What to Do About Yellow Leaves on a Money Tree? A Full Breakdown of Solutions

The money tree is an evergreen small tree-type potted plant of the Malvaceae family, also known as Malabar chestnut. Many people like to place a pot of it in the living room or office for its pleasing look. But during the growing process, many flower enthusiasts run into one problem: leaves turning yellow, developing spots, dropping off, and so on. So where does the cause lie? How do you deal with it? Let me explain one by one.

1. Improper watering

When overwatered, the soil lacks oxygen, the root system's respiration is blocked, and this leads to part of the roots rotting; when underwatered, only the soil surface or the upper half holds moisture, so the roots cannot absorb water or nutrients. So both overwatering and underwatering can cause yellowing leaves and leaf drop.

Solution: When overwatered, you should cut back on watering, loosen the soil, and place the plant in a ventilated spot for care, waiting until the soil is basically dry before watering again; when underwatered, you should water appropriately, and you can also mist the leaves while watering.

2. Unsuitable soil

When the soil is compacted and not breathable, the potting soil stays moist for a long time after watering, the roots cannot breathe normally, and root rot occurs, which corresponds to the first cause as well.

Solution: At this point it is best to change the soil. Prepare loose, breathable soil with good drainage and repot with it. If you find some roots have rotted when changing the potting soil, clean the rotten roots away thoroughly, disinfect them, and then repot.

3. Light

Yellow leaves can also appear after strong direct sunlight; if kept in a shaded indoor spot for a long time with insufficient light, yellow leaves are certain, since all plants need to carry out photosynthesis.

Solution: If the light is too strong, move it to a cool, ventilated spot for care. If the light is insufficient, do the opposite and place it somewhere with sunlight for care.

4. Nutrition

If you never fertilize, the nutrients cannot keep up with what the plant consumes as it grows, and yellow leaves appear; if the fertilizer amount is too large, the plant cannot absorb it and the roots get damaged instead, which also causes yellow leaves.

Solution: Fertilize the plant appropriately. For foliage plants like this, nitrogen fertilizer is generally the main choice, with potassium fertilizer as a supplement; although phosphorus fertilizer is used more for flowering plants, after all, the three major elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential for plant growth, so you can also apply a small amount. If the fertilizer and water are too abundant, pay attention to controlling fertilizer, reducing the frequency of fertilizing, and lowering the fertilizer concentration.

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