Your result
Fixable at homeMost likely: overwatering
What is going on
Roots need air as much as they need water. When soil stays wet, the air pockets stay full and the roots slowly suffocate, so the plant drops leaves it can no longer supply. That looks like thirst, which is why the usual reaction is to water more. In this part of Florida the pot is usually not the problem on its own: indoor air conditioning keeps soil cool and slows evaporation, so a pot that drained fine in June stays wet for a week in January.
Do this first
Stop watering and let the top third of the pot dry out.
- 1 Empty the saucer or cachepot. A pot standing in its own runoff is the single most common cause of this.
- 2 Check that the pot has a real drainage hole. If it does not, that is the fix: move the plant into one that does.
- 3 Do not water again until the top two knuckles of soil feel dry. For most houseplants indoors here, that is one to three weeks.
- 4 Leave the yellow leaves alone unless they come away with a gentle tug. The plant pulls what it can back out of them first.
How you will know it worked: New growth within three to four weeks means the roots recovered. If leaves keep yellowing while the soil is drying normally, the roots may already be damaged, which is a different problem.
Still stuck, or not sure this is it?
A quiz cannot see the roots or the room. A virtual consult is $65 and starts with your photos, or a full house call is a flat $185 anywhere from Sarasota to Port Charlotte.
Know someone who waters on a schedule? This is the one to send them.
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