Solution: There's nothing to worry about here. You can snip off the odd wilted leaf or flower with clean secateurs. This will encourage your plant to put its energy into new growth.
Yes, you should cut off dying leaves. this will free up nutrients/encourage new growth, prevent the spread of disease, pests and help to improve health overall and appearance.
It's best not to prune droopy, wilting parts of a plant until you identify and treat the underlying cause. The drooping leaves can still recover. If leaves eventually die, prune them to direct energy to new growth.
If you have a wilting plant the first thing you want to do is give it a thorough watering. You can accomplish this by putting your plant in the sink, or adding watering for anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes (depending on pot size and specific plant/soil requirements), letting the water completely drain out of the bottom.
Leaves with slight damage can be trimmed back, especially if it's the leaf tip. If you prefer to remove the whole dying leaf, that's fine too. Trimming back dying foliage will encourage new growth. However, you also have the option to leave dead leaves on the plant as long as there's not an insect infestation.
Secondly, leaves manufacture food for plant growth. The more leaves that are cut off the plant, the slower the plant will grow. Therefore, to promote rapid growth leave as many branches and twigs on your young tree as possible.
Can your wilted plant be saved? It depends on why your plant is wilting. Different causes require different responses. If you've under watered your plant or have extremely low humidity, you can add water more and/or raise the humidity level around the plant.
1. If a plant is overwatered, it will likely develop yellow or brown limp, droopy leaves as opposed to dry, crispy leaves (which are a sign of too little water). Wilting leaves combined with wet soil usually mean that root rot has set in and the roots can no longer absorb water. 2.
You can snip off the odd wilted leaf or flower with clean secateurs. This will encourage your plant to put its energy into new growth.
If your plant is wilting, try giving it some water and see if it perks up. Sometimes it's as easy as that. Most plants leaves will begin to wilt when they need watered. As long as the leaves have not become crunchy, they will perk up within a few hours.
Pruning is most effective at the start of the plant's growing season, and this will likely be at the very end of the Winter or the start of Spring. Plants with dead, browning leaves can be pruned when needed to remove them as this will allow fresh, new growth to appear.
Like wilting leaves, drooping leaves hanging limply from the stem indicate the plant is distressed. However, a drooping plant is not necessarily dry or browning like a wilting plant. Heat and under-watering often cause wilting, but other factors can contribute to droopiness.
Wilted greens such as lettuce, kale, and chard can be revived with a cold water bath. Before composting leafy greens that seem to have lost their pep, take a few simple steps to bring them back to life. For lettuce: cut the base about 1/2", or separate leaves from base entirely.
Leaves can smother your lawn and eventually kill it.
As the leaves begin to rot, there is also an increased chance for fungus and mold growth. A lawn that is suffering from fungal disease will start developing yellow, white, or brown spots throughout your yard.
How to Prune. Any time you prune, make proper cuts so you won't damage your plant. All cuts should be made on the branch side of the stem collar, which grows out from the stem at the base of the branch. This protects the stem and other branches that might be growing, and allows the tree to heal more effectively.
Overwatering means yellowing leaves, a general feeling of flop (science calls it wilting!), fuzzy soil, and a pot that feels like it could double as a weight. Underwatering shows itself with crispy leaves, that same sad droop, and bone-dry soil.
How to check for root rot. The main signs to look out for are: yellowing, wilting leaves, wet soil that isn't drying, black, wet roots, quickly declining health, and stunted growth.
When a plant is first becoming overwatered, leaves turn yellow. If soil doesn't have a chance to dry out before you water again, leaves start to wilt. When overwatering is the problem, wilted leaves are soft and limp. (If too little water is the issue, wilted leaves are dry and crispy.)
The good news is that most plants will bounce back between 7-14 days if they're given proper care (which includes rehydration). If this isn't possible because major damage was done or little healthy root system exists then expect about 2 weeks until improvement can be seen.
Wilting point is reached when available moisture drops lower than a plant can get. The deficiency may cause either temporary or permanent withering. Wilting point is a ratio of moisture content to dry earth weight or volume. Its percent expression (of the dry weight) is the wilting coefficient.
Literally just add water. If the soil is so dry that it pulls away from the pot, add a little bit of water slowly over time to allow the soil to absorb it. Otherwise, the water will just run out the bottom in the newly created gap between the soil and the pot.
When you see dead leaves, dormant stems, or brown parts of leaves, cut them away. It's fine to pluck dead leaves or stems with your hands when possible, just don't pull too hard, or you may damage the healthy part of your plant. For tougher stems or to remove brown leaf tips and edges, use scissors or pruning shears.
Fertiliser fuels growth.
When you want to fuel leaf growth, you want a foliage fertiliser. Those are the ones higher in nitrogen. Two of my favourites are Plant Runner and GT Foliage Focus (those links are for my NZ plant buddies, but overseas you can get GT Foliage Focus on Amazon too).
Using a sharp knife (or pruners) cut just below where a leaf attaches to the stem (the node). Roots grow easiest from this location. If you leave a section of stem below the node, it often rots. Remove the lower leaves but leave the top two or three.