Why your money plant has yellow leaves

Money plant is the most forgiving houseplant sold in India, which is why a yellow leaf worries people so much. In almost every case it is telling you one of four things, and three of them are easy to correct.

One or two old leaves at the base

This is normal and needs nothing from you. The plant drops its oldest leaves as it puts out new ones, usually the lowest leaves on a vine. Pull them off and carry on.

The test is whether new growth is appearing at the tips. If it is, the plant is healthy and simply shedding.

Several leaves yellow and soft, soil still damp

This is overwatering, and it is by far the commonest cause. Roots sitting in wet soil cannot take up oxygen, so they begin to rot, and a plant with rotting roots cannot drink. The leaves go limp and yellow, which looks like thirst, so it gets watered again.

Stop watering. Move the pot somewhere with more air movement. Wait until the top two inches of soil are properly dry before watering again, and empty the saucer every time.

If the stems at soil level feel soft or smell sour, the rot has reached the base. Cut healthy vine sections above the damage, each with two or three leaves and a node, and root them in a jar of water. Money plant roots readily this way, and you will have a replacement within a month.

Leaves pale all over, long gaps between them

This is too little light. Money plant survives a dark corner but it does not grow well there: the stems stretch, the gaps between leaves widen, and new leaves come in smaller and paler.

Move it to within a metre or two of a window. It does not want direct sun, only brightness. Pinch the growing tips back by a few inches to encourage branching, and the plant will thicken up over a season.

Variegated money plant needs more light than the plain green one. If the yellow and white markings are fading to green, that is the plant telling you it needs a brighter spot to maintain them.

Yellow edges with crisp brown tips

This is usually dry air or a build-up of salts from fertiliser, and in Kolkata it shows up mainly in December and January when the air finally dries out.

Flush the pot through with plenty of water, letting it run from the drainage hole for a minute to carry the salts out, then let it drain fully. Stop feeding until spring. If the air is very dry, group plants together or stand the pot on a tray of pebbles and water.

What not to do while a plant is yellowing

Do not repot. Fresh soil around damaged roots holds more water than those roots can use, which makes rot worse rather than better. Wait until the plant is growing again.

Do not feed. A struggling plant cannot use fertiliser, and in a pot that is already salty it adds to the problem.

Do not move it repeatedly. Change one thing, then give the plant three to four weeks to respond. Most people change watering, light and pot in the same week, then cannot tell what helped.

Growing money plant well, in water or soil

In soil, use a mix that drains freely and a pot with a hole. Water when the top two inches are dry, which is usually weekly in summer and every two or three weeks in winter.

In water, change the water every two weeks and keep the jar out of direct sun. Add a single drop of liquid feed monthly, no more. Plants grown in water stay smaller than those in soil, which suits a shelf or a desk.

Either way, pinch the tips regularly. An untouched money plant becomes a few long bare vines; a pinched one becomes full.

If it is past saving

Take cuttings before you give up. A vine section with two leaves and a node will root in water in a few weeks, and the new plant carries none of the root problems of the old one. It is the cheapest plant replacement there is, and the reason money plant is passed between households as often as it is bought.

If you want to start again with a healthy plant, our trailing plants include money plant and its relatives, and the indoor plants range lists light and water needs on every page.

Last reviewed October 2026.