I bought this 3 months ago and repotted it about 1 month later. After I repotted it the leaves toward to bottom of the plant began turning yellow. Based on what I read I thought I was watering it too much so i cut down watering to every 2-3 weeks when the soil was dried out. Then last week I noticed more leaves turning yellow and brown around the edges of the leaves.
Can you tell me how to help this plant?

Hi Kelley - I see this kind of problem all the time and it is a direct result of unnecessary and incorrect repotting. Plants prefer to be kept to quite potbound. Only when they are drying out every few days after a through watering are they in need of a larger pot. The larger pot should be only one size larger and must have drain holes. The original rootball should be left intact and that soil not removed or replaced. Doing so, damages the tiny roothairs that do most of the work. When repotting, you must use a potting mix that is compatible with the mix that it was grown in. So, there is much that can go wrong when repotting is attempted.

If you are repotting because you find the plastic nursery pot unattractive, then simply set that plastic pot inside of a nicer looking planter. That way the roots are left undisturbed.

The new pot for your Aglaonema is much too large for the plant. Some of the roots may have been damaged during the repotting and other roots may be starting to rot because all of the soil in the root zone is keeping oxygen away from the roots. When roots are damaged, the plant reacts by sacrificing its older leaves.

I suggest that you remove any soil that you added to the top of the original rootball when you repotted. That soil serves no useful purpose and it is keeping the soil deeper in the pot from drying out properly. After removing that soil, allow the top quarter of the remaining soil to dry before adding any water. Then, add just enough water so that it reaches that same level of dryness again in about a week. In the interim, remove all dead and dying leaves as they will not recover.

Good luck!

thx for the great explanation, Will... I agree. I'm going to cross-post your explanation to another thread where soembdoy was contemplating repotting a 20 year old dumb cane.

Hi. I have the same issue! My plant was once thriving this past Summer and slowly I noticed the leaves started falling one by one. I read on how to recover and was told to start watering once every 2 wks. Did that and also sprayed some Neem Oil on it in case it was infected. I watered immediately after wondering if I should've waited to water. It's growing, I can see, but the leaves are turning yellow and I could see the dark areas at the base of the stem. Also, it feels soft, so wondering what is going on. It is located near a window gets moderate daylight, but wondering if the air vent above is causing this and should I move it away from the window since Winter is coming. I had one of these before! An older lady gave to me bc she was moving out of the country and couldn't take it. It was healthy and happy until I repotted it and that was the end of her! I had that plant for at least 4 years before it died. So I know this plant requires little or no attention and grows easily. Any advice?!

@kellis3873 - Your Aglaonema may be reacting to the shorter hours of daylight. Keep it very close to an uncovered north or east-facing window. Do protect it from cold drafts. Normal or warm air circulation is fine. There is no evidence of any pests so stop spraying it.

Allow the top inch of soil to dry before watering it thoroughly. With proper care, it should get as many or more new leaves as it is losing older ones.