat might have been knocking the leaves off, so I moved it to a safer place but same light strength. That has not resolved the problem. Any suggestions? Can I save it if the one leaf falls off?

Make sure it doesn't have spider mites. They will cause the leaves to turn yellow and fall off.

Kelli--the leaves are not turning yellow. They just get limp at the joint where they are joined to the stem. A few of the ones that first came off did have some curl on the edges but the most recent ones looked healthy. By the way, the last one fell off yesterday. Thanks for your suggestion.
hotlanta

HoniBee
You have email. Thanks.

Hotlanta, whatever ended up happening to your plant? Because I just discovered an apparently healthy leaf has just fallen off of my Zebra plant, too! No sign of pests, and I have it sitting on pebbles with water, and I think I've been watering it ok...

Kelly

I currently have 3 Zebra (Aphelandra squarrosa) plants ranging from 6 months to 4 years old. I find mine tend to drop leaves when the soil gets too dry. I have all of mine in a south-facing window where they get bright light so I have to water the little ones up to twice a week and give the oldest one a good soaking about once a week.

Besides bright light, I also try to mist it during the morning (if I remember) and that prevents drying out. These guys also tend to attract spider mites, which misting helps control. I don't think these are one of the easier house plants to maintain. Mine dropped plenty of leaves before I learned to keep it moist. These are also not easy plants to propagate either. Took over two months for my cutting to root.

Hi,

Thanks, Emily. I saw a website that said the same thing. I swear, I went away for two days and you'd think I was gone for a week! So yes, the soil was too dry. Didn't realize all it took was one good drying to do that! Thanks again. :)

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

As far as watering goes, make sure you give it a good soaking. Periodically I take my plants to a sink and just water them. I use finger to genly look for soil that still isn't wet. Often, small tunnels are formed that just send the water straight to the bottom of the plant without actually wetting most of the soil. Another way to do this is fill up a bucket just to the level of your pot and then immerse the pot in the water. Keep it there until the bubbles stop, which is usually only a couple of minutes.

--Emily

I have one that drops leaves regularly but comes back quickly with new leaves. It is in some poor light soil so I should report it with some of those water saving crystals I think.

Steve

I found a really cool ceramic pot made for African Violets at Home Depot. It has a porus inner pot that sits in an outer pot that holds water. It is supposed to keep things evenly moist without being a lot of trouble. I got a very pretty zebra plant at the same time and potted it up packing in the new dirt firmly like the instructions said. The glazing on the pots is very attractive. I had to keep myself from buying too many as they had a new shipment of lovely low light tropicals.

http://www.thevioletpot.com

Here's the inner pot removed from the outer.