Don't Rush to Blame Overwatering for Yellow Leaves on Pothos - The Real Reason Is Unexpected

Once plants make it through winter, the growing season arrives, and basically all plants start stirring into action. But some gardening friends told me that while other people's pothos have already grown into a waterfall, their own pothos is showing yellow leaves like this, as shown in the picture below. Everyone will surely think this is yellowing from overwatering, but it actually isn't. The real reason is a lack of fertilizer. Why do I say that? Read on.

Signs of pothos yellowing from lack of water: leaf tips and leaf edges dry out and turn withered yellow, while new tender leaves stay normal, but the lower old leaves turn withered yellow and drop off. As shown in the picture below:

In addition, you can see from the picture that the leaves are yellowing, falling over, and wilting quite severely, and you can even see stems that have already rotted. This already shows signs of root rot. If the root rot is not very serious, cut off the rotted parts of the roots, then disinfect and sterilize them, and repot them. Note that the potting soil must be replaced with new soil. If the root rot is especially severe, select relatively healthy branches, disinfect them, and re-cutt them, or root them in water.

Therefore, for pothos lacking fertilizer, I suggest supplementing with some organic nutrient solution now, like the one below, applying it after dilution to replenish various elements. It works very well on pothos that lacks fertilizer and takes effect quickly. Use it once every 1-2 weeks, which is very suitable for plants like pothos.

Besides these two factors causing yellow leaves, there is another one: too much light can also cause yellow leaves. At this time, pothos shows overall yellowing of both new and old leaves, and scorch marks are found on the leaves, indicating that the light is very intense. As shown in the picture below, when this happens, it is best to place the pothos in a bright spot with indirect scattered light for care, and just avoid direct sun exposure.

In addition, if it cannot get light for a long time, then the green pigment in the pothos is hard to form, which will make the leaves turn yellow. So you can place the pothos in a spot with scattered light, which will benefit its growth and give the leaves a glossy sheen.

Alright, overall, I have laid out the common factors behind yellow leaves on pothos and the solutions, so everyone can take them as a reference.