What causes the leaves of the dragon bone plant to turn yellow?

  The dragon bone plant is a common flowering plant, but gardeners who know it well have mixed feelings about it. The love is mainly for its bold, distinctive look, and the frustration is mainly because it is covered in spines and contains toxins in its tissues. But for gardeners who like to grow it in pots, love naturally outweighs frustration.

  The dragon bone plant also has a big advantage: it adapts strongly to its environment, so it needs little extra worry in care and management. Even with rough, minimal care, it can still be grown well. Although care and management are simple, we sometimes still find its leaves turning yellow. So what is going on when the leaves of the dragon bone plant turn yellow?

  When the leaves of the dragon bone plant turn yellow, there is no need to panic. It is just a bit of poor growth caused by a small problem that may appear during care and management. As long as we can identify the cause and deal with it promptly, it will soon return to normal. The main signs appear in the following aspects:

  1. Too much light

  Although the dragon bone plant likes light, it also needs to avoid long periods of direct strong light, especially in the harsh sun of summer, when shade measures must be taken for it; otherwise, the leaves easily turn yellow.

  When this happens, we should immediately provide shade for it, or simply move the pot indoors near a balcony, or anywhere it can receive scattered light.

  2. Overwatering

  Many plants develop root rot because overwatering causes water to accumulate in the pot. If the dragon bone plant is overwatered and water stays in the pot for a long time, root rot can also occur, and the most direct sign after root rot is yellow leaves.

  For yellow leaves caused by overwatering, first we must immediately stop watering, drain the excess water from the pot, and at the same time loosen the potting soil to let the excess moisture dry out. Of course, it is naturally best if the rotted parts of the root system can be cut away. Note that the dragon bone plant is fairly drought-tolerant but not moisture-tolerant; it is better to let it stay dry than to let it sit flooded. In winter, even if it is watered only once, the dragon bone plant will not die of dryness.

  3. Too much fertilizer

  The dragon bone plant likes a loose, fertile soil environment, but that does not mean it can be heavily fertilized. If too much fertilizer is applied, or the concentration is too high, fertilizer burn easily occurs, which likewise damages the plant's root system and then causes yellow leaves.

  If too much fertilizer has been applied, water it thoroughly once in time to dilute and wash out the fertilizer. Also note that when fertilizing the dragon bone plant, you can soak soybeans or peanuts until soft and bury them in the potting soil, or soak soybeans in water and use that to water it; these are also good methods.

  4. Normal leaf drop

  If the leaves of the dragon bone plant turn yellow during its leaf-drop period, especially the older leaves lower down, then the yellow leaves in this case are a natural phenomenon occurring during normal metabolism. You can pay little attention to it, but it is still recommended to cut off the dried yellow leaves and clean up the fallen yellow leaves in the pot to avoid breeding pathogens.

  5. Caused by pests and diseases

  Besides the reasons above, pest and disease infestation is also an important cause of yellow leaves in the dragon bone plant. So we should observe carefully at ordinary times. Once we find pests infecting the leaves, or the plant turning withered and yellow due to disease, if there are pests, kill the pests; if there are no pests, sterilize. You can use carbendazim mixed with water in a certain ratio, stir it evenly, and pour it at the base of the dragon bone plant.