10 Reasons Why Baby Bunny Belly Plant is Dying and How to Revive It

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Baby Bunny Belly Plant is dying due to too little light, poor quality soil, improper feeding, cold drafts, root-rot, pest infestations, incorrect watering among others.

Baby Bunny Bellies Plant (Tradescantia chrysophylla) also called Baby Bunny Bellies Tradescantia or Speedy Jenny Baby Bellies is among the popular, trailing Tradescantia varieties with fuzzy foliage which feels like the under belly of a baby bunny, hence the common name.

Baby Bunny Belly Plant performs best in bright indirect light (filtered light), average warmth of 18-24⁰C and moderately moist, rich, well-drained, all purpose potting soil coupled with monthly feeding during the growing season. Read more on Baby Bunny Bellies (Tradescantia chrysophylla) Care Indoors.

If the growing conditions are not right, your plant may begin to die. Herebelow are 10 reasons why a Baby Bunny Belly Plant may die and how to fix them.

10 Reasons Baby Bunny Belly Plant is Dying and Fixes

1. Improper feeding

Overfeeding Baby Bunny Belly Plant will result in fertilizer burn leading to death of the roots. When the roots die, they cannot take up the water and nutrients required for photosynthesis, therefore the plant begins to die due to lack of food.

Underfeeding the plant means that the plant is not getting enough nutrients needed for growth, therefore, the plant begins to die.

How to fix it

Feed your Baby Bunny Belly Plant every 4 weeks during the growing season with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer to promote a lush growth. Do not feed in the cold season as growth is minimal and feeding at this time can lead to fertilizer burn and death of the plant. Read more on how to feed houseplants.

2. Pest infestations

Baby Bunny Belly Plant is prone to aphids, scale insects and mealy bugs. These sap-sucking pests may cause the plant to become dehydrated, stunted and to die.

How to fix it

Ensure that your Baby Bunny Belly Plant is healthy by providing it with the right growing conditions. The pests infestations may be prevalent in dry conditions. To minimize pest infestations, increase humidity especially when the temperatures are too high. You may grow the plant in a well-lit bathroom or other humid conditions in the home.

In addition, keep the plant well pruned by removal of dead, yellow and diseased foliage to reduce the hidding places for these pests.

If the pest infestation is heavy, isolate the affected plant to prevent spread to the other plants and treat it with appropriate products. Some effective products that you may use to get rid of these pests include insecticidal soap and neem oil among others. Make sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions.

3. Poor quality Soil

Poor quality soil does not drain easily and therefore it easily becomes compacted or soggy which can result in reduced growth and death of your Baby Bunny Belly Plant.

How to fix it

Grow your Baby Bunny Belly Plant in quality, free-draining , all purpose potting soil which is rich in organic matter to prevent it from getting soggy while providing the required nutrients.

4. Root-rot disease

Baby Bunny Belly Plant is prone to root-rot disease which is prevalent in soggy soil especially in the cold season. The disease is characterized by yellowing, wilting and leaf drop which is rapidly followed by browning and plant death.

How to fix it

Carefully, remove your Baby Bunny Belly Plant from of its pot and inspect the roots. Any brown-black mushy roots indicate root-rot, trim them off and treat the healthy roots with a copper-based fungicidal solution.

Disinfect the pot with the fungicidal solution or use a fresh pot to repot the plant in fresh, well-drained soil. Withhold watering the plant and keep it dry for about 7 days before you resume watering.

To prevent root-rot in the future, confirm that the pot has a drainage hole and that the soil is free-draining to prevent it from getting soggy.

Take care not to overwater the plant especially in the cold season as growth is minimal at this time, therefore, the plant does not need a lot of water.

5. Too little light

Adequate light is necessary for photosynthesis, the process by which plants make the food needed for growth and energy.< If the light is too little light, the plant cannot make enough food for growth and development which results in stunted growth and death of the plant.

How to fix it

Position your Baby Bunny Belly Plant infront of a brightly-lit window where it will receive bright indirect light or instal grow lights if the natural lighting is not enough. Check out these full spectrum grow lights on Amazon.

Rotate the pot regularly to ensure that the plant receives light on all sides for uniform growth as well as prevent leggy growth. Check out this post on understanding light for houseplants.

6. Too low humidity

Baby Bunny Belly Plant grows best in average room humidity of 50-55%. However, very low humidity will result in dry and shrivelled leaves, leaf drop and eventual death of the plant.

How to fix it

To elevate humidity for your Baby Bunny Belly Plant, you may group several plants together or grow the plant in a well-lit bathroom and other humid areas in the home. You may also set the pot on a wet pebble tray or use a cool mist humidifier. Read more on how to raise humidity for houseplants.

7. Extremely pot-bound plant

If your Baby Bunny Belly Plant becomes extremely pot-bound, it begins to wilt, drop leaves and die eventually.

This is because the roots have filled the pot and there is very little soil to hold water when you water the plant. This will cause the plant to wilt, drop leaves and die.

How to fix it

Check the bottom of the pot for roots growing through the drainage hole and repot the plant into a terracoatta pot one size larger than the current one. A terracotta pot is perfect as it is porous and allows water to drain out faster. This prevents the soil from holding too much water and being soggy for long periods.

Thereafter, repot your Baby Bunny Belly Plant at the beginning of the growing season when it is root-bound. Take a look at these terracotta pots on Amazon.

8. Cold drafts

Cold drafts coupled with soggy soil will cause sudden drops in temperature which will lead to reduced growth and eventual plant death of your Baby Bunny Belly Plant.

How to fix it

To prevent the death of your Baby Bunny Belly Plant, keep the plant away from cold drafts and maintain an average warmth of 18-24⁰C and a minimum of 13⁰C. Check out this guide on understanding temperature for houseplants.

In addition, reduce watering in the cold season and ensure that the pot has a drainage hole to prevent the soil from getting soggy.

9. Incorrect watering

Incorrect watering; either overwatering or underwatering your Baby Bunny Belly Plant will result in yellow leaves, leaf drop and eventual death of the plant.

Overwatering will cause the roots to die due to lack of oxygen. When the roots die they cannot take up water which causes the leaves to yellow, drop and eventually the plant dies.

Underwatering implies that there is too little moisture in the soil and therefore, the plant has no water to take up to the leaves. Thus, the leaves begin to drop and eventually the plant may die if the situation is not corrected.

How to fix it

Baby Bunny Belly Plant requires that the soil be kept moderately moist at all times during the growing season by allowing the top 2-3 inches of soil to dry out between waterings.

Decrease watering in the cold season to keep the soil slightly moist and do not let the soil dry out completely. Ascertain that the pot has a drainage hole to prevent the soil from getting soggy. Learn more on how to water houseplants the right way.

10. Exposure to direct sunlight

Exposing your Baby Bunny Belly Plant to direct sunlight will result in wilting, leaf drop and eventual death of the plant. It flourishes in bright, indirect light away from sunshine (filtered light).

How to fix it

Place your Baby Bunny Belly Plant in a more shaded spot or instal a light curtain to protect the plant from direct sunlight to prevent its eventual death.

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