Why does my pothos have yellow lower leaves?

On a pothos this shows as the older leaves, the ones nearest the pot, turning yellow one at a time, usually starting at the edge or the tip and then taking the whole leaf. The leaves further along the vine stay glossy and green, and the gold or cream of the variegation holds. A leaf in this state comes away easily at the stem.

The most likely cause is too much water. A pothos uses far more water when it is warm and bright than when it is not, and the entry's interval of about 7 days in the growing season and about 12 in winter reflects that. Keep to the summer rhythm into a dark winter and the compost never gets the chance to dry, the roots start to rot, and the plant sheds its oldest leaves first. The Royal Horticultural Society warns that the roots are liable to rot if the plant is overwatered.

To confirm it in a minute, push a finger 4 to 5 cm into the compost. If it is still damp, the pot has been watered too soon. Lift the pot too, because one that is heavy days after watering, or that sits in a saucer of water, is holding more than the roots can use. Then look at the base of the stems where they meet the compost: soft and black means the rot has begun.

Two other causes are worth ruling out. A vine that is losing only the oldest leaf at the base while it grows new ones at the tip is just shedding with age. And a plant that has sat in the same pot for more than a year may simply be hungry, yellowing generally, with the older leaves going pale between the veins first.

A yellow leaf never turns green again, so judge the recovery by the next new leaves. A pothos in the growing season replaces them within weeks. In winter growth is slow and it may be spring before you can tell.

What this plant wants

The fix

Let the mix dry further between waterings and check drainage.

Read on

Yellow leaves at the bottom of the plant

The same sign on any plant, with the causes in the order they are likely.

Pothos care

Light, water, feeding, repotting and the rest of the entry.

Check it in the diagnoser

Opens with the plant, the part and the sign already chosen.