You may tell something is wrong when the vivid green and white leaves on your zebra plant begin to turn yellow. The main causes of yellow leaves are listed below.
The Problem: Overwatering
Overwatering has been a common mistake made by plant owners. It sounds strange to not water a plant for several days at a period, yet frequently that’s exactly what the plant needs.
Check the soil if the leaves on your zebra plant are turning yellow. It needs to dry out if it still feels wet or if there is standing water after you water it.
Another telltale indicator of overwatering is if the stems are mushy and soft. The roots can’t obtain the oxygen they need to absorb the water when the soil is overwatered and not draining. This leads to root rot, which can be fatal.
The Fix
Take the overwatered zebra plant out of the soggy soil as soon as you detect the problem to save it. Look closely at the roots—are they all mushy and black? If so, your plant might not survive.
If only a few of the zebra plant’s roots appear to be harmed or dead, you might try pulling them out and repottiting the plant in new soil. Within 1-2 weeks, your plant should start to perk up if your efforts were successful.
The Problem: Underwatering
If your zebra plant is thirsty, you should be able to tell a little more easily. The soil needs water as soon as possible if you insert your finger into it and it feels dry to the touch more than 2 inches down.
Other signs of underwatering include withering, brown-tipped leaves, and dry, crinkly leaves.
If you believe this to be the case, water your plant well until water is pouring out of the drainage hole without restriction. If this were the only problem, your zebra plant might recover quickly.
However, a leaf that has turned yellow will never again be green. Anytime you see any leaves that are brown, yellow, or otherwise damaged, you can take them out.
The Problem: Cold Drafts
Zebra plants are picky about temperature. They thrive in warm, humid environments in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, where they are native.
Your zebra plant’s leaves may turn yellow and fall off if it is regularly exposed to temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, such as next to a drafty window.
If possible, relocate the plant away from drafty windows and try to improve the insulation there. Since space heaters tend to dry the air out too much, they could cause more harm than good.
The Problem: Not Enough Light
One of the best indicators that your plant isn’t getting enough light is the location of the yellow leaves. You can assume that it needs more if it predominantly appears in the lower leaves or in locations with less light.
If you don’t have someplace else to put your zebra plant and it isn’t in bright, indirect light, think about adding a grow light as a supplement. Fluorescent full-spectrum plant lights are available for purchase and come in a variety of designs and sizes.
Another simple option is to buy a full-spectrum light bulb that’s specifically designed for houseplants. You can use this in a mini desk lamp that’s adjustable so that you can position it directly over your plant.
How can a zebra succulent be revived?
- Symptoms. The zebra succulent has soft, mushy leaves that turn yellow, brown, or even black with time.
- Causes. Overwatering, soils that take a long time to drain, pots with poor drainage, or saucers and trays under pots prevent water from draining away from the roots.
Native to South Africa, zebra plants are drought-resistant succulents that thrive in rocky, well-draining soil with little water retention and strong indirect light.
Zebra succulents become brown or yellow, develop mushy leaves, and look to be dying if the soil is wet, saturated, or even merely excessively moist around the roots for an extended period of time.
Zebra succulents should be planted in grittier soil and watered only after the earth has completely dried up in order to mimic some of the growing conditions seen in their original environment.
The zebra succulent cannot take excessive moisture around the roots, which is caused by frequent watering or putting it in regular potting soil that tends to stay damp for an extended period of time.
Overwatering causes the earliest signs of stress in the form of yellow, brown, and mushy leaves.
As a result, water stress causes the aloe vera leaves to turn yellow, brown, or translucent with mushy leaves.
Zebra succulents can undergo a condition of dormancy in the summer if the temperatures are particularly high, which can emphasize this.
Zebra succulents have a summer dormancy in which they stop growing as a means of survival in hot and dry areas.
Because there is less need for moisture, there is a greater chance that over watering will cause the leaves to turn brown or yellow.
In order to prevent the soil from becoming soggy, it’s crucial that your zebra succulent is in a pot with drainage at the bottom that allows any excess water to drain away.
Notably, attractive outer pots and saucer trays can also prevent water from properly evaporating from the pot’s base, which can result in yellow or brown leaves or probable root rot.
How to Revive Yellow and Brown Zebra Succulent
- Restrict the irrigation. Zebra succulents should only be watered once a week at most, so any more than that is overwatering. Only water zebra succulents after the dirt in the pot has totally dried out. Generally speaking, this entails watering once every 14 days or so, but the actual frequency depends on your temperature, the season, the soil’s ability to retain moisture, and the size of the pot.
- If the potting soil is still damp, replace it. Even though you water zebra succulents at the proper intervals, if the soil is difficult to drain or remains wet for an extended period of time, the leaves may still turn brown or yellow and appear to be dying. Replace the soil with specially formulated succulent and cactus soil, which replicates the well-draining, grit-rich soil profile of the zebra succulent’s natural habitat and is available at garden centers and on Amazon.
- In pots and other containers with drainage holes in the bottom, plant zebra succulents. Drainage holes allow excess water to escape the bottom of the pot after watering, allowing the soil to dry out correctly and preventing root rot, which would otherwise kill the zebra plant.
- Zebra succulents should be planted in pots that are appropriate for their size. Larger pots have more soil in them, which means they can hold more moisture. Because of this, the pot dries out much more slowly than a smaller container, which increases the possibility that the zebra plants will develop root rot and die. For the zebra succulent to maintain the ideal moisture balance, smaller pots that are proportional to the size of the plant dry out at a rate that is suitable.
- Regularly empty the outer pots, trays, and saucers. In the house, following a round of watering, saucers, trays, and attractive outer pots are frequently used to stop extra water from pouring from the soil. To avoid your zebra succulent from dying from water stress, make sure to frequently dump anything underneath your container that may retain water.
Feel the dirt at the bottom through the drainage hole to determine whether the potting soil is dry. Refrain from watering for a few days if the soil is still damp. This is the ideal time to water your zebra succulent if the soil is dry.
The zebra plant is kept healthy by watering when the soil dries out since this mimics the soil’s natural cycle of moisture levels.
Make sure that no roots or compacted soil are obstructing the drainage holes, which could cause drainage to slow down.
Your zebra plant has a chance to recover from its appearance of death if the soil has completely dried up around the roots of the zebra succulent and you are watering according to best practices or replacing the soil with gritty succulent soil.
In the ensuing two weeks, you should start to see changes in the state of your zebra succulent.
The yellowing or browning of zebra succulent leaves is frequently only a symptom of stress brought on by overwatering, but if the leaves begin to turn black, this may be an indication of root rot, which is much more difficult for the plant to recover from.
I would advise trying to separate the healthy offsets from the unhealthy black part of the plant for multiplication if the zebra succulent has any growing in the pot.
(Read my post to learn the best methods for watering zebra succulents to find out whether zebra succulents need watering more frequently or less frequently according on the time of year.)
My zebra plant is dying; why?
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Beautiful indoor plants like the zebra plant (Aphelandra squarrosa) can blossom into lovely yellow blooms in the fall if given adequate exposure to intense light. But it’s also prized for having enormous, striped leaves that mimic the stripes of a zebra. It might be difficult to keep this plant happy whether you cultivate it for the flowers or the foliage (or both).
How come your zebra plant is dying, then? The most frequent causes are excessive light, insufficient watering (zebra plants require continual wetness), low humidity levels in your home, low temperatures, and/or excessive fertilizer, as the zebra plant is extremely sensitive to these factors.
Let’s examine the root of your zebra plant’s malaise and provide some solutions.
How can an overwatered zebra succulent be saved?
The more quickly you act, the more likely you are to be able to save your plant. The likelihood that a plant may succumb to rot increases with the amount of overwatering. As you can see from the examples above, there are times when a plant is simply too damaged to be saved.
The plant is essentially drowning from too much water and needs to dry out as quickly as possible if it is exhibiting early signs of overwatering, such as mushy, soft, and pale bottom leaves.
Steps on How To Save an Overwatered Succulent:
- It is preferable to remove the plant from its current location and thoroughly clean the roots of any moist soil.
- For at least three days and up to a week, let the plant to completely dry out.
- The plant should be placed somewhere dry and sunny, but out of direct sunlight to prevent burning of the leaves and roots.
- Replant in an appropriate, fast-draining potting mix once it has dried up; do not water right away. Before watering again, wait about a week and take care not to overwater.
You might get away with leaving the plant alone and not repotting it if you believe it is already in the proper potting mix but you were just excessively watering your plants.
Prior to watering again, wait at least a week and feel the top inch of the soil for moisture. You can water it once more if it feels dry. Your plant needs a new pot if the soil is still moist because the soil it is now in is not drying out quickly enough.
Will The Leaves Grow Back?
Yes. As long as the plant is not decaying, even if you lose a lot of leaves due to overwatering, it will eventually recover. You may soon see fresh growth or tiny leaves along the stems if you allow it time to dry out.
Additionally, you’ll see new growth coming from the plant’s sides, top, or even bottom. When you start to see new growth, your plant is typically out of danger and has fully healed.
Steps on How to Save a Rotting Succulent From Overwatering:
- Check the plant to see how bad the rot is. You may be able to salvage some of the plant if the rot is not too bad.
- Keep any leaf that seems to be reusable. As many leaves as you can preserve for propagation. Leaf propagation can be challenging, so you’ll need as much leaf as you can obtain to give some of them a fighting chance. Ensure you collect the leaf in its entirety, including the base. A broken leaf won’t survive.
- Allow the leaves to dry for a few days by placing them somewhere dry and out of the sun.
- When the leaves are completely dry, either lay them flat on the soil or bury the ends in well-draining potting mix. You can dip the leaves in rooting hormone as an optional step. I tend to skip over this step, but other people prefer to add rooting hormones to boost success rates and expedite the propagation process.
- Avoid direct sunshine and water the soil every few days or if it seems dry. Await the development of new plants and their roots.
Other than leaves, you can also save parts of the stem
- Examine the stem, including the roots, and remove any rotten spots. Save any stem pieces that are still green or healthy. When you cut the stem, you will be able to tell if it is viable or not. If the stem’s inside reveals green, fragile sections that aren’t brown or black, they may have a chance of surviving and can be multiplied to start a new plant.
- Saved stems should be stored in a dry, shaded area. All cuts should calluses and seal after a few days to a week of drying. Dip the stems in rooting hormone, if desired. I tend to skip over this step, but other people prefer to add rooting hormones to boost success rates and expedite the propagation process.
- When the stems are dry, make a well-draining potting mix and place them in it.
- Every couple of days or whenever the soil gets dry, mist. To prevent sun damage, stay out of the sun until your roots are completely established.
You can see that the stem still has a lot of green, healthy sections after removing the decaying portion, indicating that it can be preserved. I placed this stem in soil to root and grow after letting it dry out for a few days.
Overwatered echeveria that has withered. I kept a few of the leaves for future growth.