Yellow leaves on houseplants
Yellowing leaves are the most common houseplant complaint, and overwatering causes most of them. Here is what it means on the plants people own most.
47 plants in the care library show this
Yellowing leaves one after another
Likely cause
Overwatering, or the plant entering its winter rest.
What to do
Ease off water in winter. Alocasias often drop to a few leaves and regrow in spring.
Leaves yellowing one after another
Likely cause
Overwatering, or a normal winter rest where it sheds down to a few leaves.
What to do
Water much less in winter. As long as the corm is firm, it will push new leaves in spring.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering — anthuriums want an airy mix that never stays wet.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and repot into a chunky aroid mix if the soil looks dense.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering, or too little light.
What to do
Let the top inch dry between waterings and give it bright indirect light.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or occasionally too little light.
What to do
Let the top inch dry between waterings and give it bright indirect light.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Too much direct sun, or the pot has dried out completely.
What to do
Move it to bright indirect light and water before the soil goes bone-dry.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or a pot that stays soggy.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry and make sure it drains freely.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Too much light or too much water.
What to do
Medium indirect light, and let the surface dry slightly between drinks.
Yellowing, thinning fronds
Likely cause
Too little water or light.
What to do
Keep it consistently moist, never bone-dry, in bright indirect light.
The whole plant fading after flowering
Likely cause
Normal. A bromeliad flowers once, then slowly dies while producing pups.
What to do
Not a problem to fix — let the pups grow to a third of the parent size, then separate them.
Yellow leaves with green veins
Likely cause
Chlorosis — citrus cannot take up iron and magnesium from soil that is too alkaline or exhausted.
What to do
Feed with a dedicated citrus fertilizer through the growing season and water with rain or filtered water.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering — almost the only way to kill a cast-iron plant.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry out and water sparingly, especially in winter.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering, or the pot sitting in runoff.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and always empty the saucer.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering or cold — aglaonemas hate wet feet and chills.
What to do
Let the top inch dry between waterings and keep it above 60°F, away from drafts.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or the plant retiring the oldest leaves.
What to do
Let the top inch dry out; remove the odd yellow leaf at the base.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or a hungry plant in old soil.
What to do
Let the top inch dry, and feed monthly through spring and summer.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Normal shedding as the cane grows, unless it is widespread.
What to do
Remove old leaves. If many go at once, check you are not overwatering.
Leaves yellowing and dying back in spring
Likely cause
Normal dormancy, not death. Cyclamen rest through the warm months.
What to do
Ease off water, let it die back, and keep the tuber dry and cool until fall. It returns.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or normal aging at the base as it grows tall.
What to do
Let the top inch dry between waterings; remove old leaves at the stem.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Normal shedding as it grows taller, unless it is widespread.
What to do
Remove old leaves. If many yellow at once, check you are not overwatering.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Hunger — bananas are heavy feeders — or the oldest leaf simply retiring.
What to do
Feed regularly through the growing season and remove spent leaves at the stem.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry out and make sure the pot drains freely.
Whole fronds yellowing
Likely cause
Overwatering, or a hungry plant late in the season.
What to do
Let the top inch dry, and feed monthly through spring and summer.
Yellow leaves with green veins
Likely cause
Chlorosis — the soil is too alkaline for it to take up iron.
What to do
Use an acidic (ericaceous) mix, feed with an acid-loving plant food, and water with rain or filtered water.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Almost always overwatering — pothos would rather be too dry than too wet.
What to do
Let the top 1–2 inches of soil dry out, then water less often. Check the pot actually drains.
Yellow leaves along the vine
Likely cause
Overwatering, or an old leaf retiring if it is just one at the base.
What to do
Let the top inch dry between waterings. One yellow leaf now and then is normal.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering — hoyas have thick semi-succulent leaves and store water.
What to do
Let the mix dry out most of the way, and use a chunky, airy potting mix.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering. Kentias are slow and want far less water than people give them.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry out before watering again.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Too much sun, or overwatering.
What to do
Keep it in bright indirect to moderate light and let the top inch dry between waterings.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Underwatering or a nutrient shortfall — majesties are hungry and thirsty.
What to do
Keep it consistently moist and feed through spring and summer.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and use a chunky aroid mix.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering. Money trees are far more often drowned than dried out.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry completely, and make sure no water sits in the outer pot.
Yellow leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, especially in a pot that stays soggy.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry before watering and make sure the pot drains freely.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering in a dense mix.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and repot into a chunky aroid mix if the soil stays wet.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering — parlor palms want lightly moist, never soggy, soil.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and empty the saucer after watering.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Natural aging, or overwatering if widespread.
What to do
Trim the odd old leaf. If many yellow at once, let the soil dry more between waterings.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering.
What to do
Let the top inch dry and use a chunky aroid mix that drains fast.
Yellow leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering in a mix that holds too much.
What to do
Let the top inch dry, and repot into something chunkier if the soil stays wet.
Yellowing older fronds
Likely cause
Nutrient deficiency, common in palms kept in the same soil for years.
What to do
Feed with a palm-specific fertilizer through the growing season and refresh the top layer of soil.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering or too much light.
What to do
Bright indirect light, and let the surface dry before watering again.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Too much water, particularly in winter when it barely drinks.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry, and water noticeably less from fall through spring.
Older fronds turning yellow
Likely cause
Usually a manganese or magnesium shortfall; sometimes overwatering.
What to do
Feed a palm or cycad fertilizer with micronutrients. Old yellow fronds never re-green — trim them.
Yellow leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering.
What to do
Let the top inch dry before watering again.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Normal shedding as the cane grows, or too little light if widespread.
What to do
Remove old leaves and make sure it gets several hours of bright light.
Yellowing lower leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering, or the natural shedding of old leaves as the trunk grows.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry. The odd old leaf yellowing at the base is normal.
Yellowing leaves before they fall
Likely cause
Overwatering, or cold air from a door or vent.
What to do
Let the top 2 inches dry and move it away from drafts.
Yellowing leaves
Likely cause
Overwatering — the ZZ stores water in its rhizomes and rots if kept wet.
What to do
Let the soil dry out completely between waterings. When in doubt, wait another week.
Still stuck? These are the usual causes, not a diagnosis — plants sulk for local reasons too, like a cold draft or a pot that never drains. Tracking when you actually watered makes the pattern obvious, which is what DueDrop is for.