Seen a yellow leaf appear on your monstera? You can usually fix it quickly and easily. Overwatering is usually the cause of yellow monstera leaves, although there might be another reason – like underwatering, low humidity, or a nutrient deficiency.
Keep reading to learn exactly what might be causing yellow monstera leaves on your houseplant, plus my tried and tested methods (from a real houseplant parent!) on how to fix yellow leaves – before it’s too late.
Monstera Yellow Leaves: What’s Happening & What to Do?
A yellow leaf appearing on your monstera is common and somewhat normal, but it shouldn’t be ignored. Read common causes and fixes.
Overwatering
- Why it happened: Yellow monstera leaves are most likely caused by overwatering your houseplant. It can also be caused by using a pot without a drainage hole, meaning the soil stays wet for too long.
- Other signs you’ll notice: If the soil is very wet and soggy, or if you have fungus gnats floating around the base of your plant, or if mold is growing on top of the soil, the cause is likely overwatering.
- How to fix: Snip or gently remove the yellow leaf, as it won’t recover. You can simply let the soil dry out if the weather is warm, but this won’t get rid of the fungus gnats. It may also lead to root rot. A faster way to revive a monstera is to change the soil. Remove the old soil, clean any mold on the pot, and place the plant back in the pot.
- How to prevent: Water less during cold weather. Use a soil tester or poke your finger into the soil. If it’s dry, you can water it. Consider using a pot with drainage to prevent more yellow monstera leaves.
Underwatering
- Why it happened: Yellow monstera can sometimes appear if you haven’t watered your plant enough, particularly during summer.
- Other signs you’ll notice: Very dry soil, droopy leaves, sunken leaves, and an overall “sad” looking monstera can indicate underwatering.
- How to fix: You’ll need to remove the yellow leaves, as they won’t turn green again, but don’t remove too many at once. Remove the fully yellow. Watering the plant should help the rest of the plant recover quickly. Fertilizing the plant can also help it restore any lost nutrients.
- How to prevent: Water more frequently during warm weather. Water deeply or bottom water your monstera to ensure it gets all the water it needs during watering.
Nutrient-deficiency
- Why it happened: A lack of nutrients (namely nitrogen, iron, and magnesium) can prevent chlorophyll production in a monstera, which is what helps leaves stay green.
- Other signs you’ll notice: When the monstera leaf is yellow, but the veins that run through remain green, this usually means the houseplant is lacking in its essential nutrients.
- How to fix: Fertilize your monstera with a liquid feed. You should only do this during spring and summer, but if you suspect a deficiency, you can fertilize during winter.
- How to prevent: Give your monstera a liquid feed every two weeks during growing season, or in winter if there’s new growth, to prevent more leaves from turning yellow in the future.
Low humidity
- Why it happened: Monstera are designed for humid climates, so they grow better when there’s moisture in the air of your home. If there isn’t enough humidity, leaves can turn yellow, but it’s rare.
- Other signs you’ll notice: Stunted growth is the key symptom. If your monstera hasn’t grown new leaves in a long time, or if new leaves turn black immediately after sprouting, humidity may be too low.
- How to fix: Increase humidity. You can use a pebble tray of water beneath your monstera, a humidifier, or (my favorite) place the monstera in a plastic greenhouse for a short period to help it recover.
- How to prevent: Keep humidity levels around your monstera relatively high, particularly during winter. A new environment can help (like placing the plant in a warm, humid kitchen or bathroom).
FAQs
Should I Take Yellow Leaves Off My Monstera?
You should remove yellow leaves on a monstera as they won’t recover, but be careful removing too many leaves on your houseplant.
If there are multiple yellow leaves, removing all of them can put your monstera into shock. In this case, you can remove the worst-affected (those with the most yellow on them) and leave the rest for another time.
You can simply wait for yellow leaves to fall off on their own. This can, however, stunt monstera growth and slow down its revival, as it will keep sending nutrients to the dying leaves, even though it won’t save them.
How to Help a Monstera With Yellow Leaves?
A monstera with yellow leaves isn’t necessarily dying, but it could easily fall off the deep end if you don’t take swift action. Firstly, you need to uncover what the cause is.
Overwatering is usually the problem, so stop watering it if you suspect this is the issue. If you have fungus gnats, mushrooms, soggy soil, or mold growing on the soil surface, you should change the soil.
You can also fertilize your houseplant and remove the yellow leaf/leaves, as these – sadly – will not turn green again. Consider adding a drainage hole to your plant or switching to a bottom-watering process to prevent overwatering in the future.
Quick ways to help a monstera with yellow leaves:
- Remove the yellow leaf: It won’t recover and leaving it there will only sap more nutrients from your houseplant, so it’s best to cut it loose.
- Don’t remove too many: It can shock your monstera, so only remove less than a third of the leaves if there are a lot of yellow leaves.
- Change the soil: If you suspect overwatering, change the soil (throw it away in case it has fungus), clean the pot, and add fresh soil.
- Water it (if the soil is dry): Try bottom watering a monstera to ensure it gets all the water it needs. Don’t water if the soil is already wet.
- Fertilize: It’s a good idea to fertilize a monstera if there are yellow leaves, as it may be lacking chlorophyll.
Will a Monstera With Yellow Leaves Recover?
Yes, provided your monstera hasn’t adopted a serious case of root rot, it should recover fairly quickly – sometimes within days. I’ve never experienced a monstera not recover from a few yellow leaves here and there.
It may not always recover on its own, however. You can simply stop watering it and let the soil dry out fully. I’ve tried this before and it’s worked, but just be careful.
During colder months, it may take too long for the soil to dry fully, and more leaves may turn yellow in the meantime. The dampness can cause the roots to rot, too, which is more serious to fix.
Summary
Yellow monstera leaves aren’t usually anything too serious. Normally, you’ve just watered it a little too much or a little too frequently recently.
Taking quick action to remedy the issue is the best thing for your monstera. It can prevent further yellowing and keep your monstera alive, happy, and continuously sprouting!
