Greetings. This is my first post. (Have Mercy!) I bought this plant about two months ago from a very cold Nursery and at the time I assumed the reddening and yellowing of the leaves was due to the cold. Brought it hame and a few of the worse affected leaves fell. Repotted it (it was in a 4" pot, now in 6" pot) and everything seemed fine, even developed some new flowers and leaves at the top. Over the past few days a lot of the lower leaves have turned yellow. Am I a very bad person??!! If I knew what it was I might be able to figure out if I'm killing it or not. I was told that it took 5 years to reach this size, that it has milky sap and that it "spits" its seeds. Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Milky sap usually means it is a Euphorbia of some kind. There are quite alot of species of Euphorbia.... Whats your watering regime? Ed
Looks like Euphorbia leuconeura, Madagascar Jewel. It may just be shedding the older leaves as the yellowing ones are all near the bottom.
Hi Ed, Thanks for the quick response. Realizing it was a cactus/succulent I have been trying to let it dry out between waterings. Although, in retrospect, it is in a plastic pot so it probably doesn't dry out as much as the rest of my cacti in clay pots. Ooops?
Junglekeeper has a good point, it may just be natural. IMHO, if the leaves pull off easy I would do that, so it can put its energy into new growth Ed
There have been much healthier specimens presented in these forums so there's room for improvement. The presence of new growth is encouraging.
Hi. Hope this is helpful. "Milky" sap suggests the white latex sap of euphorbias (be very careful getting this on your hands, eyes/ mouth, very dangerous). I'm wondering what light your plant is getting? If the yellow leaves are solid yellow, it suggests either too much or not enough light (yellow between the veins is an iron problem). Has your plant grown much since you got it?
Thanks JungleKeeper, I am sure you have identified this plant. Googled Euphorbia Leuconeura. Got back: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1362 Looks suspiciously like mine, and as if that weren't enough, that thread mentions spitting seeds and milky sap. Milky sap that causes blisters, suspiciously like the ones I got after repotting my plant that I could not explain until now. Doh! Thanks for the answers.
Thanks for the warning Constantgardner. Where were you two months ago? LOL The plant is in a south window, not that means much in winter in Ontario (very gloomy out lately). The leaves turned yellow almost overnight, with the veins appearing to turn yellow last. The plant has produced new flowers and leaves since I have had it. Of the two seedlings I took out of the original pot one is doing well the other pulled the same dropping leaves trick but has now seemed to stabilize.
