Ep 239. What Yellow Leaves Teach Us

What Yellow Leaves Teach Us

Tending houseplants—and hearts—through seasons of change.

Yellow leaves on a fiddle-leaf fig often point to watering issues—but they can also offer deeper lessons. In this episode, Mary Stone explores common houseplant dilemmas, from root-bound money trees to yellowing leaves and sneaky pests, while sharing a tender personal chapter. Through gardening wisdom and lived experience, she reflects on patience, balance, and how tending plants can help us tend our hearts during times of transition.

Related Podcast and Posts you’ll enjoy: 

Ep 146 Money Tree-Houseplants in Duress

A Money Tree Brings Abundance - Blog Post 

Ep 237. Roofs to Roots: Reviving Houseplants

Harvesting Rainwater & Snowmelt Wisdom - Blog Post

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I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories, as well as your thoughts on topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. 

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.

Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

 Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,

Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 239. What Yellow Leaves Teach Us

Sat, Jan 31, 2026 4:47PM • 13:46

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

houseplants, money tree, fiddlehead fig, repotting, root bound, moisture meter, mealy bugs, white flies, neem oil, soil moisture, plant care, garden dilemmas, nature's lessons, resilience, personal growth

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to garden dilemmas, delights, and discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from Mother-Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:26

Hello there. It's Mary Stone on a frigid screen porch. It was negative one when I got up this morning, but it's a heat wave now at six degrees after the big snowstorm that riddled our world. But gratefully, we did not lose power, and I hope those who did now have theirs restored. I sure missed our time last week and am grateful to be with you today. The day before the storm was a milestone in the transition going on in my personal life. My life partner left in October, and the official move-out day of his things was on Saturday, a trying time. I prefer to think of it as moving on to a happier place for both of us. That is my wish. 

Mary Stone  01:06

My brother Rick flew in to be by my side, and I am still enjoying his company. Nothing like family and dear friends to support you when things are hard. I share this in the hope that if you are navigating your own transitions or tender chapter, you'll feel less alone. Life, like gardening, moves through seasons. Some we welcome, others we endure, and often, it's in these very moments that the lessons from nature and our gardens meet us most clearly. 

Mary Stone  01:37

I want to thank those who reach back after our last chat about hope taking the form of a tree, so many of us adore trees, and that makes my heart sing. As more and more of us plant native trees to help our dear Earth, we're playing an important role. It's remarkable how forests can recover just as we can recover from difficult turning points in our lives and our world, can recover from storm events, sometimes slowly, but with remarkable resilience.

Mary Stone  02:10

Which brings me fittingly to our green companions, house plants, because when life feels uncertain, tending to a plant or rescuing a struggling one becomes a reminder that recovery is possible, that something seemingly hopeless can leaf out again. I've gotten a few photos from some of you with sad house plants. One was a photo from Blaine. Perhaps it's no coincidence that his plant in need of help is a money tree, a plant long associated with abundance and renewal. In Feng Shui tradition, it's said to invite prosperity, balance, and good fortune. We spoke about money trees in Episode 146, money trees of abundance, happier house plants, which includes the legend of the money tree, which is fascinating. I invite you to tune in too. I will put a link in the show notes. My quick response to Blaine was that his plant needs a new pair of jeans, which is part of our chat today, as well as addressing a dilemma with mealybugs or whiteflies. And it starts like this.

Mary Stone  03:15

 Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. It's always fun to hear from you, and after last week's story about roofs to roots and reviving house plants using rainwater or snowmelt, I received a message from Blaine Rothauser, a remarkable photographer and naturalist whose artful photographs graced many of our column chats. He has a money tree that has declined markedly, and sent me a picture of what he coins, A Charlie Brown tree, so tight in its pot, no wonder it's struggling. He has stored it in his garage, which normally stays at 50 degrees, but with the recent frigid spell, I bet his garage dropped below freezing. Joelee's water bowl freezing in my garage is a clue. 

Mary Stone  03:55

Ideally, money trees, Pachira aquatica, prefer 65 to 80 degrees, keeping them away from drafts and heating vents. Temperatures below 50 degrees will damage the plant. I know this to be true because I have a case study at the hair salon I go to. There was a money tree that was really struggling badly, and I suggested they lifted off the concrete floor. That was a subfloor. There's no basement in that building, and once they put it on a stand, the tree began to flourish back to life. It didn't like having cold feet. 

Mary Stone  04:30

To restore Blaine's money tree, which has become way too tight in its pot, it was root-bound, as I say. He needs to repot it in a slightly larger container using fresh, well-drained soil, and here's how, and by the way, this is a universal technique for most plants.

Mary Stone  04:49

First, choose a pot that's one or two inches wider than the old one. Bigger is not better as money trees prefer properly fitted shoes, meaning not too large, as the surplus soil could cause root rot. Water the plant in a sink with room temperature water or rainwater even better, until the soil is soaked and water runs through the holes, so that way your plant can be easily removed without damaging the roots. Be sure to let it rest for a day, then run a knife around the pot to loosen the roots that are clinging to i,t and carefully pull the plant out at the lowest point next to the soil. That is a key part, because you don't want to damage the poor little thing. 

Mary Stone  05:29

When you take that plant out of the pot, most likely the roots are going to be very tangled up. So take your fingers and tickle the roots. Just what I do when I encourage roots to spread and nursery stock before planting things out in the field. Do the same thing with your houseplants. Sometimes you need a utility knife to make some quarter-to-half-inch vertical cuts on the roots, if it's very tightly woven, and you should sterilize that blade first with some rubbing alcohol and then rinse it with water, so that way it stays sterile, no encouragement of disease. And then you want to remove any damaged roots at the same time. 

Mary Stone  06:08

Add 1 to 2 inches of cactus or succulent soil to the bottom of the new pot. They also say that a 50-50 blend of regular potting soil with perlite or orchid bark drains well, too. Place your plant in the center of the pot, so that the root ball sits about an inch below the top of the pot, then add moist soil around the plant gently, without over-compacting, which can suffocate roots.

Mary Stone  06:32

After you put your plant baby in its new pot, water it once again until the water runs through the holes. And for sure, you want to make sure that pot you choose has drainage holes. That's absolutely a must. And once it's fully drained, then you can place it back on the saucer or tray below the plant, because you don't want it sitting in water. Put your money tree in a bright spot with indirect sunlight and resume normal watering. 

Mary Stone  06:57

And this is a protocol I suggest for most plants, and that is to be sure that about the top three-quarters of the soil dries out before you water. And that's where your water meter comes into play, those inexpensive tools, probes that you stick in the soil to determine the moisture level. And then water every two weeks, typically, unless the house humidity is so low, which is wintertime, and you may need to water more often. Hopefully, your money tree will rebound, Blaine, and for any of you with plants and too tight genes, the protocols are the same, except for the amount of sun or moisture your species of house plant may require. 

Mary Stone  07:33

Then I heard from Jennifer in Bangor, Pennsylvania, her fiddlehead fig tree has developed yellowing leaves. How delightful it is when one question leads back to a familiar story, and how often our plant dilemmas echo lessons we've already lived. Fiddlehead figs, Ficus laurata, also known as fiddle leaf. Figs, grow in rainforests and are native to West Africa, where they can reach 40 feet. As houseplants, they stay shorter, of course, and rarely flower or fruit, but they still command attention. Their foot-long, leathery leaves with wavy edges and pronounced veins resemble a fiddle, hence the name. No wonder they've become a household favorite. 

Mary Stone  08:16

Jennifer's dilemma took me back to a client in Spart,a New Jerse,y who once wrote, remember that fiddlehead fig you liked so much, the leaves are turning yellow. I googled it. It said fertilizer might help. I ordered a bigger pot and fresh soil. It gets great light and hasn't moved in two years. Any thoughts? Typically, I advise against fertilizing in the winter, when they're resting. If your plant hasn't been fed during the growing season, a gentle boost may help, but watering habits are usually the bigger issue. Yellowing leaves, by and large, are a sign of too much water. I suggested a simple moisture meter probe, an inexpensive tool that removes the guesswork from soil moisture monitoring. Suze later explained that her fig was in a self-watering container, the kind that holds a reservoir of water beneath the soil. These systems are helpful in the summer or while away from home, they maintain consistent moisture without daily attention. But in the winter, when plants slow their growth, constantly moist soil can be a problem. Many house plants prefer their soil to dry slightly before watering, as I mentioned earlier. 

Mary Stone  09:24

Fiddlehead figs are also known for being fickle. They dislike drafts, soil that's too wet, sudden temperature changes, or dry indoor air; therefore, a nearby humidifier can make a surprising difference. When I later visited Sue's to review a garden desig,n her fiddlehead fig stood tall in the new pot. Repotting in winter isn't usually recommended, as plants are resting, but in this case, the roots were so crowded and the soil so sparse, there is an exception that is sometimes necessary, which is true in gardening and in life.

Mary Stone  09:59

During the visit, she pointed out another house plant, a split-leaf philodendron, with fuzzy white patches on its leaves. I've been wiping it off, she said, but it keeps coming back. Those cottony clusters look like mealybugs, though at first glance they can resemble whiteflies. Both are sap-sucking pests that can cause leaves to curl and turn yellow. Both are masters of stealth, hitching rides indoors on fresh-cut flowers, even on produce or plants kept outside in the summer. Sometimes they come home with a new plant, and that's why I always suggest keeping any new plant baby separate from other house plants for at least two weeks and watch them closely to see what sprouts. 

Mary Stone  10:40

The remedy for both dilemmas is straightforward, though it takes patience: isolate the affected plant, rinse it gently in the sink or shower, if possible, let the plant dry, then spray neem oil periodically until all signs of the invasion are gone. Neem oil, by the way, is my go-to I call it my duct tape in the garden because it's not only a insecticide. It also helps fungal disease. The whiteflies will fly when you spray them, but the treatment will kill the eggs and nymphs. Be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where they lay eggs, too, sneaky little buggers. If the darn things keep coming back, remove the top two inches of the soil where they could be living. Clean the inside of the pot with rubbing alcohol, then top dress with fresh potting soil. 

Mary Stone  11:32

Patience and attentiveness are part of tending to plants. Perhaps there's a deeper lesson here. Plants remind us that care is an ongoing relationship, too much or too little water, too much or too little attention. Balance matters in our homes, our gardens, and within ourselves. Growth thrives when we listen closely to what's needed and respond with steady, loving care. Garden Dilemmas? Ask Mary Stone.com.

Mary Stone  12:06

In the end, whether it's a fiddlehead fig, a money tree, or a heart learning to heal, the lesson is the same. Loosen what's tight, refresh the soil, give light to where it's needed, and trust that growth knows how to return slowly, quietly, faithfully. So thanks for coming by. I always enjoy our time together, and I want to say something. I am so heart-warmed by how many of you reached back, wondering where I was last week. It's so nice to be thought of and missed, and I just want to thank you for that, and I want to thank you for all that you've helped me to learn and grow in this garden of life with your questions and your photographs of plants that are leafless. Just as when we go through hard times in our lives, and we feel leafless, leaves will sprout again that we can count on. So enjoy your da,y every part of it, the lulls and the bright spots, because with every season there is change and there is growth in this garden of life. Thanks again. See you next time. 

Mary Stone  13:15

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at GardenDilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden dilemmas, delights, and discoveries, as produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.