I am an anxious pothos owner trying to keep this very sentimental plant thriving. The older leaves have started to change in appearance (yellowing, “splotchiness,” surface damage like pic 1). It’s pushed out lots of new leaves since I repotted it in chunkier soil about two months ago. Almost all the new leaves look normal, big, and healthy, but there have been a few weird ones in the mix (pic 5). I’ve been spending time over the last week looking for pests, and the only thing I’ve found is this white powder that wipes off with a little elbow grease (pics 4 & 7). Should I treat it for pests just in case? Is it normal for the old leaves to die off like this?
I water about every two weeks depending on the soil. It’s in equal parts compost, perlite, and orchid bark. Recently repotted and there was no sign of root rot. Pot has drainage holes. I’ve given it a small dose of fertilizer once a month since February.
It sits pretty close to a south facing window and gets lots of full, indirect light.
If anyone has any advice to make sure this plant keeps going strong I’d love to hear it!
by CommercialWestern981
3 Comments
Older leaves will always tend to get ugly and eventually will drop so nothing really wrong there. The strange wonky leaves tend to be due to low humidity. And the white powder could possible be signs of mealy bugs but since you haven’t been able to spot any actual pests, i would simply use neem oil to clean the leaves and treat the soil. It could just be minerals from using tap water to water him. You don’t need to worry too much since pothos tend to be super saveable with chopping and propagating. You can even grow it in water if soil becomes too much of a hassle. You can also fertilize every two weeks depending on what type of fertilizer and if you can dilute it, if you want it to grow quicker.
This is all consistent with a low humidity problem. The crinkly new leaves and older ones turning yellow. After years and years of owning pothos I’ve come to find that yes, yellowing and shedding of old leaves can be normal… but it can be completely prevented with more humidity (and/or habitually spraying the aerial roots and nodes)… as ridiculous as that sounds!
The second photo gives me hives, I’m traumatized by mealy bugs, the white dust in the second photo leaf steam seems like the one they create to reproduce.