Pothos, also known as Epipremnum aureum, is present in the list of indoor plants grown by beginners and it’s having many varieties with different specifications like silver satin pothos and many others. We should be thankful for its low-maintenance vibes and hardy nature. But it never means that it is entirely immune to all diseases and problems; it can suffer from many issues like the other houseplants. The problems may be overwatering, underwatering, fungal root rot, and many more.
Pothos may show different signs of each problem, but one of the first signs of its many problems is the yellow color of its leaves. Fortunately, if you observe its yellowing in the early stages, you can save your plant and get your plant into a vibrant and healthy life. Let’s try to dive in for deep study.
Can yellow pothos leaves turn green again?
It is observed that in most cases, once the leaves get yellow, they might not come back to it a variegated or green color. But we can help your pothos increase their thrive, and it will give new leaves and become healthy soon.
Should I remove yellow leaves from pothos?
Yellowing may be due to many reasons; if plant leaves are yellow due to their older age, nutrient deficiency, or improper watering, you should leave the plant leaves until they get full yellow through a successive way. It provides the plant a chance to get remaining phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, and many other essential nutrients from leaves. On the other hand, if you do not like yellow leaves, you can clip the leaves off the plant.
What Are The Basic Factors Of Pothos Yellow Leaves?
Direct sunlight and fewer fertilizers are two basic factors that can cause this problem and it damages your plant a lot.
Aging Leaves
Before going for any solution of yellow leaves, first, check whether it is a plant problem or not. Because many times too old pothos leaves turn yellow, and they die, don’t worry. This is a natural and necessary process. If just one or two pothos leaves turn yellow, it can not be a problem, but it is natural.
If naturally old leaves are turning yellow, you should not need to give a lot of care. You can use common dilute house plant fertilizers, and it will boost the growth of pothos. Continuously check yellow leaves of pothos and make sure that they are due to any problem or natural way.
Low Water Conditions
We already know that pothos needs water when soil is feeling dry to the touch, but sometimes these situations are hard to understand. Although pothos shows some signs when it needs some water as its leaves and vines look droopy, they need water in these conditions. After watering your pothos plant, it will look healthy and happy.
Crispy yellow leaves of pothos are because of low water, but do you water the plant according to its needs? If yes, it can be because of soil. In these conditions, always make some small holes in the soil with the help of any stick.
Under and overwatering both can be a reason behind yellowing leaves of pothos, so now discuss extra or overwatering.
Extra Or Over Watering
Small brown spots on the yellow leaves of pothos are signs of over or extra watering. Sometimes excess water stays longer in roots, or water standing can affect roots, turning pothos leaves yellow.
If you find these signs in your leaves, surely these yellow leaves will not be green and remove all these leaves from the plant. Or you can move your pothos plant towards a sunny area where it can get more light. Water will not stand for a long time in these conditions, and you will be safe from overwatering.
But if you are having this plant in your office or in a closed house and can’t bring it to bright light, make sure to use well-drained soil. Make sure your pot is having a drainage hole at the bottom to remove extra water, and if water is standing in the pot or anything else, mix coco coir in the soil.
Improper watering
Yellow leaves of pothos mean that plant is not happy or having any type of stress, it can’t be over or underwatering, but it can be because of improper watering. Regular watering and well-drained soil are highly suitable, but for your help, we have some steps here regarding watering pothos.
- Before watering always check if the soil is dry, you can do that by inserting your finger into the soil. If it feels dry its means that the plant needs water.
- Before watering makes small holes with the help of any stick, it will help water to reach roots easily.
- Make sure that your plant is getting the required sunlight, if not move it towards a bright area or if not possible use a well-drained potting mixture.
Root Bounding
Your plant may be grown over in the pot, and roots are bounding, and it can also turn pothos leaves yellow but you can easily fix root bounding. Root bounding can also affect your plant’s growth, and you will see some evident roots in the drainage hole. It shows that pothos needs to be transplanted in a few inches bigger pot in dimension with the best drainage system.
Root Rot
It is caused by different pathogens like pythium and these pathogens grow in water logging conditions. When bundles of roots become yellow and the stem is also looking in bad conditions, check the roots conditions, and cause root rot. Remove your pothos plant from that pot and give proper support and care to that plant, but it is really hard to save the plant in these conditions.
But if some or at least two roots are healthy, you can still hardly save this pothos plant.
- First of all, use hot water to clean the roots and remove the soil from them.
- Use any sharp cutter or knife and remove all the affected roots from the base.
- After that wash the remaining plant roots with diluted bleach, it will remove all the remaining pathogens.
- Remove all the yellow and affected leaves from the plant.
- Now at last, transplant this plant into a suitable pot with a well-drained potting mixture and provide proper care.
I hope that you will save your different pothos plants in this way and will be happy,
Bacterial Leaf Spot
If leaves have small holes in the bottom or at the soft part of leaves are bacterial leaf spots. Remove all the affected leaves, and for protection, see any common house plant bactericidal. During watering, never wet the pothos leaves, and make sure to clean the wet leaves with any soft cloth.
Pests
Mostly we don’t spot any pests over pothos, but in some cases, you can find mealybugs over the leaves and stems of your pothos plant you can easily get rid of pothos after reading the Complete Guide On How to Get Rid of Mealybugs? Simply remove them with the help of water pressure or place your pot in a water tab and shack the plant.
Small spider mites can be on your pothos, but it’s challenging to spot them, remove them through the water spray. We hope that this article by growncares will surely stop your pothos leaves from turning yellow and enjoy gardening.
