The monstera is a type of plant that looks great indoors, as well as in the patios and gardens of those places where the climate is warm throughout the year. In addition, it adapts perfectly to living in a pot, which is why many people do not hesitate to acquire a specimen to decorate their home. The problem is when its precious green leaves turn yellow.. That's when we worry.
»Why does my monstera have yellow leaves?», »What is happening to it and how can I save it?»... if you ask yourself these questions, don't worry, because we are going to solve them for you later.
When a monstera has yellow leaves, the first thing we have to do is think about whether we are making a mistake in its cultivation. And it is that sometimes simply by making small changes, we can get it to recover quickly. Therefore, we are going to see what the causes are and what we must do to make our plant green and healthy again:
Low ambient or relative humidity
The monstera is a tropical plant that lives in humid jungles. But these places are not humid just because it rains frequently, but also because the relative or environmental humidity is high, which is not always the case in our homes and/or gardens. This causes the tips of the leaves to dry out first and end up turning yellow.
But beware: To know exactly if our plant has this problem, we have to check the degree of relative humidity in our area.. To do this, the most advisable thing is to get a domestic weather station, since that way we would always have the information in view. Nowadays they are very cheap, so much so that for 15-20 euros you can buy a high-quality one, like this one:
But if not, we can Google "relative humidity X", changing the X to the name of our location. In the event that it is less than 50%, what we will do is spray the leaves with rainwater or water suitable for human consumption on a daily basis., or place containers with water around it.
Drafts or excessive ventilation
Image - Flickr / Maja Dumat
All plants need to be in ventilated areas, but not all of them resist strong air currents, and the monstera is one of them. Nothing will happen to her if she is on a patio sheltered from the wind or in a room away from the window, but its leaves will turn yellow if it is near a fan, air conditioner or any other device that generates air currents for example.
Luckily, this has an easy solution: if we suspect that this is the problem with our plant, we just have to move it. The bad leaves will not recover, but hopefully we will prevent them from getting worse, and the new ones will come out healthy.
low light
The monstera needs light to grow, but not as much as other plants. The problem arises when it is put in a dark place, or in one where there is hardly any light. Under those conditions, leaves lose color and may turn yellow. For this reason, I always like to recommend putting it in a place where there is a lot of light, whether it is going to be inside or outside the house.
Now, what you also have to avoid is exposing it to direct light, since its leaves are not prepared to withstand it, as I will explain now:
direct sun or light
As I said before, the monstera is a plant that lives in jungles, and grows in the shade of trees and palms that are bigger than it. Thus, if we put it in front of a window through which light enters directly, or in a sunny place, the leaves that are more exposed will burn, turning first yellow and then brown.
This problem too can be easily fixed by moving it around, taking it to a more protected area, where it is not exposed to direct light.
Lack of water
It is not a plant that can go a long time without receiving water, therefore, we have to be a little aware of the humidity of the earth, because if we notice it is very dry, the new leaves will turn yellow soon. Although before that, we will see that the stems lose some firmness and "fall", which is why the monstera will look sad. This is the first sign that should make us suspect that it needs water, because when the leaves turn yellow, it is because the problem has gotten much worse.
But there is nothing that should worry you too much: lack of water is one of the less serious causes, since it is easily corrected. For it, you only have to do one thing: water. Pour water on the ground until it is well soaked. If you have the plant in a pot, take it after watering, since you have to notice that it is heavy. After a few days, pick it up again, and you will notice that it weighs little or nothing, so you will have to water it again.
Excess of water
Image - Wikimedia / David J. Stang
If the lack of water is one of the slightest problems that the monstera can suffer, the excess of water is the most serious, since when the situation gets much worse, fungi appear, causing even more damage. And fungi are one of the most difficult microorganisms to eliminate. So, you have to be attentive to the symptoms that will show the plant to act as soon as possible:
- The leaves will begin to yellow, starting with the old ones (the ones below)
- The soil will feel moist and verdina may grow.
- When taking the pot, we will notice that it weighs a lot
- And as I said, in advanced cases, fungi will appear (mold on the ground and/or on the leaves, brown spots)
What to do? Well, in these cases we have to do two things: get the soil to dry out as soon as possible, and treat the plant with a fungicide, which is an antifungal product.
Therefore, what we will do first is suspend the irrigation, and if it is in a pot, we will take it out and wrap the soil with absorbent paper. If this one gets wet quickly, we will remove it and put another one. Then, we leave it in a dry place protected from direct light for a day. After that time, we will plant it again in a new pot that has drainage holes, with a universal culture substrate or one for green plants from one of these brands: Flower, Westland, BioBizz. If you are interested in any, click on the links to purchase it.
And finally, it must be treated with a polyvalent fungicide. I recommend buying a spray one, like No products found., since it is easier to use as it does not have to be diluted beforehand. We will spray the product on the leaves -on both sides-, stems, and also on the ground, which we have to soak. And we will repeat after a week.
What to expect? It will depend on how serious our plant is. If it has been caught in time, it is normal for it to lose some leaves but it ends up recovering. But in more serious cases, it may take a long time to save itself, or it may never do so if the fungi have already attacked its roots.
Cold
The last cause is that it is cold. The monstera can withstand temperatures close to 0 degrees if it is protected from the wind, but it has a very hard time when there are frosts, which is why it is often kept indoors in temperate climates. Thus, As soon as the thermometer reads 15ºC or less, the best thing to do is bring it home.
If it has already suffered cold damage, we will see that the leaves that are most exposed to air currents are yellow or brown.. They will not recover, but in spring the plant will put out new, totally green leaves.
We hope that these tips will help you to recover your monstera with yellow leaves.