Ah, Pothos. A lovely and desirable plant that everyone wants to have as a houseplant.
For good reasons too, as pothos has beautiful heart-shaped leaves and trailing vines.
Oddly enough, even the most stunning plants can sometimes look kind of sick.
What Causes the Brown Spots?
There are several reasons that brown spots will develop on the leaves and stems of your pothos.
Too Much Lighting
The first thing to avoid is high light levels.
Pothos are originally from tropical rainforests, so they naturally grow in indirect sunlight below the canopy created by trees.
If you place your pothos in full sun, the leaves will eventually be so damaged they will be brown.
This can happen with any source of light, whether it’s sunlight shining through a window or a grow light that’s too powerful, both can burn spots into the leaves of the pothos.
Watering Issues
Watering a pothos plant can be a little tricky.
You can over water a pothos or under water a pothos. So how do you figure out how much to water?
If you give your pothos too much water, the roots will begin to rot. The leaves will start to form brown spots, pointing out that your pothos is receiving more water than needed.
On the other hand, if a pothos lacks water, the leaves will begin to develop wrinkles and become brown and crispy.
The best method for watering your pothos plant is to feel the dirt.
If the top inch of dirt is dry you know its time to water. Water your pothos until you see the water draining out of the bottom of the pot.
If the soil is still moist, wait a few more days and check again. When a pothos is grown indoors, it only needs to be watered every one to two weeks.
Not Enough Humidity
Being a tropical plant, pothos prefer high humidity.
If your home is too dry, this will make your pothos’ leaves brown. Make sure they are kept away from vents or heaters that could dry out the air.
Disease
If you notice brown spots on your plant’s leaves, along with yellowing or wilting, then it is very likely that your plant has a disease.
Two of the most common diseases in pothos plants are botrytis and powdery mildew.
Botrytis is a fungal disease that can affect many types of plants. It can cause the leaves of your plant to turn brown and start to rot.
Powdery mildew is another fungal disease that will cause the leaves to turn yellow and brown. You should be treated as soon as possible, otherwise it will spread to other plants.
Pests
In addition, pests may also be the reason why your pothos has brown spots on its leaves.
The most common pests you will find on your indoor plants are:
- aphids
- mealybugs
- spider mites
These pests will suck the sap from the leaves and cause them to brown out and die.
These pests typically invade your plant if the plant has recently been overwatered or over-fertilized. These are all causes of why bugs invade your plant’s leaves, they likely happen after giving your plant a good watering/fertilizing.
This provides the bugs a good moist area to multiplay; in addition, wherever there is fertilization, it likely has a ton of nutrients for the bugs to lay eggs in.
How To Prevent Your Pothos From Turning Brown
Before you can even think about putting out fires, you should stop them from starting.
Most of the time, proper plant care is about all you need to realistically do.
Pothos need indirect sunlight, so if they are casting a dark shadow with clear edges, there is a good chance they are getting too much sun.
What you want to see is a shadow where the edges are blurred and there is no clear shape to it. This is the easiest way to tell the difference between direct and indirect sunlight for your plant.
If you are using grow lights, try turning the brightness down, or moving the plant farther away from the light.
A pothos needs to dry out completely before you water it.
However, the soil shouldn’t stay dry for too long either. Make sure to water your potho the day after it has dried out completely.
Pothos are also pretty fond of high humidity, so make sure the air in your home isn’t too dry.
You also do not want to place this plant near a vent or heater that will dry the air out, but try to find space for it near a humidifier or humidity tray.
To Keep Pests Away – Make sure your plant is not over-watered or over-fertilized, as this yields a wet environment with plenty of nutrients for bugs to lay their eggs. Neem oil in the soil is a great alternative to deter bugs.
What To Do About the Brown Spots?
Now that you’ve taken care of the care issues, you can start treating the brown spots that are on the plant.
Step 1:
Given that you can never be too sure if the plant is diseased or has bugs, or is just lacking some basic care, you’ll want to separate it from any other plants to make sure it does not spread.
If there are any other sick plants near it, quarantine those with your sick pothos plant.
Step 2:
Take the plant out of the container and remove any excess dirt from the roots. Trim off any mushy roots with a sanitized knife or garden shears, and then wash off the leaves and stems of any affected plants.
You can use mild dish soap and room temperature water to wash off any bugs, eggs, or disease.
Step 3:
Completely clean the pot your pothos has been in or buy a new pot and fill it with fresh dirt.
This way you are getting rid of any bugs or diseases that may have been in the pot before.
If you choose to keep the same pot, make sure you clean it with hot soapy water and let it dry in the sun for at least a day before it will be used again.
Step 4:
Once your plant has been cleaned and repotted, the answer is yes, you should remove any pothos plant brown spots.
If the leaf has brown spots, you can use clean scissors and cut the leaf off at the base where it grows from the pot.
If you’re removing brown spots on a stem, then you can cut above the vein below the node (where the leaf attaches); you’ll know the lower leaf is dead as it will be without color (brown, yellow, or dying).
Step 5:
Now that your pothos is in a healthy condition again, you can put it back near any other plants.
Conclusion
If you follow the correct care for your pothos outfit and you also took action to prevent any brown spots from appearing on the plant that you work hard to grow, then you will not have to cut off any brown spots.
But yes, if you do have brown spots on your pothos, you can always cut them off, after you follow the other steps first.
Now you can pretty much just sit back and enjoy the way the light reflects off its beautiful, healthy heart-shaped leaves.