A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Kalanchoe turning yellow

A few weeks ago I noticed my kalanchoe was sticky, so I posted here and found out it was probably mealy bugs. One of the other posters suggested that I treat it with one part rubbing alcohol to 6 parts water, so I did and it seemed to work. Now, though, the plant's leaves are turning yellow one by one! It used to be full and bloomed constantly, and now it seems to be dying. Anyone have any ideas about what's going on? Thanks.

Hi Erinne,

Whenever pests attack a plant it is usually because the plant is under stress for some other reason - poor light, improper watering, etc. So you may have solved the pest problem but the underlying stress problem may remain.

Kalanchoes need lots of bright light all day long with at least a few hours of direct sun each day. They must be kept tightly potted in a porous potting mix (lots of perlite) that dries out almost completely every 7 - 10 days.

It is also possible that the leaf yellowing is a delayed reaction to the mealybugs and/or the alcohol spray.

I agree with the diagnosis of stress. I have one Kalanchoe that i recently cut the large flowering tips off just cuz they had already dried and wanted to cut it back a little. The larger leaves around the cutting started to yellow. I simply snipped them off and now smaller leaves are starting to grow in the same areas. I don't pamper my Kalanchoe very much and it seems to do very well. I have actually two; one is red and the other is white. The red one is the larger with huge thick leaves. Just talk your plant thru it's stressful time and it will get better soon.


D