Crown of Thorns can be grown nicely without much care or attention. If you neglect this plant extremely your plant may face several issues and yellow leaves is one of the major issues. In this article, you will learn what causes Crown of Thorns leaves to turn yellow and how to cure it.
Note: Yellowing older leaves is natural and you need not to worry about that.
Like always, I will start with my experience. Look at the picture below:
Can you see the big pebbles or rocks beneath the plant?
To create a landscape (and sometimes in pots also) we use pebbles and rocks/stones to make it look nicer. They heat up easily and harm your plant.
Avoid using those if possible.
3 - 4 hours of direct sunlight is enough for this plant. I have grown one of my Crown of Thorns in full shade. They perform well in partial shade and blooms. But in full shade, they produce fewer blooms to no blooms.
I was thinking sunlight is necessary for blooming. Do you know that the leaves might start losing their colors due to the lack of sunlight? Even the leaves turn yellow.
They start like this-
You need to remember these:
- Do not use rocks or pebbles when your plant is placed in full sun.
- Do not place your plant in a fully shaded area.
These were my experiences. Now move to the major part.
Other major reasons and treatment: Yellow leaves on Crown of Thorns
If you see the leaves are yellowing from the top, it's due to overwatering.
You can also try to remove the yellow leaves if the leaf stalks are mushy and wet from the inside, it's a confirmation that the reason is overwatering. Reduce watering. Water only when the soil is dry. You can keep the dry soil dry for at most a week. Then water again.
If you see yellow leaves with no mushy leaf stalk, it's due to underwatering.
Don't let your crown of thorns die. Crown of Thorns are hardy plants, and they can tolerate ignorance, but they can't tolerate overwatering.
Tip:
Use a water sprayer to clean dust from the plant leaves. Too much dust decreases photosynthesis, and the leaves eventually turn whitish or yellowish.
Due to the lack of iron in the soil can turn the leaves yellow. You can apply foliar spray that contains iron.
I have written a separate article on: Crown of Thorns caring guide, but that is especially for Florida gardeners.
