Why Monstera Turning Yellow

Improper watering, both under-watering and overwatering, can lead to issues with Monstera plant leaves turning yellow. The leaves are probably drowning and dying if they feel dry and brittle.

Yellow Leaves With Black Spots

Act quickly if the leaves on your monstera plant are turning yellow and getting black patches. Your monstera most certainly has root rot, which, if left untreated, can swiftly kill your plant.

Repot your monstera into new soil and a clean pot to treat root rot. Remove as much soil as you can from the root ball, and then cut off any rotten roots. Make sure the soil and new pot both drain well.

Once your plant has been repotted, put it in a location with plenty of bright, indirect sunshine and water it less frequently than normal. Use our Root Supplement when you water to help the roots heal and stop additional infection.

Yellow Leaves With Brown Spots

What if your leaves are browning and turning yellow? Here, the texture and color both play a significant role.

Your plant is likely underwatered if the areas are light brown, dry, or crispy; check to see if the soil is dry.

You should repot your plant as soon as possible if the areas are mushy and dark brown, as this indicates possible root rot.

You might have a bacterial infection if the spots are dry and more medium brown, however this is uncommon. Yet another thing to think about! Try carefully removing the afflicted leaves using clean hands and tools after ruling out dryness and root rot, then repotting the plant as you would for root rot. That ought to stop the virus from spreading (no pun intended).

Yellow Leaves With Brown Edges

You can have a nutritional shortage if the leaves on your monstera are yellow with crisp, brown edges. Chemical burn from too much fertilizer is another possibility. Finding out when you last fertilized is the greatest method to discern the difference. A white crust on the soil’s surface may indicate overfertilization and the accumulation of certain minerals in the soil. Here’s how to stop monsteras from overfertilizing.

Check the soil’s moisture content because the plant could also be underwater.

Should I Cut Yellow Leaves Off Monstera?

Yup! When a leaf turns yellow, it no longer benefits your plant and instead becomes a drain, thus your monstera is better off without it. Remove any yellow leaves you spot using clean shears, but first inspect your plant to see whether there’s a problem that needs to be fixed or if this is just a typical, healthy amount of leaf fall.

Watering Problem

In terms of water, monsteras can be picky. They dislike drying out because they are native to the rainforest. However, if they are exposed to too much water for too long, they might develop root rot.

It is crucial to examine your Swiss Cheese plant to determine the cause of your Monstera’s yellowing, as one of these could be the issue.

Overwatering

Checking the soil for excess moisture should be your first step if you find your Monstera’s leaves turning yellow. Simply dig your finger into the soil.

  • Is the ground damp?
  • Does it seem damp?
  • Does it have a rotting or rather stinky odor?

If so, you should completely repot your Swiss cheese plant since it is probably suffering from root rot brought on by overwatering. For more thorough instructions, please see our tutorial here.

A Monstera that is overwatered will sag, get brown blotches on its leaves, and have yellowing of the foliage as a result. Its soil may grow a fungus on top and take a very long time to dry off.

Keep in mind that soil that retains water and excessive watering frequency, not the amount of water applied all at once, are what cause overwatering.

When watering your Monstera, make sure the soil is not already excessively wet first, and then water it until water begins to drain from the bottom drainage hole.

Before doing any care or maintenance on your Monstera, especially before you water it because it could make the problem worse, it is important to check for root rot because it can swiftly kill your Monstera.

Underwatering

Yellowing of your Monstera’s foliage is another symptom of inadequate watering. Fortunately, fixing this is simple and much less likely to harm your Monstera.

When you inserted your finger into the ground, it came back completely dry. Your Monstera needs to drink.

A Monstera that has been submerged will reveal it in its leaves, which will droop, yellow, curl, and eventually turn light brown and crispy.

The soil needs to be watered more thoroughly because it is so dry. Transport your plant to a location where it can receive plenty of water, such as outside with a hose or in the shower. You might need a friend’s assistance to carry a large Monstera.

Shower your Monstera until water begins to drip from the pot’s bottom, then continue for a little while more. Long-term soil drying out might cause it to become hydrophobic, which means it won’t absorb water as efficiently.

Keep an eye on the yellow leaves and the dampness of the soil after this vigorous watering. You might need to increase the frequency of watering your Monstera.

Even after giving the plants enough water, if more leaves begin to turn yellow, you may have another problem, such as bugs, that has to be addressed.

Temperature Stress

True plants from the jungle are monsteras. They dislike the cold because they do not understand what winter is.

Once the temperature falls below 50F (10C), monstera plants will stop growing, and as the temperature goes closer to freezing, the leaves will begin to yellow or suffer damage.

They will also feel anxious if exposed to extremely hot conditions or harsh sunshine. They occupy the understory of the jungle, climbing the trees to shade their leaves from the glaring sun.

The affected leaves of the Monstera will turn yellow, crispy, or brown under any temperature stress. Younger, more delicate leaves may be more vulnerable to temperature stress, however older or younger leaves are not always where this stress begins.

Look at the plant’s position if you see yellow leaves on your Monstera:

  • Does it face a southwest window that receives intense afternoon sun?
  • Is it next to a window that drafts in the winter?
  • Does it stand close to a hot radiator?

Your Monstera may become stressed from any of these sources of excessive heat. It would be ideal if you relocated your Monstera a little distance from the troublesome source to an area with more constant temperatures.

Repotting Stress

Have you lately moved your Monstera into a new location? Stress from repotting could be the cause of its yellow leaves.

After transplant, monsteras frequently exhibit sensitivity. The roots being exposed for too long, a change in soil, or even repotting at the incorrect time of year can all contribute to stress in this situation (late winter to early spring is best).

The leaves and petioles of a Monstera that is experiencing transplant shock will droop, making it appear as though it needs watering. Starting with the oldest leaves, it could start to turn its leaves yellow.

The Monstera attempts to conserve nutrients and water after the stressful occurrence by turning its leaves yellow. It will ultimately return to normal, and in its new pot, it will be even happy.

By relocating your Monstera in the same spot and keeping the same watering routine after transplant, you can help the plant feel less stressed. The transplant shock will worsen if there is too little or too much light.

Don’t fertilize the plant until it has healed and begun to grow once more. You can give it a little additional humidity if it still feels dry even after frequent watering.

Improper Light

Monsteras don’t like extremes in light, just like they don’t like them in water or temperature.

If they receive the wrong kind of light—whether it’s too much or too little—they may start to produce yellowing leaves. They do best in direct, strong light.

Too much light: Leaf Burn

As I already said, monsteras do not thrive in direct sunshine in the wild. The leaves will burn if they receive too much direct light.

Too much light can burn a Monstera leaf, causing the burned area to turn crispy and brown (or black), while the surrounding areas of the leaf turn yellow.

The entire leaf may or may not die and fall off depending on how much of it has burned.

If your Monstera is placed in front of a south or west-facing window, this is more likely to happen. By placing your Monstera a few feet away from the bright window, you can avoid leaf burn.

Too little light

Yellowing of your Monstera’s leaves is not a direct result of insufficient light, but it might be a secondary indicator of overwatering.

A Monstera’s growth is slowed down when it isn’t given adequate light. This indicates that it requires less water and fertilizer. In these circumstances, it is much simpler to overwater your Monstera, which will result in yellowing leaves.

You ought to have already examined the dirt around your Monstera. If not, get started right away!

These are some other signs of inadequate light:

  • Etoliation a stretched stem straining for the sun that seems spindly or leggy
  • smaller leaves with no or very few fenestrations (holes and splits).
  • modest growth
  • Stem slanting either in or out of the window
  • It takes a while for the soil to dry up between waterings.

If your Monstera displays these signs and has begun to produce yellow leaves, you should take it out of the pot and inspect the roots for rot.

Your Monstera may experience some stress as a result of this, but if root rot is allowed to progress, it will experience considerably greater hardship.

You could try to relocate your Monstera closer to a south or west-facing window to avoid future overwatering brought on by insufficient light. If you can’t do that, you should think about getting a grow light for it.

Nutrient Problem

A nutrient deficit or an excess of fertilizer that burns the plant with salt might cause this.

Each of these has additional distinct symptoms that you should watch out for to make the right diagnosis.

Overfertilization

In order to keep your Monstera healthy and vigorous during the growth season, it would be ideal to feed it every few weeks. A balanced fertilizer is preferred for monsteras.

If there is an excessive buildup of nutritional salts in the soil, overfertilization happens. These will reverse osmose, or take water out from the roots of the plant.

They can also change the pH of the soil. Salt burn, a symptom of chemical dehydration, is a result of too much salt in the soil.

Are the yellowing leaves on your Monstera being caused by overfertilization? Keep an eye out for these additional overfertilization signs:

  • extra fertilizer has built up a white crust on top of the ground.
  • leaf edges turning crispy and brown
  • Yellowing of oldest and lowest leaves

You must give your Monstera a good soaking to remove all the extra nutritional salts from the soil once you have verified that this is the reason for its yellow leaves.

Flush the soil completely in the shower or outside with a hose until the water runs freely from the pot’s bottom drainage, just as you would if your plant were underwater.

When you fertilize your Monstera again, you might want to hold off a little longer than normal because the soil likely still contains sufficient nutrients.

You should lessen the quantity and/or frequency of fertilizer applications for your Monstera in order to avoid future overfertilization. Think about switching to an organic, moderate fertilizer. These are far less likely to result in a salt burn and include fewer macronutrients.

Nutrient Deficiency

On the other side, your Monstera can be lacking in certain nutrients. When was the last time it received new soil or fertilizer? You should feed your Monstera soon if you can’t recall!

All plants require the three primary nutrients (macronutrients) nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Each of these influences a distinct biological process within the plant, and a lack of any one of them will have a different impact on your Monstera.

Your Monstera’s growth will be limited if it lacks nitrogen. Its leaves will exhibit chlorosis, which means they will get lighter and eventually turn completely yellow on the oldest leaves at the bottom.

The growth of your Monstera will also be hampered if it lacks phosphorus. The leaves and stems may get darker and discolored in a reddish or purple hue as the illness gets worse. Leaves do not become yellow as a result of this.

Chlorosis between the leaf veins and browning or burning at the leaf edges are symptoms of a potassium deficit in Monstera. As the plant redistributes its low potassium to the younger leaves, the oldest leaves will first show signs of yellowing.

As you can see, a lack of either nitrogen or potassium may be to blame for your Monstera’s yellow leaves. As this is a less frequent and unlikely cause of your Monstera’s death, you should first rule out other possible causes.

If you’ve identified a nutritional shortfall in your Monstera, you should feed it with a balanced organic fertilizer and think about top-dressing with new soil or worm castings.

Pests & Diseases

Knowing that a bug is destroying your gorgeous Monstera is one of the worst sensations!

If the leaves of your Monstera are yellowing, you should look at three diseases: anthracnose, fungal leaf spots, and powdery mildew.

Anthracnose

The first symptoms of the fungal illness anthracnose are spots of yellow or brown color on the leaves. The splotches will expand as the condition worsens, and the yellow spots will turn brown.

The staining could go all the way to the leaf. On the stem, anthracnose can also cause brown, cankerous lesions.

When it rains or when a worried plant mother constantly mists the leaves of a sick Monstera, anthracnose spreads more quickly.

The disease will spread until you get rid of the diseased plant. All impacted branches and leaves should be removed using a pair of sharp pruning shears. Dip your shears in rubbing alcohol or peroxide to disinfect them between each cut.

After removing the infected spots from your Monstera, you can spray it with a copper-based fungicide to make sure you didn’t miss any regions that hadn’t yet started to exhibit symptoms.

Fungal leaf spots

A fungal leaf spot occurs when a fungus begins to consume the leaf from the outside, unlike anthracnose.

A collection of yellowing dots on the leaf may be caused by the fungus. A fungal dot, either black or brown, will be present in the center of the yellow ring. Concentric circles may begin to resemble more serious flaws.

The plant tissue around the margin of a leaf with fungal spots may look wet if you hold the leaf up to the light. This is due to the fact that the fungus has already begun to break down that area of the leaf.

To stop the spread of the infection, you must remove any contaminated tissue. Keeping your Monstera content will ensure that it lives to bear more leaves in the future, so don’t worry. Then eliminate any more fungus that might still be present by using a copper-based fungicide.

By boosting the airflow around your Monstera, especially if a humidifier is on nearby, you can help prevent fungus problems.

Later in the day, avoid misting your Monstera or running the humidifier because water left in containers overnight invites further fungal infections.

Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew leaves a white, powdery-looking coating on the leaf, making it easy to spot. This illness will cause the leaves to dry out and become yellow if it is not treated.

This illness receives the same care as other fungal diseases. Remove and discard the plant’s damaged areas.

To eliminate what’s left, use a fungicide. Neem oil can be used to treat powdery mildew. Boost airflow and lessen dampness.

If a plant is infected with a pest or fungus, you should isolate it to prevent the infection from spreading to your other houseplants.

Natural process

A yellow leaf can occasionally just be a yellow leaf. Your Swiss cheese plant’s new leaves expand as it grows. A little, aged leaf that doesn’t photosynthesize as much as a young one makes no sense for continued effort.

So before letting that old leaf fall off, the plant will extract any nutrients from it. Chlorosis and leaf yellowing are the results of this.

You shouldn’t be concerned if your Monstera just has one yellow leaf that extends all the way to the bottom and the rest of the plant appears healthy and is developing strongly.

Can Yellow leaves turn green again?

A leaf cannot become green again once it has turned yellow. Your plant must expend energy to grow a new leaf.

A leaf that is fading occasionally still has green areas. You can remove the yellow or brown portions and only keep the green area if you don’t like them.

Should I Cut Yellow Leaves off Monstera?

The yellowing of the leaves could be due to a disease like a fungus, in which case the damaged sections need to be removed and thrown away right away.

However, you should wait until the leaf is completely dead if the yellowing is due to root rot or transplant shock. When the leaf dies, your Monstera will receive vital nutrients from it, so pulling it off too soon might increase the stress.