Green Thumb

Houseplant Problems: What to Do About Yellow Leaves on Plants

Turns out your green babies are trying to tell you something
Phalaenopsis orchid leaves turning yellow due to root rot.
Phalaenopsis orchid leaves turning yellow due to root rot.Photo: Nadya So/Getty Images

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The appearance of yellow leaves on plants can happen for a variety of reasons. Perhaps your trendy green babies received an overabundance of sunlight, not enough sunlight, too much water or fertilizer, or even fell victim to garden pests or one too many cold drafts. The list of potentials can go on and on. Not to mention, diagnosing why your plant has yellowing leaves can be tricky since yellow leaves can mean different things for different plant varieties.

The popular houseplant aloe vera, for example, gets yellow leaves from the stress of being moved around too much, or if it doesn’t have a fixed schedule for waterings. Bromeliad and burro’s tail get yellow leaves if they’ve been in direct light for too long, while the mysteriously finicky Calathea gets yellow leaves from a lot of things: overwatering, underwatering, mis-watering, withholding light, overexposure to light, drying out, or even—as some have suggested—when the plant chooses to be vexatious.

In her upcoming book, What Is My Plant Telling Me?: An Illustrated Guide to Houseplants and How to Keep Them Alive, Emily Hay Hinsdale breaks down what each plant needs to thrive, covering everything from basic plant care to what to do when different houseplants show signs of distress. “Each plant has its own language,” she says. “Learning what it means when it shows you yellow leaves, or droopy leaves, or spotted leaves will give you the confidence to indoor garden with ease.” Ahead of the book’s release on September 20, we asked the author specifically about the yellowing leaves problem, what the color means, and how to fix it for six of the most common houseplants.

African violets

Since this houseplant prefers tropical climes, conditions like “chilly drafts, too much direct sun, pests” should be avoided at all costs. Emily jokes, “The African violet is not so modest when complaining about your gardening skills.” Yellow leaves usually mean that you need to better replicate the plant’s tropical origins with warm humid air and indirect light. African violets prefer shady spots; otherwise too much sun can scorch the leaves. “When you spot patches of yellow on your plant’s leaves or dry edges, that’s a good sign it’s getting sunburned,” Emily assures.

Pro tip: If your African violets’ leaves have yellow spots, that could also be “a critique of your splashy watering style,” so you should keep water off the leaves.

Air plants

If you spot yellow leaves on an air plant, this requires immediate attention. “Yellow leaves show up when your air plant is too wet and starting to rot, or when it’s getting too much light,” Emily warns. These plants get their moisture from the air, and do not need the traditional watering other common houseplants do. “Make sure you let your air plant dry out thoroughly after you water it—no standing water on the leaves—and keep out of direct sun,” she adds “It likes a well-lit space, but not direct sun.”

Pro tip: If you’ve overwatered your air plant, allow the plant to dry out to save it. Air plant experts suggest mini portable fans to help remove the extra water that may linger on your air plant’s leaves between waterings.

Aloe vera

Aloe vera doesn’t like change when it comes to its environment. “Water only when the soil is dry and keep that watering schedule consistent,” Emily advices. Remember, aloe vera is a type of succulent and lives in dry and arid regions naturally, so it prefers less water than say a more tropical plant does.

Pro tip: Succulents want lightweight sandy soil that dries quickly, Emily says, so a poor soil choice for your aloe vera—and a pot that doesn’t meet its needs (almost all plants need pots with good drainage)—will cause poor plant health. She suggests repotting your aloe vera if it hasn’t been planted in the right soil or pot.

Bromeliad

Because a bromeliad’s leaf color can vary widely, what you want to be looking for is not so much a specific color, but a change in color. Emily warns that “yellow leaves are a symptom, not a diagnosis.” In the case of say, “a bromeliad Guzmania, their leaves are naturally jaundiced.”

Pro tip: “If your bromeliad’s bracts get papery with yellow tips, move it out of the direct sun.” Emily also recommends looking for new leaf color changes and brown tips. “You can spot a sick leaf even on a canary yellow bromeliad frond—it fades,” she adds. “Get that tropical beauty out of the direct sun. It’s getting a sunburn.”

Burro’s tail

For the burro’s tail, yellow leaves indicate that the plant is receiving too much intense light. Emily’s advice is to “keep light bright, but indirect.” Although it’s possible to save a plant with a yellow leaf or two, you must address the plant’s issues early to ensure the plant will make it through its distress. (She suggests moving your plant off that “hot, bright windowsill.”)

Pro tip: Be careful to find the balance. Some plants may yellow as they struggle to find bright enough light to keep producing the chlorophyll that greens up the leaves. “Indirect light doesn’t mean a dark corner—brighten it up! You’re much less likely to be able to save the leaf itself,” she says. This means sometimes you will need to remove the yellow leaf by cutting it off the plant, which will allow you to “invest your energy in keeping the still-green leaves thriving.” Luckily, in most cases, “The burro’s tail prefers to communicate with dropped leaves rather than yellow ones.”

Calathea 

The calathea’s leaves can turn yellow for many reasons including “overwatering to just being irritated with you.” Avoid tap water with this plant, and be careful in striking a balance in terms of sunlight or moving its pot around. Emily says that Calathea is “known for its looks, not its easygoing nature.”

Pro tip: Calathea may need more attention than many other plants, so you might want to consider doing some deep research on this plant before bringing it into your home.

An illustration of leaves turning colors from the pages of What Is My Plant Telling Me?: An Illustrated Guide to Houseplants and How to Keep Them Alive**.

Illustration by Loni Harris