Why does my rubber plant have yellow lower leaves?

On a rubber plant this is a leaf near the bottom of the stem turning yellow, usually across the whole blade, and then dropping, while the leaves higher up stay thick, glossy and dark. The plant has a bare lower stem and a crown of healthy leaves above it.

There are two likely causes and the entry gives both: overwatering, or the plant shedding old leaves as it grows taller. The NC State plant toolbox says that it is normal for some bottom leaves to turn yellow and drop. So the first question is how many, and how often. A single old leaf lost now and then from the bottom of a growing plant is normal. Several at once, or a steady stream, with soft yellowing, points to the pot.

To confirm it in a minute, push a finger into the compost to 3 or 4 cm. If it is still damp, and the pot is heavy days after watering, the compost is staying wet. The plant's interval is about 9 days in the growing season and 18 in winter, and the thick leaves hold water, so a plant that has been on a weekly rhythm all through the dark months is the likely case. Look at the saucer as well.

Two other causes are worth ruling out. Light: a plant that has been moved to a darker spot, with yellowing working up from the bottom over weeks, drops the leaves furthest from the window first. And hunger: a plant that has stood in the same pot for more than a year, yellowing generally, with the older leaves pale between the veins first.

A yellow leaf never turns green again, so judge the recovery by the next new leaves at the top, which should come through dark and glossy once the compost is drying properly. In the growing season that takes a few weeks per leaf. In winter the plant makes almost none, and you may not be sure until spring.

What this plant wants

The fix

Check the compost first. If it is damp, water less and let it dry further. One old leaf lost occasionally from the bottom of a growing plant is normal.

Read on

Yellow leaves at the bottom of the plant

The same sign on any plant, with the causes in the order they are likely.

Rubber plant care

Light, water, feeding, repotting and the rest of the entry.

Check it in the diagnoser

Opens with the plant, the part and the sign already chosen.