What's wrong with my plant?
Houseplant problems, by what you can see
Most houseplant problems show up as one of a handful of symptoms, and most of those come down to water, light or dry air. Each guide here starts from what you can see, shows how to read the pattern — which leaves, how fast, what the compost feels like — and then lists every plant in the PlantParlour care library where that symptom is a known problem, with its own cause and fix.
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Why are my plant's leaves turning yellow?
Most often, overwatering.
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Why are my plant's leaf tips turning brown?
Brown, crispy tips and edges mean the far end of the leaf lost water faster than the roots could replace it — because the air is dry, the compost dried out too far, or salts and fluoride from tap water and fertiliser have built up in the pot.
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Spider mites on houseplants: how to spot them and get rid of them
Spider mites are tiny sap-sucking mites, barely visible without a magnifier, that thrive in warm, dry indoor air.
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Why is my plant leggy? Stretched stems and bare vines
A leggy plant — long bare stems, leaves spaced far apart, growth leaning toward the window — is almost always short of light, and stretching to find more.
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Why is my plant dropping leaves?
Leaf drop is a plant cutting its losses.
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Why is my variegated plant turning green?
White, cream, pink or silver parts of a leaf have little or no chlorophyll, so they cost the plant energy it can only afford in good light.
Looking for one plant? The care library has a page for each of 161 houseplants, with its own common problems. Worried about a pet? See the houseplants the ASPCA lists as non-toxic to cats and dogs.
Not sure which one it is?
PlantParlour's health check looks at up to three photos of your plant alongside the care you've logged for it — when you last watered, when it was repotted, problems it has had before — and tells you what it sees. Log the problem as an issue, take another photo in a few days, and the next check compares the two, so you can tell whether it is spreading or settling. It is an AI's considered guess, not a diagnosis, and it is free to start with no account.
Open PlantParlourGeneral guidance for houseplants, written to be careful rather than clever. It can't see your plant, so treat it as a starting point, not a diagnosis. See our terms.