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Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow – 7 Mains Reasons

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Are you worried about your pothos plant and Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow? This is one of the common questions many people get, who have pothos plant in there home. But apart from natural aging, what could be the reasons?

Pothos plant is also known as the Epipremnum aureum. This plant can grow up to 10 feet tall and often many colors are found in this plant including white, yellow, pale green in these heart-shaped leaves. But if the leaves turn yellow all over then you need to consider one of the reasons given below.

Why My Pothos Leaves Are Are Turning Yellow?

Pothos plants are very common in every household, most people hang or keep them in the corner to increase the indoor beauty of the house. These plants require very low maintenance but if the leaves turn yellow that means it is time to take care of the plant. 

Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow

So let’s jump to the reasons that can help you identify.

Fertilizer

You might be thinking why fertilizer comes in this list when it is one of the main tools that help to grow the tree. Well, you might not know that the quantity and quality of the fertilizer can turn the leaves yellow. The overuse of fertilization is often the reason for harming the tree.

The best way to prevent any harm, you should use the fertilizer in a gap of time like use it every 2 months. To get the best result, use fertilizer in the growing season. It will help you to grow the plant faster without using fertilizer whole year.

Along with the quantity, you need to take care of the quality. If the quality of the fertilizer is bad and you use it frequently then it can affect the soil and cause the leaves to turn yellow.

If you think that your pothos leaves are turning yellow because of fertilizer than move the plant into a new pot with fresh soil. 

Fungal Infection

A most common cause that can turn the leaves of pothos plant yellow is a fungal infection. The pothos plants are kept in the corner without much maintenance and you may oversee the fungal disease. Fungal disease can happen to your pothos plant for different reasons.

Pothos Fungal Infection - Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow

Fungal diseases are commonly caused by overwatering, it causes the soil to be damp and attract fungal infections. Before you understand the fungi will make colonies in the soil and start harming the tree.

Fungal disease can also happen from the mist and they cause the root to rot, preventing the tree from getting nutrition and result as yellow falling leaves. The best way to prevent this situation is to keep your pothos mist free and let the soil dry by keeping the gap in the watering.

Extreme Temperatures

You might know that the house trees do not grow very well in extreme temperatures. Pothos plant is also one of them that cannot stay healthy if the temperature of the room gets below 50°F and higher than 90°F. In these temperatures, leaves of pothos plant might turn yellow and the plant might start dying.

The best and ideal temperature for the pothos tree is in between 70F to 90F. Best way to know that the leaves turning yellow are from the placement of the plant. If it is placed near something hot like a heater, fireplace or placed near a window, placed in a room with air-conditioning the leaves might turn yellow.

The best way to avoid extreme furniture is to place the plant very carefully. Place it in some place, where cold breeze or hot air can’t catch. Also, avoid places with fluctuating temperatures.

Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow - Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow
Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow – via Reddit

Renewal of Leaves

It is also possible that you are worried about your precious tree for the most natural reason. Every plant tends to renew their leaves at some time in the season. Mostly it happens in the winter but it might happen at another season as well.

Just like pothos, many plants shed their older leaves to grow back a new one. It is the lifecycle of the leaves, and changing the leaves is very important because after some time you might notice that some of the leaves turn tired and exhausted. New leaves can bring back the beauty of the plant again.

The best way to identify if the leaves are turning yellow naturally is to monitor the tree closely and watch the pattern. The renew process happens in a pattern and you can catch identify the pattern of old leaves falling off if you monitor it.

Overwatering

As I mentioned above, overwatering can cause the leaves to turn yellow. Apart from the fungal diseases, other ways are overwatering can cause yellow leaves.

Commonly it happens when you do not water the plant in a routine, you don’t know how much water the plant needs or keeping the plant in a place where water can come easily.

Whatever the reason be, it can cause fungal infection in the plant. Apart from that overwater can rot the root of the plant.

If you water your tree frequently, water might get stored in the soil and cause the root to rot and turn the leaves yellow eventually. Without getting enough nutrients and food to stay alive, the plant might also die.

You can prevent this from happening by watering the tree in a routine and only water the plant when it wants. You can see the plant is tired and in need of water when you see the leaves are getting dry. Do not water the plant when you see the soil is still wet, this means there is still water in the soil.

Exposure to Direct Sunlight

You might think that a plant can absorb and stay well in the sunlight but it is not true. Yes, pothos needs sunlight to get complete photosynthesis. But if you keep the plant in the sunlight for long, the leaves of the tree might start turning yellow. The best way to keep them healthy is to place them indoors.

Exposure to Direct Sunlight - Why My Pothos Leaves Are Turning Yellow

Too much exposure to sunlight can burn the leaves of the pothos. The best way to identify that the leaves of your pothos tree are falling off because of the sunlight is to check the burn spots. If you see little brown marks on the leaves of pothos, you might consider them moving elsewhere.

To prevent the sunlight to harm the plant, you can keep the plant in some spot with shade. The pothos tree doesn’t need a lot of light, you can just hang it or keep it to someplace that has enough light.

Check the Pot

If you see any of these are not the reason for the pothos leaves turning yellow. Then you might want to change the pot, changing pot can repair any damage that happened by the drainage system of the Pot or problem with the soil.

Try to use a pot with a very good drainage system which helps the circulation of water preventing the plant from turning yellow.


Conclusion

These are the possible reasons which might be causing your plant to turn yellow. Check every one of the possible situations and if you have any questions regarding any of these, please comment below to let us know.