Why is my plant dropping leaves?

A PlantParlour plant problems guide

Leaf drop is a plant cutting its losses. The usual causes are a change it didn't like — a move, a cold draught, a radiator switched on — watering that has gone wrong in either direction, or a normal seasonal rest. Look at which leaves are falling and what changed in the last two weeks: old lower leaves one at a time is ageing, a sudden shower of green leaves is shock, yellow leaves falling from a wet pot is overwatering. Most plants recover once they are somewhere stable and the watering is right.

Read the pattern first

Green leaves dropping within weeks of a move or a delivery
Shock. Ficus are famous for it. Put it somewhere good and leave it there.
Leaves dropping after a cold night or near a door
Cold damage or a draught. Most houseplants want to stay above about 12–15 °C.
Crisp or green leaves falling near a radiator
Dry heat. Move it away from the heat source and raise the humidity.
Yellow leaves falling, compost wet
Overwatering. See the yellow leaves guide, and check the roots.
One old leaf at a time from the bottom
Normal ageing as the plant grows upward.
The whole plant dying back in autumn or winter — alocasia, caladium, some bulbs
Dormancy. Water much less, stop feeding, and don't throw it out.

What to do while it recovers

Put the plant in the best spot you have and leave it there — every extra move is another shock. Keep watering on the compost's schedule, not the calendar's, and don't feed or repot a plant that is actively dropping leaves: a stressed root system can't use fertiliser, and repotting adds a second shock to the first. New growth, not the leaves still falling, is how you'll know it has settled.

Plant by plant

Where this is a known problem on 52 of the plants in the PlantParlour care library, with that plant's own cause and fix. Entries shared by a whole genus are listed once.

Leaves dropping one after another over winter
Dormancy. Alocasias often go down to nothing and come back in spring.

Fix: Cut the water right back, keep the corm just barely damp, stop feeding, and wait. Throwing it out in February is the usual mistake.
Lower leaves yellowing and dropping on a cane dracaena
Normal ageing if it is one at a time; overwatering if it is several.

Fix: Peel the old leaves off cleanly and check the mix is drying out between waterings.
Soft yellow base on a snake plant, leaves falling out of the pot
Rot. Water has sat in the crown or the mix.

Fix: Take the firm leaves as cuttings and start again. Water snake plants from below or around the edge, never into the centre.
Leaflets dropping all over the floor
Dry heat, usually from a radiator.

Fix: Move it away from the heat source and raise the humidity.
Leaves dropping after you moved it
Ficus dislike change — light, temperature, position, all of it.

Fix: Put it somewhere bright and leave it there. Resist the urge to fix it; the drop stops within a few weeks.
Leaves dropping at a touch
Overwatering.

Fix: Let it dry down properly and consider a smaller pot.
Yellow leaves dropping
Overwatering or cold.

Fix: Let it dry out further and keep it above 15 °C.
Leaves dropping suddenly
A cold draught or a dry spell.

Fix: Keep it above 15 °C and evenly damp.
- Polka dot begonia
- Rex begonia
All the leaves drop at once
A shock: a move, a draught, a cold delivery van, or drying out.

Fix: Keep it warm, bright, damp and still. New growth usually comes in a few weeks.
- Croton
Crispy edges and leaf drop
Dry air. This is the whole story with this plant.

Fix: Get it above 60% humidity — a cabinet or terrarium is the honest answer.
- Rex begonia vine
Leaf drop after a cold night
Cold damage — it will not take below about 12 °C.

Fix: Move it away from cold glass and keep it warm.
- Coffee plant
Leaves dropping at a touch
Overwatering, almost always.

Fix: Stop watering until the pot is fully dry, then water far less often.
- Jade plant
Leaves dropping in quantity
Usually overwatering, sometimes a cold draught.

Fix: Check the pot is not sitting wet, and move it away from the door.
- Umbrella plant
Leaves dropping in winter
Too warm and too dark indoors.

Fix: Keep it cool (around 10 °C) and as bright as possible over winter, and water much less.
- Lemon tree
Lower leaves yellowing and dropping
Normal as the cane lengthens.

Fix: Peel them off; cut the cane back in spring if it is too bare.
- Ti plant
Sudden leaf drop
A change: a move, a draught, a cold night, or the compost drying out.

Fix: Put it somewhere stable and bright, keep it evenly damp, and be patient.
- Ming aralia
Yellow leaves dropping
Overwatering, or a pot that is too small.

Fix: Check the drainage and repot in spring.
- Pink jasmine
Yellow leaves dropping from the bottom
Overwatering. The trunk is a reservoir and does not need help.

Fix: Water less often and make sure the pot is not standing in water.
- Money tree
Yellow lower leaves dropping
Overwatering, or simply age as the stem lengthens.

Fix: Let it dry out more between waterings; a bare lower stem on an older pilea is normal.
- Chinese money plant

Questions people ask

Should I move a plant that is dropping leaves?

Once, if where it is now is clearly wrong — cold, dark or next to a radiator. Then leave it alone. Moving it around looking for the right spot makes the drop worse.

Will the leaves grow back?

Not on the bare stretches of stem, in most plants. New leaves come from the growing tips and from nodes, so a plant that dropped many leaves may need cutting back later to fill in.

Is it normal for a plant to lose leaves in winter?

Some loss is normal: less light means the plant can support fewer leaves. A plant that goes down to nothing in autumn may be going dormant rather than dying — check whether the corm, bulb or tuber underneath is still firm.

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 PlantParlour

General 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.