Why Is My Hyacinth Dying? (Common Causes to Consider)

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Hyacinth plants are starting to become more and more common. As of late, these plants have started being given away as gifts.

They really are lovely plants with their beautiful flowers and nice aroma. You can easily see why people love caring for them.

If you recently received a hyacinth as a gift from someone that you love, you probably want to make it last for as long as possible. When your new plant doesn’t appear to be doing so hot, it’s going to make you worry.

What if your hyacinth looks as if it’s dying? What can you do then?

Read on to learn more about hyacinth plants and why they might die. This should help you to figure out what steps to take.

The Hyacinth Could Just Be Going Dormant

The first thing to understand is that it’s possible that you didn’t do anything wrong at all. Sometimes new plant owners will just not know that hyacinths go dormant after blooming.

A hyacinth plant is generally going to bloom for eight to twelve weeks. Most people who receive these plants as gifts get the plants when they’re in full bloom.

It’s possible that you might enjoy the plant for one or two months and then you’ll see the flowers start to wither. This is supposed to happen when the plant enters dormancy.

Deadheading the Hyacinth

The flowers are going to start withering, and they’ll eventually turn completely brown. At this point, you’re supposed to cut the flower stalk off.

It might seem extreme, but this is helpful to the hyacinth. Cut the whole flower stalk off when all of the flowers have withered and turned brown.

This technique is known as deadheading and you might be able to help the plant have more energy for the next time it blooms. The foliage of the plant should still be green at this point.

You can allow the foliage to die naturally. Just try not to bend the leaves or break them when handling the plant.

The hyacinth is going to attempt to store up energy for the next blooming cycle. Harming the leaves could make that harder for the plant.

You can feed the plant a bit of fertilizer to help it along so long as you don’t give it too much. You’re also supposed to keep watering it while being very careful not to water it more than necessary.

If you try to water the plant too much, bulb rot could occur. Just do your best to care for the hyacinth logically.

Caring for a Hyacinth During Dormancy

When you’re sure that the plant is dying and it needs to enter dormancy, it’ll be time to cut the plant down to soil level. Only the bulbs and the roots will remain at this point.

You can move the pot to a cold, dark place in your home. Some people even put paper grocery bags over their hyacinths at this time.

Keep the pot in this spot until the spring. Don’t even touch the plant until spring has arrived.

When spring finally comes, it’s going to be best to gradually expose it to light. You’ll start to see new shoots sprout.

Hyacinths get bigger each year by sending up daughter shoots. This means that you might need to move it to a bigger pot.

You’ll want to repot the hyacinth while it’s still dormant if it needs a bigger pot. Once this is done, you’ll just be able to care for the plant as usual and watch it start to bloom when the time is right.

Pest Issues

Of course, there are other problems that can cause hyacinth plants to die. If you think that yours looks like it’s dying far too early, it could be that pests are to blame.

These plants have to deal with pests such as thrips fairly often. Thrips can be quite a nuisance because they will turn the petals brown and they might also cause the flower buds to fail to open due to the damage that they’ve done.

If you want your hyacinth to remain healthy, it’s imperative to protect it from these pests. You might need to apply insecticides to your plant to protect it from thrips and any other pests that might try to bother it.

Some choose to wash the plant using insecticidal soap. Whatever you do, it’s going to be crucial to follow the directions of the insecticide product that you bought.

Sometimes insecticides are too harsh, and you want to simply be able to enjoy the plant since it only blooms once per year. This is why many choose to apply neem oil to the plant to protect it instead of using insecticides.

Fungal Diseases

Fungal diseases can kill hyacinth plants prematurely. Typically, fungal issues occur when you water the plant way more than you’re supposed to.

If you water the plant too much, it’s going to cause the roots and bulb to be exposed to too much water. Eventually, this is going to cause the roots to rot and it’ll create an environment where fungus can grow, too.

Hyacinth plants will sometimes see fungal diseases spread on the leaves to start. If you aren’t careful when watering, you could get the plant wet and cause fungal issues.

Botrytis blight is a fungal disease that can impact the petals. You might see the petals develop spots that are gray or brown.

To battle fungal issues, it’s going to be best to prevent them from happening in the first place. Don’t water your plants excessively and try to ensure that the plants have proper air circulation.

Combine this with using soil that drains properly and you shouldn’t have much to worry about. Sadly, when certain fungal infections occur, it’s not going to be possible to save the plant.

You can try using fungicides while hoping for the best, but not every hyacinth will be able to bounce back. It might depend on the severity of the infection and the type of infection that you’re dealing with.

Improper Care

Improper care could wind up killing the plant if you don’t correct your mistakes. For example, you could water the plant far more than you should.

Continuing to water the plant too much will drown it and it’ll cause the roots to rot. If you can turn things around by watering the plant more responsibly, the plant might be able to come back, but only if you catch yourself before it’s too late.

Placing the hyacinth in direct sunlight could also cause significant issues. You can cause the plant to get scorched by harsh sunlight, and this could cause the plant to turn brown way earlier than normal.

You want to try to keep the plant in a safe spot where it will be able to thrive. This is true whether you’re planting hyacinths outdoors or if you’re caring for them indoors in pots.

Ensure that you understand the needs of the hyacinth plant. If you know how to take care of it, it’s less likely that your actions will cause it to die.

Neglect is something that can kill plants. It’s not necessarily hard to take care of hyacinths, but sometimes new plant owners make mistakes due to not being used to taking care of plants.

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