What does it mean if my plants leaves turn a yellow colou...
3
@PlenarySagebush Hello 👋 Arina! Welcome to Greg,
Are they turning yellow? If so, it could be the result of your plant’s positioning. Keep in mind that your leaves don’t have to be a bright yellow, either. A pale yellow is still a sign of poor lighting conditions.
Move your elephant ears to a brighter location: If they’re in a pot indoors, move to a different room or closer to a window. If they’re outside, try digging them up and moving them a few inches to somewhere more shaded. Keep in mind that you won’t want to give them too much direct sunlight, otherwise, you could run the risk of your leaves burning.
Change up how you water them based on location: If you move your plant closer to a window, be mindful to only water it in the mornings, not the afternoons. Both levels of sunshine and temperatures are higher in the afternoon, which will make your elephant ears dry out sooner and wilt.
Remove dead leaves: If the elephant ear leaves are too yellow and start to die, cut them off. By doing this, you’re still giving the rest of your plant a chance to survive.
Consider your zone’s hardiness level: If you couldn’t save your elephant ears but want to try again, don’t do anything until you read up on your state’s hardiness zone. This will help you determine the best environment to grow elephant ears in, so you can prevent a situation like this from occurring in the future.
Inconsistent Watering
Since elephant ears are tropical plants, they require a high water intake – of about 2 to 3 inches of water per week! This is easier to achieve if you live in a state like Florida and planted your elephant ears outside because it tends to rain often, usually meeting the elephant ear’s water intake requirements.
However, if you’re growing your elephant ears inside or you’re not getting consistent rain, then you’ll want to stick to a consistent watering schedule. Here are 6 ways you can identify under or overwatering, and how you can fix and prevent it moving forward:
Look at your leaves: First, look at your leaves. If they’re getting enough sun, then chances are they are either being over or underwatered.
Feel the soil: If the soil feels very wet, then you’re probably overwatering your elephant ears before they have time to drain. If the soil feels dry, then you’re not watering it enough.
Too much or too little water can cause leaves to turn yellow or brown. One other factor to consider when your elephant ear plant becomes discolored is watering frequency. Both over-watering and under-watering can cause the leaves of any plant to form yellow spots, before the color takes over the whole leaf.
Water your elephant ears in the morning: You’ll want to water your elephant ears at consistent times each day. Generally speaking, you should aim to water your elephant ears in the morning, as this is when temperatures are still cool. The later in the day you water your elephant ears, the greater probability that the sun will dry out any water you added. So, to prevent underwatering, water your plants first thing in the morning.
Use only well-draining soil: Plants can get waterlogged if they don’t have well-draining soil. To prevent issues like this that turn your elephant ears yellow, either buy a well-draining soil from your local retailer or add sand or small rocks to your soil. This will help it drain better.
Use different methods for indoor/outdoor plants: If your elephant ears are growing in a pot inside your home, keep in mind that they will need more water than those planted outside that would otherwise benefit from sudden rain showers.
Are they turning yellow? If so, it could be the result of your plant’s positioning. Keep in mind that your leaves don’t have to be a bright yellow, either. A pale yellow is still a sign of poor lighting conditions.
Move your elephant ears to a brighter location: If they’re in a pot indoors, move to a different room or closer to a window. If they’re outside, try digging them up and moving them a few inches to somewhere more shaded. Keep in mind that you won’t want to give them too much direct sunlight, otherwise, you could run the risk of your leaves burning.
Change up how you water them based on location: If you move your plant closer to a window, be mindful to only water it in the mornings, not the afternoons. Both levels of sunshine and temperatures are higher in the afternoon, which will make your elephant ears dry out sooner and wilt.
Remove dead leaves: If the elephant ear leaves are too yellow and start to die, cut them off. By doing this, you’re still giving the rest of your plant a chance to survive.
Consider your zone’s hardiness level: If you couldn’t save your elephant ears but want to try again, don’t do anything until you read up on your state’s hardiness zone. This will help you determine the best environment to grow elephant ears in, so you can prevent a situation like this from occurring in the future.
Inconsistent Watering
Since elephant ears are tropical plants, they require a high water intake – of about 2 to 3 inches of water per week! This is easier to achieve if you live in a state like Florida and planted your elephant ears outside because it tends to rain often, usually meeting the elephant ear’s water intake requirements.
However, if you’re growing your elephant ears inside or you’re not getting consistent rain, then you’ll want to stick to a consistent watering schedule. Here are 6 ways you can identify under or overwatering, and how you can fix and prevent it moving forward:
Look at your leaves: First, look at your leaves. If they’re getting enough sun, then chances are they are either being over or underwatered.
Feel the soil: If the soil feels very wet, then you’re probably overwatering your elephant ears before they have time to drain. If the soil feels dry, then you’re not watering it enough.
Too much or too little water can cause leaves to turn yellow or brown. One other factor to consider when your elephant ear plant becomes discolored is watering frequency. Both over-watering and under-watering can cause the leaves of any plant to form yellow spots, before the color takes over the whole leaf.
Water your elephant ears in the morning: You’ll want to water your elephant ears at consistent times each day. Generally speaking, you should aim to water your elephant ears in the morning, as this is when temperatures are still cool. The later in the day you water your elephant ears, the greater probability that the sun will dry out any water you added. So, to prevent underwatering, water your plants first thing in the morning.
Use only well-draining soil: Plants can get waterlogged if they don’t have well-draining soil. To prevent issues like this that turn your elephant ears yellow, either buy a well-draining soil from your local retailer or add sand or small rocks to your soil. This will help it drain better.
Use different methods for indoor/outdoor plants: If your elephant ears are growing in a pot inside your home, keep in mind that they will need more water than those planted outside that would otherwise benefit from sudden rain showers.
