Why Are My Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow?

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Pothos are hardy, resilient, extremely forgiving, stunning, and among the easiest plants to grow and keep happy. But you are here because things aren’t going so well. Your pothos’ leaves are turning yellow.

Watching the leaves of your beautiful pothos go from vibrant diachronic green and yellow or green and silver shades into sad, unhealthy yellow shades is panic-inducing. This common issue typically signifies an underlying problem, each telling a different story about your plant’s health.

So, let’s diagnose why are your pothos leaves turning yellow, fix it, and have your pothos thriving and healthy again.

Why Are My Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow?

1. Excessive Watering

Are you guilty of loving your pothos so much that you overwater them? If so, this is probably why the leaves are becoming yellow. Overwatering is the top cause of leaf yellowing in houseplants.

Generally, plants don’t like sitting in soggy soil; it causes root rot and death. Symptoms of overwatering include leaves yellowing uniformly or chlorosis, wilting despite moist soil, mushy or blackened roots, edema, and a foul smell emanating from the soil.

Solutions

• Before watering your pothos, check if the soil is dry. Wait a bit longer if it’s still moist. Water if it feels dry.
• Move your plant to a slightly sunnier area. However, remember pothos don’t like direct sunlight (indirect light is best).
• Think about repotting your pothos in dry, fresh soil, ensuring the new pot has proper drainage. Also, trim away any rotten roots.

2. Water Scarcity

Pothos tolerates neglect, but that doesn’t mean you should deprive it of water for too long. Underwatering can dehydrate your pothos plants, making the leaves yellow and crispy.

Fortunately, these plants communicate their needs. For instance, the leaves and vines become slightly limp and droopy when they need water.

Solutions

• Water your pothos thoroughly and consistently, making sure the water reaches the roots. Watch out for droopy vines and dry soil; they will guide you on when to water the pothos.
• Occasionally, place your pothos pot in a water basin for about 30 minutes to give the plant a good soak and let it drain thoroughly afterward.
• Keep your plant in an environment with moderate temperatures and higher humidity.
• Use a potting mix that holds moisture well but doesn’t get waterlogged.

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• Why Do House Plants Get Brown Tips On Their Leaves?
• Spider plant leaves turning brown and falling off

3. Exposure To Too Much Light

Pothos plants flourish in indirect, bright light. Exposing them to excessive direct sunlight or intense light for prolonged periods stresses them.

Too much sunlight causes the leaves to produce too much energy but can’t process it effectively, thus damaging the chloroplasts. This damages their ability to produce energy, turning the leaves yellow.

Solutions

• Move your pothos to a location with bright, indirect light.
• Filter the light and reduce its intensity using curtains, blinds, or light diffusers. This comes in handy if you keep your pothos near a window with direct sunlight and during peak sunlight hours.
• Rotate your pothos plant frequently to ensure every side is exposed to light evenly.
• If you use artificial grow lights, place your pothos at an appropriate distance from the light source.

4. Insufficient Light

Your pothos will struggle to photosynthesize if it doesn’t get enough sunlight, meaning the plant won’t have sufficient energy to support its parts, including the leaves. This causes yellowing and stunted growth.

Causes of insufficient light include:

• Placing the plant in a location with limited natural light, such as far from windows or in rooms with few windows.
• Putting your pothos in areas that receive only minimal indirect light, such as corners or behind furniture.
• Objects or curtains blocking natural light.

Solutions

Place your pothos plants a couple of feet from a sunny window or near a window exposed to filtered sunlight. Also, consider using artificial grow lights designed for houseplants if natural light is limited. Furthermore, clear away any objects, curtains, or blinds that are obstructing natural light from reaching the plant.

5. It Could Be Too Hot or Too Cold

Pothos are most at home in thick, tropical forests with moderate temperatures, and bigger plants shelter them. Extreme temperatures cause tissue damage in pothos, resulting in yellow leaves. So, could your pothos leaves be turning yellow because your home is too hot or cold?

Cold drafts from windows, doors, or air vents can shock your plant, as can high temperatures, especially above the preferred range. In addition, rapid changes in temperature within your home can disrupt your plant’s physiological processes.

Solutions

Optimize the temperature in your home to make it ideal for pothos. Ideal temperatures rangefrom 65°F to 85°F (18°C to 29°C)- avoid extremes on both ends of the spectrum. Achieve this by not placing your plants near heat or cold-generating appliances.

For instance, move your pothos away from drafty places like doors, air vents, and windows. Moreover, consider using curtains or insulation to minimize exposure to cold drafts. Also, keep them away from fireplaces, stoves, and heaters.

6. Nutrient Deficiency

Fertilizing your pothos can promote richer foliage and healthier growth. However, you must use the correct type, proportions, and frequencies. Lack of some nutrients, as well as an abundance of some, can affect your pothos’ chlorophyll production and growth rate.

Iron, potassium, magnesium, and nitrogen deficiency make leaves turn yellow.

Solutions

To address this problem correctly, you must pinpoint the specific deficiencies. So, before taking a step further, conduct a soil test. Fertilizing your pothos is one way to address nutrient deficiencies. Below is how to fix various nutrient deficiencies:

• Nitrogen: Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer with higher nitrogen content.
• Potassium: Use a balanced fertilizer with adequate potassium.
• Magnesium: Apply Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) dissolved in water or use a fertilizer containing magnesium.
• Iron: Apply chelated iron supplements to the soil or use iron-rich fertilizers.

Another way to fix nutrient deficiency is repotting your pothos in nutrient-rich soil.

7. Bacterial Leaf Spot

This common disease is typically caused by the bacteria Xanthomonas campestris pv. Dieffenbachiae. These bacteria thrive in warm, humid conditions and spread through contaminated water, infected tools, water splashing from an infected plant to a healthy one, and crowding plants.

Bacterial leaf spot causes leaf discoloration, leaf drop, lesions and blisters, reduced photosynthesis, wilting, and death. Infected leaves usually show small, water-soaked spots that gradually enlarge and may turn yellow, accompanied by black or dark brown spots as the infection progresses.

Solutions

• Cut the affected leaves to decelerate the spread and hopefully stop it.
• Spray the leaves with bactericides or natural pesticides like neem oil.
• Prevent future infestations by regularly cleaning and disinfecting tools, pots, and growing areas, using clean, disease-free water, quarantining new plants, and spacing your plants correctly.

8. Root Bound

When did you last repotted your pothos? Perhaps it’s outgrown its pot and subsequently become root bound. When roots no longer fit the planter, they get tangled and constricted, leading to nutrient deficiencies and yellowing leaves.

Your pothos likely need repotting if the roots start poking out of the drainage holes, the plant seems to be out of space, or the roots visibly encircle the pot. Remember, pothos plants are fast growers, and their roots can quickly fill the available space.

Solutions

Find a bigger pot for your pothos plants (its diameter should be 1-2 inches bigger than the current pot). Before placing your pothos plants in the new pot, gently remove them from their current pot, loosen the root ball, untangle any circling roots, and trim any excessively long or damaged roots.

9. Pests

Despite pothos plants being hardy, they aren’t immune to pests. Common pests such as spider mites, mealybugs, fungus gnats, and scale insects can infest pothos plants, feeding on the sap and causing stress that leads to yellowing leaves.

Solutions

Inspect your pothos plants regularly to detect a pest infestation early and take prompt action to eradicate it. Some ways to remove pests include removing them by hand, using insecticidal soap, introducing predators, and water spray.

Also, keep your pothos healthy through proper watering, fertilization, and light conditions to reduce susceptibility to pests.

10. Water Quality

You may stick to the right watering practices, but are you using quality water? Yellowing leaves can stem from watering plants with poor-quality water.

Avoid hard, acidic, chlorinated, alkaline, and contaminated water.

Solutions

Collect rainwater to use for watering your plants. Rainwater is chemical-free and naturally soft. Alternatively, use filtered water (water filters remove chlorine, chloramine, and other contaminants). You can also water your pothos plants with distilled water.

11. Natural Aging

You may be worried for no reason. As pothos plants grow, older leaves naturally age. If your pothos plant looks healthy, continues producing new foliage, and only 1 or 2 leaves at the base are yellow, your plant is likely undergoing a natural process.

Solutions

• Regularly prune yellowing or dying leaves to fire up new growth and maintain the plant’s appearance.
• Adapt your care to your pothos age and growth stage.

Final Remarks

Evidently, many things can make your pothos plant’s leaves turn yellow. Fortunately, all the problems are treatable, especially if you uncover them early. Ultimately, yellowing leaves aren’t your pothos plant’s death sentence. Your pothos can remain vibrant and attractive for years with proper attention and care.

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