This site contains affiliate links. Please read Disclaimer for more information.
Sharing is caring!
Succulents are the type of indoor plants that are usually popular because they are very easy to maintain and are very tiny and beautiful. They have the type of leaves and roots that are capable of retaining water. Even though they are very easy to maintain and need a very little amount of care and attention but there are some issues that they usually face and one of the most common ones is yellow and soft leaves of a plant. Why are your succulent leaves are turning yellow and soft?
Well, succulent leaves turn yellow generally because of the overwatering as they are the desert plants so they don’t require a lot of water usually, they do great with less water. And the other possible reasons for your succulent leaves turning yellow and soft can be underwatering and lack of sunlight.
In this article, I’ll walk you through all of the problems why your succulent are turning yellow and soft and learn their remedies to save your beautiful plant.
5 Reasons Why your succulent leaves turning yellow and soft
It’s important to understand that these are the desert plants, they love the warm climate and lots of sun and less water. They are used to have these conditions and when they lack these things they start to show symptoms like yellow leaves. That’s when you should notice and make a few changes to your plant. There are a lot of reasons for it here are the most common five reasons for succulent leaves turning yellow and soft.
1. Overwatering makes leaves yellow and soft
The most common cause of yellow leaves is overwatering. This kills the plant, they are the desert plants and what that means is they have a tendency to survive with very less water. Succulents have the ability to retain the water in their roots, stems, leaves. When you water them excessively then yellow leaves is the signal.
When you notice the yellow leaves touch them and see if they are soft and soggy if they are then it’s because you are watering them too much. The first signal of overwatered succulent is that their leaves fall off even when you slightly touch them. Then notice the black spot if the leaves and stem have black spots over it then you may find it hard to save your succulent.
remedy:
The first thing you should do is check for the root rot of your plant by cutting off the part with black spots or the stem from which the leaves are falling off then avoid watering and let the soil dry. If there are no signs of the root rot then try re-planting a succulent in a pot with good drainage so that water won’t sit at the bottom to rot the roots. Also, consider putting rocks of various sizes at the bottom of the new pot for good drainage.
How to save a succulent if they have Black spot?
Take out the plant from the pot and remove the soil from the infected portion.
If a plant has a black spot then as I said earlier cut off the part which has a spot.
Then let the soil and succulent get dry and then re-pot the succulent in the perfect sized pot.
Choose the well-draining soil for the pot then once you have re-potted the plant then water the succulent after one week.
Do not water the newly re-potted plant much just water them enough to get them moist.
2. Underwatering also makes succulent leaves yellow
Underwatering is not that common problem like overwatering for many succulents. When succulent leaves are dried and turn yellow and you may find them a bit brittle that’s when you know they are underwater. As soon as you find that your plant leaves are dried, quickly start watering them on regular basis, make a schedule for watering them, this will make them healthy again and will save them from dying.
Remedy:
As soon as you get to know about the problem of underwatering then the first thing you should do is to change your watering schedule and start watering your plant a bit more, this will work well if the problem hasn’t progressed much. It is recommended to water succulents once a week if they are too dried then water them twice. Also, keep them in a pot with good drainage so that you don’t end up overwatering your plant.
3. Bug infection
Bugs are one of the worst things that can happen to the succulents. When bugs make their home on the plant they start eating up the leaves and to counter and conserve the energy plant leaves start turning yellow and soft. You can usually find these bugs in the crannies and nooks of the plant. They spread so quickly that if you don’t notice them early it’s quite hard to save your succulent.
Remedy:
It’s important to know that in this case, early detection is the key if not dealt with them earlier then your plant may get eaten completely by these bugs. To save them you need to find the infected area and spray insecticides or you can also rub alcohol ( Isopropyl ).
4. Lack of sunlight
As you know these are the desert plants and they love sunlight. When you put them in a place where there isn’t any source of sunlight then they start to produce yellow leaves with growing tall. When they lack sunlight they may start leaning towards the light and will start to grow lanky. These happen because they search for the source of light and if they find a bit also then they start to lean towards the light.
Remedy:
To fix this problem there is only one way and that is to move your succulent to a place where it gets sunlight from all the directions. Succulents like direct sunlight and you should always consider giving them at least 2 hours of direct sunlight per day to promote healthy and happy growth.
5. Incorrect potting soil or pot
This problem can be noticed only when there is no sign of bug infection, lack of sunlight, and any watering issues. If you don’t have these problems then it’s your potting soil or a pot that is troubling your healthy succulent. Succulents need well-drained soil and pots with good drainage.
Remedy:
When you notice that your soil or pot is the problem then buy or make a good quality potting soil so that succulents can get all the required nutrients. While doing this choose well-drained soil and then get a good pot which has a drainage hole at the bottom, if you struggle to find a pot with holes then you can plant them inside a regular pot just put few large and small rocks at the bottom so that due to extra water at the bottom roots won’t rot.
How to save succulent leaves from turning yellow and soft
Now that you know all the reasons why they turn yellow and soft you need to know what your plant needs, I know they are considered very low maintenance plant but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look out for them at all you need to give them a bit of care and attention on a regular basis, check up on them once a week while you water your plant.
Things to look for:
Check the leaves and look for the bugs, then notice the color of leaves if they aren’t yellow then that’s great.
Water them once a week and then notice the soil with a finger is it too dry or too wet, you can also check this with the help of moisture meter. That will give you the perfect idea of watering issues.
Then check for the right pot size, pot drainage, soil mixture on regular basis.
The final thing to look for is that it’s not stressing out and is getting enough sunlight.
Performing tests to check succulents at home
When you notice a yellow leaves on your succulent then it’s time to check the reason why this is happening with your healthy plant.
To check this first you will look for the bugs on the leaves. The second is to reach out for the leaves touch them and see if the leave are soft and mushy if they are then that’s because of watering.
The third thing is to perform a finger test in that what you should do is place the finger in the potting soil and then check if it is too dry or too damp, if soil lasts wet for few days then that’s the sign of the root rot. This is how you can save succulents by performing a few tests once a week.
Final thoughts
Succulents are very easy to grow plants and they need very little care and attention if you are able to provide them with that care then they won’t gonna bother you much. These little beautiful plants are the best thing to have in your garden or in your house they make us feel good and also purifies the air. If you have any doubts feel free to leave a comment below I’ll definitely get back to you soon.
