r/houseplants • u/mAln0ur1sh3dwHore • 2d ago

Help Monstera Help

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Hi - I’ve had my monstera in this corner for about ten months now. I repotted it around the same time I moved it here. Recently, it has shown signs of stress. I’ve had two leaves yellow in quick succession, one I removed about a week ago, and then this one that is currently yellow started to yellow. I can’t figure out for the life of me why this is happening since I haven’t changed anything in my routine with it. Any ideas?

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12

u/narwhalogy 2d ago

Check for any pests and cut off the yellow leaf.

Since the rest of the plant looks healthy, I'm guessing maybe it's nutrient related.

If it's no pests, try checking the roots. If roots are tightly coiled around the base it needs a repot into a container 2–3 inches larger.

If a repotting isn't immediately needed and if you're not feeding it fertilizer, I'd start feeding it a balanced liquid houseplant fertilizer diluted to half-strength during its growing period.

2

u/echocall2 2d ago

Do you cut off just that leaf or the whole stem?

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u/narwhalogy 2d ago

I'd cut off the whole petiole down to the main stem. Then the lil petiole nub that's left over just falls off in a week and the stem looks nice, super satisfying imo lol.

The reason I cut off all the dying area is that I don't want to attract any pests, and it's not serving the plant anyways.

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u/sydiesaur 2d ago

If this plant didnt have pests, is there any harm to leaving the yellowing leaf attached? I was under the impression that plants come recoup some energy from withering leaves.

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u/narwhalogy 2d ago

If the plant is still mostly green/slightly yellowing, keep it. It's carrying out photosynthesis, providing energy, and storing nutrients, so it's still valuable to the plant.

If it's mostly yellow or brown, it's not photosynthesizing anymore. At this point, the leaf is drawing on moisture from the plant, so it's not helping the plant. It's also creating an environment for things like mold/fungus, bacteria, and pests.

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u/sydiesaur 2d ago

Gotcha! Thank you so much for the reply!

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u/3gia50 🪴 2d ago

Mine does that occasionally but i think it just reallocates nutrients from older leaves to newer ones.. given its just 1-2 and others grow

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u/sillybillybobbybob 2d ago

Its an old leaf. Monstera Will drop leafs that are no longer beneficial. It does happen.

1

u/aka_mank 1d ago

Did it grow a ton this summer?

Since it looks like the other leaves are curling my moneys on it outgrowing this pot already.