South facing window with another west facing window close by too. They're all slowly losing leaves every day… I water 1x a week, all of my other plants are perfectly fine. Too much light?? I just use a generic indoor potting soil, all my other plants are fine with it.
by peeploleep
16 Comments
What a beautiful place
They are hung too high. The top of the pot needs light.
I find that most plants don’t want to be watered weekly. That’s how I use to always get root rot. Are they actually needing water that often or are you just going by a schedule?
Also, they need to be trimmed back so they can get fuller and, therefore, healthier. Put the cuttings in water, remember to remove any leaves that hit the water, and you’ll have more plants then you know what to do with!
Way too much water for a pothos, especially ones not getting the right light.
I discover why they get all leggy and drop leaves. I put mine outside in spring and the long vines were touching soil. In no time that plant had leaves all along every stem because where the nodes are, they rooted. I bring it inside for winter, but it’s stringy by spring.
They’re to high up. They’re not getting any light on the top of them. Anyway you could get some longer plant hangers?
Fall / Winter = Less light hours. My monstera also lost some leaves the last couple weeks but I know she will bounce back in spring again.
Light
The leaf drop is unrelated to their position; pothos will keep leaves that are in the shade as long as the rest of the plant gets enough light. If the leaves are turning yellow and then falling off, then it’s definitely a watering issue. Once a week is way too frequent; pothos prefer the substrate to fully dry out before waterings, since they’re pretty susceptible to root rot if left waterlogged for too long. Universal organic soil isn’t the best since it holds too much moisture, but I’ve seen pothos plants do just fine in those as long as you’re cautious of how much water they get.
Cut bare stems off and cut into 4-6″ sections. Put them into same pit, (since it’s PLENTY wet right now) a node or 2 deep.
Stick a wood skewer down into each pot and don’t water again until you pull out a dry stick.
They need to be cut back. Don’t let them grow without cutting back every so often. They get too leggy.
no light to the crown, probably not enough light in general as well. possibly also too dense of substrate and/or overwatered but no way to know without more info. substrate should be at least 35 to 40% grit and watering should be done when the top 2 inches is bone dry by drenching the substrate and letting the excess run out the bottom through the drainage holes.
When you water, how much are you watering? I’ve seen these stay relatively bushy in the lowest lighting imaginable. However, when they go too long without water, they tend to senesce oldest leaves very quickly. If you’re not fully soaking the pot each watering, I’m wondering if that may be the issue.
Clean the leaves with a damp sponge or cloth. They are sensitive to that and they are going to get better.
I see you’ve gotten a lot of advice to recap,
I don’t think they’re hung too high, the foliage is getting light and are quite close to the window.
They definitely need to be pruned back drastically. The plant can’t support those long vines with water and nutrients. In nature they create adventitious roots along the length to sink into whatever they are climbing or creeping on in order to feed the whole length of the vine. Just because they grow that long does it mean it’s good for them.
Don’t water until the foliage starts to get a little bit soft or droopy. When you do water, make sure you water thoroughly.
The good news is you’ve got lots of material for propagation. Those vines will not grow new leaves where the old ones have dropped off so you may as well chop them for some new material to transplant.