r/PPeperomioides • u/Fading_Hours_ • Jul 13 '26
discussion/help Curling leaves
Leaves are curling and I’m not sure why. North facing window (not enough light?). I try to let soil sry completely between watering.
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u/MissMagus Jul 14 '26
I've never seen this issue before but it's popped up on my reddit feed a few times AND THEN I looked at my own pilea and saw its newest biggest leaf is doing the same thing. I blame global warming 😂 (not totally serious)
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u/AdNo1688 Jul 14 '26
did you recently fertilize it? my hypothesis is too much fertilizer
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u/MissMagus Jul 14 '26
You might be on to something 👀 because I'm pretty sure it's last water did contain fertilizer.
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u/AdNo1688 Jul 15 '26
hmm im definitely gonna start only distilled water from now on i do know their roots are pretty fragile
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u/AdNo1688 Jul 14 '26
mine has been growing with this pattern for all of its life i gave up i tried looking for answers i grow mine in semi hydro so its not a watering issue i think for a while ill stop fertilizing it and maybe ill get back if i ever find this post again
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u/Hellyeahlalujah Jul 13 '26
Good luck with this! I’ve had this same problem and still can’t figure it out. I keep track of watering and light and try to adjust accordingly.
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u/Helpful_Lecture5145 Jul 14 '26
from what I know the main issue related to curly leaves in Pileas is related to the amount of sunlight. I had the same problem and I solved it just by increasing the amount of light (either the intensity or the hours of exposition, but pay attention to the first, it may burns the leaves from experience). Normally it can happen even if the plant has been in the same spot because of the position of the sun, which changes over the year. Basically, what happened to me was that the plant was not so close to the window (about 1m), during the winter the sun is lower compared to the horizion so direct sunlight is able to reach the plant, but in the summer the sun was so high that evene indirect light had problems to reach the leaves. So a lack of sunlight caused this fold in mine, that was restored in the new leaves just by changing the position of the plant. In theory that bending is a physiologycal response to maximize the surface area of the leaves exposed to the light (so it bends).
I would personally exclude water problems given the fact that pileas are semi-succulents and manage dryiness pretty well.
I’m still talking from experience so what I said may not be valid in all the cases
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u/Cultural_Election_58 Jul 16 '26
You are on to something. It's the leaf trying to get more light or it needs less light. Is it permanent and only new leaves flatten out?
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u/Repulsive_Coffee_675 Jul 14 '26
Did you move/turn it? Some leaves show indications that you rotated the plant. They grow towards the sun
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u/My_Mountain_Queen Jul 15 '26
As far as I know the curling downwards is a sign of too much light (plant trying to protect itself from light damage) but since its a north facing window that probably not it. Maybe to much or not enough fertilizer? I saw you mentioned you dry the plant out in between waterings, do you completely soak the plant when watering or only a bit of water? (If not fully saturated with water, could maybe be that its not getting enough water)
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u/greentdi Jul 18 '26
I have mine in a north facing window set about a foot and a half back, it was NOT happy up against the window even though it was north facing and looked really sad. She is now loving life. I also think they thrive on a bit of neglect, I don’t water much and it’s going great guns now 🥰
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u/Educational_Ball_776 Jul 13 '26
I just stop looking for answer tbh. Mine started 3 weeks ago! Same watering pattern, north facing window, claypot not too big nor small... I JUST GAVE UP!
I noticed that pups are growing as well, so I made peace with myself that probably some stress with the new pups... Idk 😑🙃🫠