Have you noticed yellow leaves on your fruit tree? They’re one of the typical autumn features you can expect to see in your fruit trees.
Autumn is usually a pleasant time of cool, crisp mornings. After the heat of summer, there’s a definite shift in the air, and you might even be lucky enough to enjoy some rain. (Though excessive summer rain also seems more common these days).
It’s also not unusual to see fruit tree leaves start to turn yellow even when it still feels quite summery. For example, it often begins to happen on a tree that’s been fully harvested.
In our orchards, we’ve noticed that the typical pattern is that the leaves stay green and keep doing their job while the tree still has fruit on it.
But as soon as we’ve picked the fruit (often within days) the leaves start to go yellow. This is because the tree has started to go into “senescence”, or winter dormancy.
At that time, the tree starts to withdraw all the nutrients from the leaves back into the buds and bark. The first sign of this happening is the leaves changing colour.
This type of yellowing is completely normal, and you see it every year. However, there are lots of other causes for yellow leaves, including various diseases. It can also be due to something as simple as water!
Compost tea is a great tool to help fix some of the causes of yellow leaves on your fruit trees by improving the health of your soil.
Peach tree leaf curl disease is one of the main causes of curly leaves on your peach and nectarine trees, but it’s usually preventable.
Seeing those once-vibrant green leaves on your passion fruit vine slowly turn yellow can be worrying for any gardener. But don’t panic – yellowing leaves are usually a sign that your plant simply needs a bit of extra care and attention. With a few easy fixes, you can get your passion vine back to its glossy, green glory.
What Causes Yellowing Leaves on Passion Fruit Plants?
There are a few key culprits that could be behind the yellowing of passion fruit leaves
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Insufficient Water – Lack of water is a very common cause of yellowing leaves. When the soil dries out completely, the oldest leaves often yellow first. For potted passion vines it’s vital to water thoroughly and regularly to keep the soil moist.
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Nutrient Deficiencies – Important nutrients like nitrogen, magnesium, and iron are required for lush, green growth. If the soil is lacking in any of these, leaves can turn yellow. Nitrogen deficiency typically causes uniform yellowing across the leaf, while iron or magnesium issues lead to yellowing between the veins.
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Cold Weather – Passion fruit vines thrive in warmth and can react to cold snaps by yellowing their leaves. Exposure to cold winds or frost can also damage leaves.
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Overwatering – Too much moisture around the roots deprives them of oxygen and leads to root rot. This stressed, damaged root system struggles to take up nutrients, resulting in yellow leaves.
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Poor Drainage – Similarly, soggy soil and poor drainage hampers root function and causes yellowing.
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Pests – Sucking insects like aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies drain resources from the plant and cause mottled yellowing of leaves.
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Diseases – Fungal diseases like fusarium wilt and root rot can infect roots and lead to yellowing leaves.
Quick Fixes to Restore Green Leaves
Luckily, with a few simple fixes, you can get your passion fruit leaves back to green in no time
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Water thoroughly – Check soil moisture and water vines when the top inch of soil is dry. Soak the entire root zone, but avoid overwatering.
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Use a fertilizer – Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer to provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Or use targeted amendments like blood meal or Epsom salts.
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Control pests – Remove pests with gentle horticultural oils or introduce beneficial insects like ladybugs.
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Improve air circulation – Thin vines to open up air flow and reduce disease risk. Space vines properly to allow good airflow.
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Remove diseased foliage – Dispose of any yellowed leaves showing signs of fungal disease to prevent it spreading.
Preventing Future Yellowing
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to yellow passion fruit leaves. Here are some tips to keep your vine’s foliage healthy and green:
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Check soil nutrients – Test soil annually and amend as needed to maintain proper nutrient levels. Work in compost to enrich soil.
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Water wisely – Invest in a moisture meter and check soil before watering. Let the top inch dry out before soaking thoroughly.
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Use mulch – A 2-3 inch layer of mulch conserves moisture and insulates roots from temperature swings.
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Control pests – Monitor vines vigilantly and remove pests before they spread. Natural predators like ladybugs help keep pests in check.
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Promote airflow – Allow adequate space between vines and prune selectively to improve air circulation and decrease fungal disease risk.
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Choose resistant varieties – Select passion fruit varieties bred to be resistant to common diseases like fusarium wilt.
When to Worry About Yellow Leaves
Mild yellowing of older leaves is normal as passion vines mature. But if yellowing is severe, rapid, or combined with wilting, it likely indicates a bigger issue that demands quick action:
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Sudden wilt – If vine leaves rapidly wilt and turn yellow, check for root damage from waterlogging or disease.
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Veinal yellowing – Interveinal yellowing can signal magnesium or iron deficiency and should be corrected with fertilizer.
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Curling and spotting – Yellow leaves that curl or develop brown spots could indicate pest, disease, or virus problems requiring treatment.
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Progressive yellowing – If yellowing worsens and spreads after fertilizing and watering correctly, an underlying disease or environmental issue is the likely cause.
By staying vigilant and addressing problems early, you can keep your passion fruit’s foliage flourishing. Trust your instincts – if anything seems off, start inspecting and correcting. With a bit of TLC, those yellow leaves will be green again soon!
Yellow leaves can be a sign of a lack of water
We’ve seen other causes for yellowing leaves over the years. One that is of more concern is a lack of water. You can see the classic symptoms on this cherry tree.
Cherry trees showing the symptoms of lack of water
We always feel terrible when we spot a tree like this in the orchard because it’s completely under our control! It should never happen, but of course it often does.
It’s too easy for this to happen when you have an automatic irrigation system. Drippers can easily block up, and unless you’re checking them regularly (which is a good idea), you might not realise you have a problem.
But don’t worry, the tree will start telling you loud and clear. The leaves will turn unseasonally yellow. The dead giveaway is that the leaves on all the other trees nearby are still green.
Is it too late to fix it once the leaves have turned yellow? Depending on how long the tree has been dry, and what part of the season you discover it, the leaves may not recover even if you start giving the tree water.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the tree will die, and it definitely doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bother giving it water!
How do I fix yellow leaves on my tree?
Another common reason for leaves to turn yellow is nutritional deficiencies. We often see it on citrus trees, where it particularly shows up as yellow veins on the leaves.
If you live in a cooler climate like we do, this can be a normal response of citrus trees to cold winter weather. In that case, it often disappears when the weather warms up.
But it can also be due to a problem in the soil, and this is not restricted to citrus trees.
A number of nutritional deficiencies can cause yellow leaves as one of their symptoms. Some of these include iron (as you can see below), manganese, and zinc.
Iron deficiency (chlorosis) on peach leaves
If your tree is showing these sorts of symptoms, don’t worry too much about exactly what the deficiency might be. Whatever it is, it’s a clear sign that the tree can’t get what it needs from the soil.
The answer? Feed the soil!
PASSION FRUIT VINE: Avoid This Mistake | Care and Tips 《I Made a Big Mistake ♀️》
FAQ
Can passionfruit be overwatered?
Aim for a moist, but not soggy, soil consistency. Overwatering is a no-go; it can lead to root rot, while underwatering stresses the plant, potentially sabotaging your fruit yield.
Do yellow leaves always mean overwatering?
Leaves Turning Bright Yellow or Mushy Stems
This is usually a sign of overwatering, either caused by watering your plant before it’s ready or if your plant is in too low of light. When plants sit in waterlogged soil, their roots can’t get enough oxygen, leading to root damage which manifests as yellow leaves.
What is lacking when leaves turn yellow?
One common cause is nutrient deficiency, particularly lack of nitrogen, iron, or magnesium. Another reason could be overwatering or poor drainage, which leads to root rot and nutrient uptake issues. Pests or diseases, such as fungal infections or viral attacks, can also result in yellowing.