Aquarium plants look so pretty – until they don’t. It isn’t rare to have a water wisteria turning yellow, and such a sight can ruin the appearance of every tank.
Seeing our plant turn yellow is a worrisome sign. But why does this happen?
In terrestrial plants, the most common reason behind leaf yellowing is overwatering. However, aquatic plants live in water, so overwatering cannot be an issue. Then, what is the reason behind this?
Don’t worry – I’ve got your back.
Here are the two most common reasons behind your water wisteria turning yellow, and what you can do about it:
1. Nutrient Deficiency
Oxygen, water, and light aren’t the only things plants require in order to grow healthily. They also need nutrients, such as magnesium, iron, calcium, nickel, and others.
Water wisterias are pretty resistant plants that don’t need many nutrients. They can usually get everything they need on their own. Most of the time, there is no need for any additional supplementations.
However, on certain occasions, your tank might be lacking in necessary nutrients. This includes situations such as:
- Improper soil.
- You’ve changed more than 50% of water.
- There are many other plants that also require nutrients.
If a plant doesn’t get enough nutrients, it will show signs of malnutrition. As a result, it might turn brown, yellow, or even white!
Whether you’re lacking in iron, manganese, or magnesium, one of these is likely the cause behind water wisteria’s color change.
You can keep the rest of the leaves from yellowing by adding supplements to the tank. There are plenty of good products you can find in local stores.
Just don’t go overboard! While adding too many supplements might not turn your plant yellow, it can cause a lot of other issues. It might even result in your plant dying.
2. Conversion
Most water wisterias you find in stores are emersed. In other words, they were grown outside of the water. These leaves look a lot like leaves on a strawberry and look nothing like true wisteria leaves should!
Once you submerge your wisteria, it will have to drop its old leaves and grow new ones. This process is known as conversion.
During conversion, the emersed leaves will turn yellow at first. Then, they’ll turn brown before dropping and leaving space for new, submersed leaves.
This is an entirely normal process that can last for a few weeks or even months. You might even think your wisteria is dying! Don’t worry – it’s simply transitioning to its true form.
Unfortunately, your plant might end up losing its bottom leaves altogether. This can make it look rather ugly or unhealthy, even though this is just a part of nature.
If you end up disliking how your water wisteria looks once it’s done with the conversion, simply cut it in half. Toss the bald, bottom part, and stick the top, green part into the soil. This is how you’ll get a new plant.
Once your water wisteria reaches its true form, you won’t have to worry about yellow leaves anymore.
3. Your Plant Is Old
Sometimes, there is no other explanation as to why your plant is turning yellow. The leaf or the plant itself might simply be dying of old age.
All leaves have a certain lifespan that depends on the living conditions and the plant’s overall health. It is natural for old leaves to die after a while – even though they can live for months, even years.
Water wisteria is a perennial plant. It will keep on growing, seemingly forever. However, its leaves will eventually wilt and die. This usually happens to the bottom leaves, as they are the oldest ones.
There is nothing you can do to stop a leaf from wilting. This is an entirely natural process that will inevitably happen even to the healthiest from plants.
Cut off the yellowing leaf if you don’t like how it looks, and keep on caring for your plant the same way as before.
Can A Yellow Leaf Turn Green Again?
Most of us don’t feel good about cutting our plants or getting rid of meaty leaves, even if they’re yellow. However, there’s no reason to keep such leaves. There is nothing you can do to turn the yellow parts of the plant green again.
Yellow leaves might live for a few weeks at most, but they’ll end up dying either way. They won’t turn green and they aren’t useful to the plant itself.
As such, there is really no argument against cutting them, except maybe if you plan on letting them rot and becoming food for shrimp, snails, and some fish species.
The only thing you can do is to keep the rest of the plant from yellowing. You’ll do this by providing it with proper conditions.
Don’t panic if you see your water wisteria turning yellow!
Yellow leaves are a part of nature, and sometimes they are bound to happen. Still, it is up to us to make sure our plants live as long and healthy as possible.
You know that calming feeling of tranquility and thrill while looking at a gorgeous, perfectly functioning tank? That’s why I became an aquarist.
To make a very long story short, I’m Noah, and I’ve started this site aiming to share the most helpful advice on creating thriving habitats for fish and underwater animals.