Just like many other types of plants, African Violet leaves curling can be caused by a variety of factors and should be addressed early on.
This can be from environmental factors or by human error when growing these plants.
Common causes for African Violet leaves curling include too much light, not enough light, pests, overwatering, cold weather and water.
So if you have noticed the leaves curling up or curling downwards then you will need to take a look at each of these potential causes to get your plant all sorted out.
Direct light
Probably the most common cause out of all of these for curling leaves on African violets will be due to direct light or full sun.
African violets really prefer bright but indirect light rather than full sun for most of the day because too much direct light can scorch the leaves by turning them brown or just cause the leaves to curl.
So if you have curly leaves, have a look at how much light this plant is receiving daily and if you suspect the plant is getting too much direct light, just move the plant in a more shaded area that can still get bright light but not too intense.
Curling leaves will be a thing of the past once you get optimal lighting but also be sure to watch out for heat waves every once in a while even when the lighting is sorted out.
Too little light
Now on the other side of things, if you’ve been growing your African violet in super low light conditions or if there just isn’t enough light going through the windows then you can get curled up leaves as well.
Leaves curling upwards on African violet’s will often be caused by too little light whether growing indoors or outdoors.
You may even see this plant stretching towards the nearest light source when this happens as it is light starved.
If you’re running into this issue then find another window that gets more light daily, move the plant outdoors with some shade of course or just use a quality indoor grow light.
This should fix the curly leaves in no time.
Just be sure you are providing bare minimum 6 hours of bright indirect light daily for proper growth and to prevent curling leaves in the future.
Pests
Pests can be a serious issue in general, but they can also cause curled leaves for African Violet’s.
Mealy bugs, scales, spider mites and more can drain the nutrients from your plant leaves by feeding on them, leaving them dehydrated and curly.
If you notice any of the following symptoms, you may have a pest issue at hand.
- Leaves curling
- Leaves drooping
- Leaves turning yellow
- Leaves turning brown
- Leaves turning white or have white spots
- Stunted growth
- Sticky leaves
- Leaves turning black or have black spots
- Spider webbing (Indicates spider mites)
To get rid of most pests you can just spray once a week with some good quality neem oil to treat and prevent future pests from invading.
Just be sure to only spray at night to let the neem dry and also keep this plant away from other plants in the meantime so the bugs don’t spread to other plants.
If you’re just looking for some quality neem oil spray then you can find some here.
Overwatering
One of the most common causes for an African violet leaves curling down will be from overwatering this plant.
Downwards curling is a sure sign that the soil has been soaked for too long or the soil just isn’t draining properly which can often happen when buying these plants as it’s usually not shipped with the right kind of soil.
Get the right kind of soil over here.
If the soil you are using actually drains well then the overwatering itself will be the main culprit as it can be a little more challenging to water these plants.
You don’t want the soil to get bone dry but you also don’t want to overwater this plant which will cause leaves curling down at the very least at root rot at the worst.
To prevent overwatering an African Violet, just water when the first few inches of soil are dry as this will allow the lower soil to stay slightly moist without having to worry about overwatering.
Cold temperature
African Violet plants are quite sensitive to temperature and they really thrive in warmer temperatures such as 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the most part.
When temperatures suddenly drop lower into the colder levels, this can shock the plant causing the leaves to curl down.
This can also be said with watering with water that is also too cold.
You want to use water that is around room temperature for the plant to not react with curly leaves.
So if all else seems normal with your plant, just have a look at the temperature of the weather or the water you’re using and correct it.
It can be as simple as that.