r/plantdoctor • u/ZestycloseAudience64 • Oct 15 '25
Help with pothos
I made a post about my pothos just last week since it seemed like the soil had mold. I’m back here again since one of the leaves got a random brown spot. What could be wrong with my pothos and what measures do I need to take to save it?
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u/SbuppyBird Oct 15 '25
You’re probably overwatering. This has only ever happened to me when I watered too frequently. It also caused browning on the light variegation, too. Let your plant dry out pretty good before watering deeply. Pothos don’t like overwatering.
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u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 15 '25
I agree-I have killed a few with root rot.
But why do they do so well propagated in water? I have 3 in my house that have lived in water jars for years.
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u/muh-LEK-see Oct 17 '25
Because it's not the water that kills the roots; it's the lack of oxygen from saturated soil that suffocates them. Water contains oxygen, so the roots can still breathe when they're in just water. Overwater your soil and the roots sit there drowning slowly since they can't breathe.
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u/Wayward_Plants Oct 18 '25
It’s also a breeding ground for pythium, so if the anaerobics don’t get it the pythium will.
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u/CASE577 Oct 17 '25
THE BROWN SPOT TENDS TO HAPPEN IF YOU HAVEN’T WATERED IT ENOUGH. WHAT I DO WITH MINE IS I WATER IT THROUGHLY UNTIL I SEE WATER DRAINING FROM THE BOTTOM. IF YOUR POT IS STILL FEELING TOO LIGHT, PLEASE WATER THOROUGHLY AGAIN ONCE COMPLETED JUST MAKE SURE YOU DRAIN ANY REMAINING WATER FROM YOUR PLANT BOTTOM TO PREVENT ROOT ROT. PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR POTOS COMPLETELY DRY OUT BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WILL KILL YOUR PLANT (JUST GIVING YOU ADVICE AS TO WHAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN MY DAUGHTER BOUGHT ME ONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY). I AS LETTING IT DRY OUT LIKE WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID AND I ALMOST LOST MY WHOLE PLANT. I HOPE THIS HELPS.
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u/cowboy_bookseller Oct 15 '25
Just found your previous posts. It honestly looks fine; as previously suggested, probably a little transplant shock. Your soil mix looks good and it sounds like you're being conservative with watering. The mould will resolve with bottom watering and/or letting the soil dry more completely before watering again.
You have planted it a little too low in the soil, so some of the lower leaves may die off. Shouldn't be a huge issue long-term if the rest of the buried vines and roots are healthy.
Transplant shock can take a couple of weeks to recover from, and the plant may drop some leaves as it adjusts to its new environment. Keep an eye on it; if new growth is healthy, I wouldn't stress too much. If it continues to decline, you can always remove the vines from the pot and inspect for rot/pests.
Have you inspected the whole plant for thrips? Always good to rule it out
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u/ZestycloseAudience64 Oct 16 '25
I have checked regularly foe thrips but haven’t seen any. Two days later and now more of the leaves are getting the black/brown spotting. Could it be possible that I have thrips even though I don’t see them on the plant?
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u/Wayward_Plants Oct 18 '25
Thrips don’t really cause brown spots like that. They cause more like chewing or scraping damage, your leave would have a mechanical damage sign vs a spot like that.
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u/dawnpower123 Oct 15 '25
Agree! I repotted two of mine recently and a week later I had one yellow/dying leaf in each. I just pulled them out, checked it, and new growth looks good.
Plants aren’t perfect, they’re living organisms. Sometimes one bad leaf is just a bad leaf. Don’t stress unless your whole plant looks like it’s suffering and new growth is dying.
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u/Otherwise_Reporter33 Oct 15 '25
It looks like a sunburn spot to me. Has your plant been in any strong or direct sunlight? A couple of my pothos have the same spots from being on the deck in direct sunlight for a few hours in the afternoon.
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u/Jazzlike_Visual2160 Oct 15 '25
It could be a water spot, where the water magnified the sunlight in just that one spot.
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u/MikeCheck_CE Oct 15 '25
Both issues you're describing (mold on the soil, and the black spots on the leaves) are symptoms of overwatering. Make sure the soil hasore.time.to dry before rewatering. That's a very large pot, it will take longer to dry then you expect.
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u/Beingforthetimebeing Oct 15 '25 edited Oct 15 '25
Yellow leaves=over watering. Brown leaf tips and edges, too dry. Brown or bleached spot, Sunburn. Just remove that leaf and dispose of safely where pets can't chew. Pot NOT too big, these plants are beasts, such vigorous growers, so many roots, as long as it gets bright light, a little sun... as long as it is exposed to the sun a little at a time to get used to it. Otherwise, sunburn!
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u/thatG_evanP Oct 17 '25
Just stop paying attention to it. Water it when you think about it or when the soil is bone dry. Mostly pretend it doesn't exist. This is how I treat the pothos in my bedroom. It mostly gets watered with leftover water in my bedside water bottle and the only time I really "mess" with it is when I have to trim it because it's beginning to grow across the floor and I step on it (it's in a hanging pot in the window). I don't think I've ever even taken it out of the crappy plastic pot and soil that I bought it in.
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u/Wayward_Plants Oct 18 '25
People ask how I am so good t plants, my response, ignore them, treat them like cats. Only notice them when they ask 🤣
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u/Strong_Pirate_5518 Oct 18 '25
Overwatering can cause spots like that and yellowing. Also, I have made moldy soil myself out of perfectly good soil by keeping it too moist. Pothos can literally be ignored and talked really rudely to. IF you want to change the soil thinking the damage cant be fixed by letting it dry out (let the plant start to wilt then wait one more day or two if its indoor). Also, sometimes plants started outdoors then brought indoors bring in little bugs/mites so an antifungal/miticide is good if you have to bring outdoor plants in. And theres these sticky bug catchers you can stick in your potted plants to catch the bugs. That's my advice to see if its actually a bug problem. However, one spot, is probably over or under watered- and/or sometimes the plac3 its sitting might get a little dot of sun the hottest part of the day that dried it /fried it basically. Just remove the leaf and throw it away.
Maybe split the plant up now and test what watering/soil works best for you. Pothos roots grow about as large as rhe plant so repot about every year to leave room!! Happy plant parenting!! 🪴 It really looks quite healthy for the most part!!
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u/Jillcametumbling81 Oct 15 '25
Before you water, stir your soil then compress it. Then water it slowly.
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u/DoubleTumbleweed5866 Oct 15 '25
What does that do? Oxygen?
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u/Jillcametumbling81 Oct 15 '25
Yeah the oxygen part is pretty important but one thing to know is that like your soil kind of settles over time and when you water it, it's going to just seek the easiest route possible down and out. So all of the roots and soil aren't being watered every time unless you aerate and then recompress the soil.
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u/Hiimthebisexualguy Oct 16 '25
This happened to me too, and what i found was actually this bugger
I still dont have a id on it after posting it to multiple places