Papaya Leaves Turning Yellow (Causes And Solutions)
If the color of your papaya leaves changes from green to yellow, this is a sure sign of trouble.
A variety of factors could be to blame for this occurrence. A draught, a lack of water, or excessive watering.
What causes the yellowing of papaya leaves? How should I care for my plant? Let’s find out what the answers are:

Nutrient Deficiency
Nutrient deficiencies are common in papaya plants. There are several types of deficiencies that can occur:
Chlorosis is the most common cause of the iron deficiency. As the chlorophyll in the leaves depletes, yellowing of the edges and veins begins to appear.
It is also possible to have a magnesium deficiency, which causes the same symptoms as chlorosis.
If you grow your papaya plant in very lime or acidic soil, it is more prone to potassium or nitrogen deficiency.
Here is a list of various nutrient deficiency symptoms and solutions.
Nutrient Deficiency | Symptoms | Solutions |
Nitrogen | Yellowing Starts from the leaf tips | Apply nitrogen-rich fertilizer like blood and bone meal |
Phosphorus | Older leaves turn pale and yellow | Apply phosphate-rich fertilizer |
Magnesium | Lower leaves turn yellow from tip to downward | Apply Epsom salts or dolomite |
Zinc | Leaf turn yellow between the veins | Foilar spray of znic fertilzer |
Manganese | Turns yellow between the veins of young leaves | Apply manganese sulfate fertilizer |
Sulfur | SStunted leaf growth and yellowing | Sulfate and potash fertilizer application |
In absolute terms, the best way to prevent leaf yellowing is to improve the soil structure beforehand.
This allows for the preservation of biodiversity: microorganisms, earthworms, and insects help to keep the soil in a natural state.
You can usually avoid leaf yellowing by using high-quality compost and organic fertilizer.
I recommend using this (amazon link) organic fruit tree fertilizer.
Pests Suck the Life out of Papaya Leaves
In an ideal environment, papaya leaves are vulnerable to a wide range of pest attacks.
They cause the leaf to turn a pale yellow and eventually die. Here are some common pests of papaya and how to combat them:
Aphids
These are small insects that transmit diseases by feeding on plant sap and have the ability to clone themselves, allowing them to spread quickly; combating them is simple with potassium soap.
Leafhoppers
They are 3 or 4 mm green sucking insects that live in the lower part of the leaves.
They are virus vector insects, so we must keep them from spreading throughout the plant.
They cause small yellow spots on the leaf, which causes it to dry out.
We must spray neem oil, potassium soap, or paraffin on the underside of the leaves.
This is critical because if we apply from the top, it will have no effect.
Red Spider
It appears during periods of high heat and humidity, and it is best to combat it as soon as possible.
Tiny yellow spots appear, as does a type of cloth that covers the plant.
Papaya Fly
Both the papaya fly and the fruit fly can cause the papaya to rot and fall to the ground.
To combat them, we must set traps in organic farming.
Whitefly
Viruses are transmitted if chromatic traps are not used.
Nematodes
Meloidogyne and other nematodes can harm the crop.
Cutter Ants
These ants can attack the papaya plant and cut its leaves, as these ants require them to cultivate certain fungi in their anthills. Interestingly these fungus is a food source of their larvae.
Borer
The Opogona is a larva that feeds inside the trunk of the papaya tree, hollowing it out and causing it to collapse under the weight.
Pheromones are the only environmentally friendly way to combat it.
Thrips
These insects can damage the flowers, causing them to fall to the ground.
Cottony Scale
It prefers to hide in folds where it is well-protected and gets food from the papaya tree’s sap.
Scales
They can cling to the trunk or leaves and are best combated with kerosene, which suffocates them.
Papaya Leaves Yellowing Due to Diseases
Certain viral and fungal diseases are to blame for this occurrence. You must act quickly to prevent further damage. If you don’t, your papaya plant’s fruiting capacity will be drastically reduced.
Mildew and Powdery mildew
Whitish or yellow spots on the leaves, we must apply fungicide before the leaves dry and the plant loses them.
Root Rot
It is caused by the Phytophthora fungus. In small plants, the leaves wither and have symptoms such as lack of nutrients and die.
In poorly drained soils the disease can cause papaya plant death. Roots usually rot and cause the fall of the plant.
No nutrients or water will get to the rest of your plants if your roots aren’t functioning properly. Thus, the leaves will turn yellow and eventually die.
In fruits the infection begins in the peduncle, we observe a brown spot that progresses until it spreads through the fruit causing it to rot.
Preventative measures include removing any wilting seedlings from your garden. Additionally, you must enhance soil filtration and apply a fungicide.
Anthracnose
Also caused by a fungus and its symptoms are brownish brown spots mainly on the old leaves, although after a while it spreads to all the leaves of the plant.
Brown spots on flowers and causes the fall of these and the newly formed fruits.
In fruits, pink-orange spots are observed that finally turn to black and the fruit would be unusable because it reaches the interior.
Removing old, diseased leaves and fruits from the plant, along with the fruit itself, is a preventative measure.
Apply Fungicide, neem oil mixed with bicarbonate as soon as symptoms appear.
Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV)
It’s a virus-based disease that can’t be treated once the plant has it, so prevention is key from the start of your papaya’s life cycle.
To avoid infection, grow papayas in greenhouses if the disease is present where you live.
For this reason, it is critical to deal with aphids as soon as they appear on the plant.
We should also avoid planting near plants in the cucurbit family-like melons and cucumbers because they are carrier plants.
Symptoms include yellowish, spotty fruits and leaves with green circles.
The plant fails to thrive and becomes horribly malformed as a result.
External factors have an impact on the fruit, lowering its brix level (which is the sugar content of each fruit).
Lack of Water Causes Yellowing of Papaya Leaves
A plant’s ability to perform basic functions, like photosynthesis and nutrient absorption, is reliant on the presence of water in the soil.
When plants don’t get enough water, their leaves turn yellow and eventually fall off.
Apart from wilting and yellowing of the leaves, lack of water can also cause curling or wilting.
To make up for a water shortage, we can water more frequently or use it more especially in summer and be.
Watering your papaya every two weeks during the summer is a good summer practice that will help the fruit grow larger.
If there isn’t enough water, the flowers will wither and fall to the ground. If the soil is clay, avoid keeping it wet.
Finally, the best way to prevent leaf yellowing is to improve the soil structure beforehand.
This allows to maintain biodiversity: micro-organisms, earthworms, and insects maintain the soil in a natural way.
A good quality compost and an organic fertilizer are often enough to prevent leaf yellowing.