It doesn’t matter if you are an expert gardener or a beginner in growing plants, you must take care in the right way to grow healthy plants. Growing plants is a matter of patience. Even though you provide everything it needs like water, good compost, rich soil, adequate sunlight, natural fertilizer sometimes the leaves of indoor plants start to turn to yellow color.
Do you know the reason behind it? No, here are 7 common causes of plant leaves that are turning yellow and some easy steps to get them healthy.
Lack Of Sunlight:
Lack of sunlight is one of the possible cause for yellowing leaves and one of the foremost things most indoor gardeners think of. Find a sunnier location to place your indoor plants or just add an artificial light source.
Even a standard lamp can be enough to green things back up again. Or choose a bulb that is cool in color tone rather than warm just to encourage green leaves.
Sometimes, having too much light will also result in yellowing but that usually changes to brown as the leaves dry out.
Overwatering Or Under watering:
Over watering or under watering also results in yellowing the leaves of your plants. If the plant doesn’t get enough amount of water, you’ll see wilting as the first symptom. Without the water pressure inside the plant, it starts to droop and starts becoming yellow.
So you must check on the needs of your plants like does the soil stay wet or soggy for too long after you water the plants? A lack of drainage will water log the roots even when you water them correctly.
It might sound correct that soil holds on the water so there is no need of watering them on regular basis, but it leads them to cause of root rot.
If you don’t have the right drainage, it’s better to repot the plant in looser soil or potting mix that provides better drainage.
Nutrient Deficient:
Just like humans, plants also need enough amounts of nutrients for their healthy growth. Most plants will benefit from fertilizing a couple of times a year probably in the spring and summer months. Using Epsom salt for your plants is also a good idea to provide adequate amount of magnesium for your plants. Because, lack of magnesium often causes yellowing leaves and make sure to check out the soil before fertilizing your plants.
Pest Problems:
If you see insects living and eating the leaves of your plants, just treat them with neem oil. Insects and other fungal diseases also results in causing yellowing of leaves. All you need to do mix little amount of soap solution with 1 table spoon of neem oil and spray this solution on your indoor plants to prevent fungal diseases of your plants.
Broken Stem:
When a stem gets bent suddenly, water stops flowing to the rest of the stem and leaves of the plant becomes yellow. So, snip off the stem which is broken and allow the remaining plant to grow healthily.
Environmental Shock:
Changes in environment often lead to yellowing or dropping of leaves. Environmental shocks like sudden change in temperature, changing in soil chemistry after repotting the plants will cause a great loss for the plants. It’s better to maintain constant temperature and make sure that the plant has good drainage system while repotting it.
Normal Ageing:
As plants age, the lower leaves of it turn yellow and drop off. This is a simply a normal part of their growth. So, if you are seeing that the plants are becoming too leggy, trim back the main stem to promote new growth and bushiness.