Why do pothos leaves so easily turn dry, yellow, wilted and brown?

Pothos is one of the most popular indoor potted green plants. It is very appealing to people: it can purify harmful gases indoors, it has evergreen heart-shaped leaves, it can keep growing even in low-light environments, and it has strong adaptability to its surroundings. But recently a gardening friend asked me why her pothos leaves easily turn yellow and brown. What causes this?

When pothos leaves turn brown or brownish, it is usually because water or light is not being supplied properly. As long as you improve these appropriately, it will be fine.

1. Appropriate water and humidity

Pothos needs regular watering to grow healthily. During the growing season, the soil should stay slightly moist, but it must not become waterlogged. If you water too much or the soil is too dry, the leaves are most likely to turn yellow. If the air is too dry, the leaves will turn brown and easily dry out.

Each time you water pothos, water thoroughly until water comes out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, then stop watering. If there is standing water in the saucer, pour it out promptly.

If you overwater, the pothos leaves easily turn yellow. Although pothos likes water, waterlogged soil easily causes root rot and yellow leaves. Check regularly whether the soil has clumped, and loosen the soil promptly.

Pothos likes higher air humidity. If the air is dry, you can spray water around it, or place pebbles on a saucer, add a little clean water, and then set the potted pothos on top of the pebbles.

2. A suitable environment

If the yellowing and browning of pothos leaves is not caused by water, then it is usually a problem with light intensity. Pothos is very shade-tolerant, but it cannot be kept in complete darkness either, otherwise the leaves easily turn pale yellow.

Also, be careful not to place pothos where it gets scorching sun or overly strong direct light. In particular, do not suddenly move pothos to a place where the light environment changes too much.

3. Leaf yellowing caused by pathogen infection

The third cause is that pothos is infected by certain bacterial diseases. Fungal infection causes the leaves to turn yellow or brown.

The common ones are leaf spot disease and root rot. When pothos is infected by fungal disease, it easily causes leaf wilting or yellow leaves. If you notice this condition, you must separate the diseased pothos from other healthy plants as early as possible, promptly cut off diseased leaves and diseased branches, and then disinfect and sterilize the potting soil, branches and leaves.

Scissors should also be disinfected before pruning to avoid secondary infection. After cutting, avoid getting the wounds wet. If more than 1/3 of the leaves are infected, you can cut off the leaves from over a year, but do not cut them all off, to avoid excessive loss of plant nutrients causing the plant to die.

Afterward, you can water once a week with a thiophanate-methyl solution or a chlorothalonil solution. Also be sure to improve the pothos care environment, maintain good ventilation, avoid enclosed air, and avoid water standing on the leaves for long periods.

4. Overfertilization

There is also a situation in which pothos leaves turn yellow because of overfertilization. Pothos does not like frequent fertilizing. Excessive fertilizer causes leaf tips to turn brown and leaf edges to turn yellow. If not dealt with promptly, the entire leaf will wilt, and the soil will also form a white fabric-like layer.

At this time, you can flush and water the soil with a larger amount of clean water. If the fertilizer damage to the pothos is too severe, repot it promptly, rinse the root system, and then pot it again.