Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
grace_m_gw

Help with Diffenbachia yellowing

grace_m
9 years ago

Hello! My Diff seems decent overall, but it's a bit bit dull and the leaves yellow more rapidly than what seems normal for the plant. Am I lacking nutrients? The leaf problem seems to be worse when I need to repot, I repotted in the spring, but made the mistake of not going large enough. They grow fast! I've had the plant for about 18 months and the issue always seems to be there, it just varies in severity. I would appreciate any ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics

Comments (4)

  • ken1122
    9 years ago

    I've only grown one diffenbachia. Mine is about 18 months also. The bottom leaves yellow one or two at a time and I think that is normal. The top is looking just fine.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    9 years ago

    Tight roots cause the shedding of older foliage and foliage distal to the growing tips of branches, but nutritional deficiencies, particularly N can cause the same issue. When plants 'decide' to shed foliage, they usually extract all the mobile and harvestable nutrients and bio-compounds from leaves before they're shed, so it's difficult to pinpoint whether or not it's root congestion or nutrient deficiencies causing the issue. A third possibility is a soil that stays a little too wet for a little too long. Wet soils impede a plant's ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water, so where soggy soils are a player, the likelihood of nutritional deficiencies increases, or it could even be a primary cause for several nutrients, one of which I think is Fe (iron) - I'll check when I get home. Finally, if you're using a fertilizer with a high middle number, or even a 1:1:1 ratio, the excess P that builds up in soils can prevent or reduce a plant's ability to take up Fe and Mg, both of which cause chlorotic foliage when deficient.

    Lots to think about, but getting the plants into a soil you can water properly without worrying about extended saturation, along with a good nutrient supplementation program and regular root maintenance should make a significant difference in your ability to keep your plants healthy and looking good.

    Al

  • grace_m
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you both for your replies.
    Ken: This is my second diffenbachia. One of the few plants I've killed was a diff. Since I've killed one before, I'm a little cautious with this one:)

    Al: I had a few of the same thoughts you did, and I've been tackling them one at a time as I learned from my mistakes.
    I didn't do this all at once, but over the time I've had the plant. I noticed it didn't like to stay wet for too long, so I switched from a plastic pot to clay. I augmented bagged soil make it drain much more freely. Most recently (about 3 weeks ago) I switched from a 10-15-10 fertilizer to 20-20-20.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    9 years ago

    Hi, Grace - If you ck the label of your 20-20-20, you'll see it lacks the secondary macronutrients Ca and Mg, and several micronutrients. It also supplies more P than your plants can use (almost 3X), which could possibly account for the chlorosis. You might consider trying Foliage-Pro 9-3-6. It has ALL the essential nutrients plants take from the soil, in a ratio (one nutrient to the others) at which the average plant uses the nutrients (a big plus), and it doesn't get it's nitrogen from urea, like the 20-20-20 does. Urea causes coarse growth and longer internodes - something that's better avoided in low light (indoor) conditions.

    I hope you pick up a lot of good info here. I know it's painful to learn from our mistakes - been there and still go there occasionally. I found that if you gain as much knowledge as you can, then use your experience in validation of what you learned, it helps make things a lot easier.

    Best luck!

    Al