Why Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow | 9 Top Reasons & Solution

Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow – Is It a Point to Concern?

Having a pothos plant gives you oxygen, purifies the air, and brings a refreshing touch to your eyes. Besides being fully useful, pothos is easy to grow as it doesn’t require an excessive amount of water and sunlight. However, lack of care can impact its growth and dry its leaves out. Let’s read out how poor caution can lead to the pothos leaves turning yellow.

Improper Light Causes Yellow Leaves on Pothos:

Fulfill your desire of having a pothos in your bedroom as this houseplant can survive in indirect and slow light. However, the leaves may turn yellow or brown if you keep them in the fully dim sunlight.

It is fully recommended to place the plant near your bedroom window to make it get sufficient sunlight so that it’ll stay firmed and free from faded leaves. Once you’ve kept the plant in the defined place, measure the watering amount first because the pothos that gets placed in low sunlight requires less water than the one that’s directly put in the direct sun.

Improper Watering:

Pothos plant’s growth is totally based on watering. Over moisturization and thoroughly dried plants can’t survive for a long time. Thus, it’s crucial to water the pothos plant; otherwise, it won’t bloom rightly. Look over the given below content if you don’t know why the leaves of your pothos plant are turning yellow.

Overwatering: 

If you keep the pothos plant at a spot that lacks ample sunlight, like your office or bedroom, you need to be conscious of the plant’s watering. Before watering the plant, it’s best to examine the soil and avoid moistening the plant in case the soil is damped; otherwise, the plant root will get rotted, resulting in pothos leaves turning yellow. There is also a common question asked about how often to water aloe vera plant.

Underwatering: 

It’s required to keep the pothos watering balanced. The plant needs to get appropriately moistened to place it directly before the sun. Its growth and leaves color get impacted if the plant isn’t receiving the right amount of water. So, if your pothos leaves turn yellow and curling, just be heedful of watering strategam.

Pothos leaves turning yellow due to inconsistent watering: 

Keep the watering schedule of your pothos well organized, as ill-timed watering causes the leaves of this plant to be yellow. If you’re a beginner with this plant and don’t have a fitting timetable to water it, place your index finger in the soil to know that either it’s damped or not. Ensure not to water the plant if the soil is moistened; otherwise, water the plant properly.

You’ll be conscious of how much and how often you need to water your pothos within three weeks; once you get familiar with the schedule, just proceed with it to make the plant enlarged and keep its leaves fresh and purely green.

Pests:

Insect infliction is too detrimental to make the pothos plant grow. Sap-sucking bugs like spider mites and gnats on house plants drain the plant from moisturizers that badly impact the pothos’ growth and change their leaves color into yellow or brown. There’re many anti-pests sprays in the market that keeps your pothos plants protected from insects without affecting the plant’s growth. So, apply these sprays to eliminate pests and make the plant grow consistently.

Root Bound:

If you’re correctly watering your pothos, it’s placed in appropriate sunlight, and it’s fully protected from mites, but its leaves are still turning yellow; you really need to examine its root. Repot the plant straight away on the condition of finding no place for the root to flourish and grow. The root that’s running out of place from the pot poorly impacts the plant and causes yellow leaves pothos.

Fungal Diseases:

As mentioned earlier, a pothos plant doesn’t require high sunlight; thus, we keep it at a place where there’s a low sunbeam. Also, if this plant stays damp all the time, it becomes a host for fungus. The fungus defectively affects the plant’s growth and doesn’t let it absorb nutrients from the soil.

Consequently, the fungal disorder leads to pothos leaves turning yellow and changing their shape. In case of not treating it timely and keeping it safe from fungus, this houseplant can completely wither away. So, water your plant but never make it too moist and regularly keep the plant in low sunlight for a couple of hours.

Temperature Requirements for pothos leaves turning yellow :

Keeping the pothos between 70°F and 90°F is helpful to sustain its leaves’ color. Below 50°F and higher than 90°F results in pothos leaves turning yellow. If your area has a too high and too low temperature, you may proceed with the following tips:

• Put this houseplant far from the sun at a hot place to get it safe from the direct sunlight. Again, you need to be vigilant with watering so that your plant stays free from underwatering and keeps moistened to grow properly.
• Set this houseplant’s pot near the window to get the required sunlight if you live in a too cold area. Here, being attentive to the amount of water is also imperative as additional water will create fungus that’ll result in root rot and pothos leaves turning yellow with black spots.

Unbalanced Watering – Its Impacts & Remedies

Unbalanced watering doesn’t let the plant have the expected growth. Additionally, you really need to overcome the underwatering and overwatering problems since they automatically result in changing the color and shape of leaves. The below points will explain how unstable watering is detrimental for this houseplant:

Underwatering Pothos Plant

• Leaves started to get yellow from the tip
• Leaves seem fully dried
• Curling down and losing pothos leaves

Overwatering Pothos Plant 

• Losing the shape of the leaves
• Appearing the yellow leaves quickly
• Leaves become softer and mushy
• Turning pothos leaves into light green color
• Overwhelming each part of the pothos plant with yellow leaves

If your pothos plant is underwater, get them moist immediately. Yet, excessive usage of water at a time and cold water hurt the plant more.

Overwatering is also depending on how much the plant got affected. Suspend to watering the plant right away if the soil feels fully wet. However, if there’re a few yellow leaves and the stem is in its right conditions like it’s still firm and strong, considering the given below tip will prove beneficial.

Uproot the Plant:

Take out the plant from the soil smoothly. Use a soft brush to clean the plant’s root to check the root’s roteness. If there’s only a slight part of the root is damaged, wipe this part and re-grow the root, and be very strict with the watering scheme to get rid of pothos leaves turning yellow irritants.

Propagate pothos if leaves turns yellow:

To find the root rotted, propagate the plant. If you lack a proper idea of how to propagate a pothos plant, just study out the Pothos Propogation portion of this write-up.

Renewal of Old Leaves :

Sometimes turning yellow of pothos leaves isn’t due to any disorder but due to natural processes. When the plant’s old leaves get aged, they begin to transform into a lemon shade and start to fall off. Still, if you’re attached to your plant and don’t desire to see its leaves in different colors, just hold sanitized scissors and clip off the yellow leaves to get your plant fresh again. The cutting leaves will be placed with new greenish leaves within days to create an appealing look in your bedroom or office. So, you don’t need to get worried quickly if your pothos changes its leaves colors but staying fully neglectful isn’t right.

Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow – How to Fix Them?  

Pothos fall on the list of must-have indoor plants as it beautifies the surrounding and changes the overall look of your bedroom. Many people also prioritize this plant over indoor palm plants due to its carefree nature since it stains its growth in the low sunlight and doesn’t require to be prudent all the time.

Yet, it’s totally not supportive of having a plant in your bedroom without being conscious of its care. Unstable sunlight, underwatering, and overwatering won’t let the plant maintain the proper formation and will defectively change the color of leaves. Undoubtedly, the above-explained content has notified you concerning the reasoning of pothos leaves turning yellow.

Here, you’ll get to know about how to fix pothos leaves that turn yellow and keep your plant healthy and fresh.

Drainage System:

Your bedroom plant leaves won’t surely retain their color because of the poor drainage system. The well-made drainage in the pot proves beneficial on the following conditions:

Extremely Low Sunlight:

Being careful is mandatory if you place your plant at the spot where there’s no sunbeam. Additionally, your plant will be in complete danger in case of not having a good drainage hole in the pot. For example, the extra water will run away from the drainage hole on the condition of your pothos needing less moisture than the given watering. It’ll save your plant from root rot and finally keep its leaves in their pure and original form.

Overwatering: 

As discussed earlier, overwatering not only quickly turns the pothos leaves yellow but also makes them too soft to sustain their shape. The pot drainage hole is an ideal option to keep the plant safe from such a situation. So, always grow the plant in a drainage hole pot to provide it with a productive and healthy environment and get yourself stress-free from your pothos’ disorders.

Repot the Plant if leaves are turning yellow:

Root Bound:

The plant’s root lacks enough space to flourish if your pothos leaves are turning yellow and brown. Pot drainage hole assists you in examining your plant’s root is bound or not. If the root doesn’t have enough place to flourish, just put up the plant and repot it in well-drained and fresh potting soil and in a bigger pot so that it can properly grow and keep its leaves color unimpaired.

Root Rot:

Sometimes, pothos changes their leaves color because of root rot. It causes the rottenness of the pothos root when the plant gets extra water, and there’s no drainage hole. So, moist the plant with the right amount of water; otherwise, it’ll result in pothos leaves turning yellow.

Balanced Light:

As already discussed, pothos needs balanced sunlight. The very low light with underwatering and direct light with overwatering proves unhealthy for this houseplant. No matter which type of pothos you have, never keep it in the direct sunlight.

Moreover, if you’re going to put the plant near the window where there’s very low light, the pothos will require very little water compared to the pothos placed in the indirect light.

Soil Aeration:

Soil aeration is the best way to provide oxygen to the topsoil of the plant to grow it sublimely. Also, if the plant’s soil is got compacted and the root isn’t getting enlarged due to condensed soil, soil aeration is also fully useful in such a condition. Aerate the plant’s soil that’ll make it flourish and keep its leaves fresh and in natural color and shape.

Yellow Pothos Leaves – Feeding Problem

Provide the required amount of nutrients to your pothos if you have deep intimacy with it, as poor supplements don’t allow the plant to survive longer. Moist the plant with rich in saltwater, fluorides, and chlorine will surprisingly improve the plant’s growth and keep the leaves unimpaired. Contrariwise, yellow spots appear on the pothos’ plants that lack iron, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Magnesium Deficiency:

Magnesium produces chlorophyll to absorb light and provide leaves energy. If this houseplant isn’t getting the required amount of magnesium, its leaves start to get yellow at the edge.

Nitrogen Deficiency:

Getting the leaves yellow from the bottom of the plant causes nitrogen deficiency.

Sulfur Deficiency:

If the leaves start to get yellow from the pothos’ top, low sulfur can be the cause of it.

Get the Plant Rich in Nutrients For saving Pothos Leaves Turn Yellow:

Follow the below described approaches to make the plant opulent in minerals.

1. Examine the soil properly if the plant’s leaves look scorched on condition of finding the soil dry, water the plant. However, if you’re a bit careful with your pothos, it’ll tell you when it needs water. So, be cautious with this houseplant to keep it well and fresh.
2. Fill a jug with clean water and keep it uncovered overnight so that the water can evaporate the minerals. Use this vaporized water for your plant to fulfill its minerals’ requirements.
3. Concern with a botanist to get a pothos food guide and follow the prescription to get your pothos healthy and fresh all the time.

Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow – Propagation 

Propagating a pothos is the right solution in case pothos leaves turn yellow quickly. Keep your pothos fresh even if its leaves are getting withered away at speed, you just need to propagate it rightly. In case of not having a clear idea about how to propagate a pothos, just have an eye on the following tips and get your job done:

Choose Cleaned Tools:

Picking a disinfected knife is crucial to cut the stem of the pothos as an uncleaned knife taints the stem and doesn’t let it grow.

Cut Healthy & Main Stem:

Always choose a thick and main stem of pothos since a thin stem can shrivel in the water and soil. Cut it at a 45-degree angle once you’ve selected the right knife. Remove any leaves near the cutting edge of the stem.

Place the Stem in Water:

Fill a vessel more than half with water and keep the pothos stem in water for a couple of days. You may directly place the stem in soil and skip keeping the stem in the water section. However, water lets nodes grow rightly. Make sure to choose an indirect sunlight place to keep the vessel. Never put the pothos in the direct sunlight as it will evaporate it. Within 2-3 weeks, the white strands started to come out from the nodes that approved the growing of the stem in the water.

Transfer It in the Soil If pothos Leaves Turns yellow :

Prepare a pot with a well-drainage system once the root develops around half an inch. Put down enough soil in it and place the plant in the middle of the pot. Again, it’s imperative to be mindful regarding proper sunlight, the right amount of nutrition, and water; otherwise, the plant can wither away.

Pothos Propagation – Additional Benefits 

Besides bringing the natural color to your leaves, pothos propagation gives you multiple benefits:

Useful Plant Trimming:

If you want to trim your overgrown pothos to keep it in well shape in spring and summer. You’ll surely cut its extra leaves and stems. Here, you may propagate the additional stems of this houseplant and bring more greenery to your home.

Multiply Your Pothos:

If you have a few pothoses in your home and desire to have more but is a little bit tight with budget, just rightly propagate this plant and get each corner of your home loaded up with this appealing and greenish plant.

Great Present for Your Loved Ones:

You can gift this houseplant to your friends and relatives to have a strong bond with them in regard to already having numerous pothos in your home.

Types of Pothos That Change Color Easily

Leaves variegation and shape classify pothos plants into different categories. Some pothos leaves are sensitive enough to change their color, and others sustain their color for a long time besides low light and improper watering. The following are categories :

Golden Pothos

The most common variety of this houseplant is golden pothos. It has rounded-shaped leaves in emerald green with dashes of cream yellow and requires little care. However, this houseplant can deteriorate in case of overwatering. So, if you have golden pothos plants in your home, water this plant carefully as it will cause root rot that’ll change the color of leaves.

Marble Queen Pothos (Epipremnum Aureum)

This pothos type has variegated leaves in white and green color. Some leaves of the plant have more cream color than green. Compared to all other types of pothos plants, this plant takes extra time to grow. Consequently, don’t choose marble pothos if you wish to make your pothos grow quickly. This houseplant is bad with light. Keep the plant in indirect light as too light results in yellow leaves on marble queen pothos. However, it’s also not supportive to place the plant in full darkness as it makes it grow poorly. So, always choose a low light spot to grow marble queen pothos.

Neon & Jade Pothos 

Neon and jade pothos fall in the same category of pothos as both these plant types have neon/green color and heart-shaped leaves. The Neon & Jade categories of Pothos are impervious to temperature and don’t get affected. However, root-bound and excessive watering cause to change leaves’ color and shape.

Manjula Pothos

Manjula pothos comes in wider and rounder leaves. These pothos have multiple color leaves ranging from white to yellowish-green, silver, and cream. If you have this pothos variety in your home, be very careful with the light. Very dim and excessive light will impact the development of the plant, and don’t let its leaves stay in their natural and original color.

Cebo Blue Pothos

Fairly dark blue and green leaves keep this houseplant different from all other pothos. Normally, this pothos is a low caring plant, but constantly placing the plant at a low temperature will surely lead the plant toward poor health. The leaves will curl and change their color in regard to not providing a stable temperature to these pothos.

Jessenia Pothos 

Jessenia pothos’ leaves shape resembles marble pothos, and each leaf of this plant is different from the other one. This houseplant also requires good maintenance, and improper feeding transforms its leaves into yellowish and brown shapes.

So, determine which pothos plant type you have and care for it according to the required precautions to keep it healthy and stable.

Final Thought For Pothos Leaves Turns Yellow

Sometimes pothos leaves turn yellow due to reasons such as improper watering, sunlight issues, defective nutrients, root rot, and poor drainage system to root-bound. At times, it’s a natural process for the renewal of leaves. Yet, we need to figure out the reason quickly if our pothos leaves turn yellow and curled and treat the plant accordingly to revive its greenness and keep its leaves’ shape well.