China Doll Plant Dropping Leaves and Branches

Question

We bought a China doll about 4 months ago and then accidently left our electric heater on, which is about 1 m. away and the plant got heat stress and all the leaves dropped off. We trimmed back and took off all the damaged branches and it seemed to be getting better, although as branches grew at the top, the ones below would get to certain point and leaves would fall and branches drop off. Recently went on holiday while a friend looked after it; however, when we returned, all but the top few branches had gone and he had pretty much drowned it so we took the pot out of its container and drained it properly. But now it only has 8 or 10 branches at top and as they grow, the new leaves just fall off and branches drop off and the bottom of the plant is bare. It is situated in front of a glass door so it gets plenty of light and has two smaller woody stems either side of main stem, which had good foliage until we went away. Now they are bare, there is no new growth at the base (only top of plant grows two prongs, which get leaves then they fall off) and two more branches appear on the top partof the plant. It has a green stem and base is woody. How can we rescue our plant?

Answer 1

The following address will give you lots of information: https://questions.gardeningknowhow.com/tag/china-doll-plants
It also has links to other pages of China Doll questions.

This is a personal opinion, but I really dislike China Doll plants. There are many more plants less demanding and just as pretty from which to choose. Yes, when they are pretty, China Dolls are VERY pretty, but they don’t stay that way very long. They drop leaves, they need growth regulators, they dislike temperature changes, they attract insects, they don’t like it too dry nor too wet, and on and on and on. In other words, they “are high maintainence”!