If you are looking for a good houseplant to display in your living area, bedroom, or even in your bathroom, pothos can be one of your best options.
This viney plant is interestingly beautiful due to its heart-shaped leaves that come in a variety of colors such as green, yellow, and white.
So, it will definitely be a shame if these leaves grow smaller than it’s supposed to, now will it?
Pothos is considerably one of the easiest houseplants to grow, but it does not make it resilient to growing problems.
If you notice that your pothos is growing small leaves, below are some of the factors that may be causing it along with the remedies that you can do to avoid the plant from being damaged any further.
Causes of small pothos leaves
- Irregular watering pattern
What to look out for:
Leaf discoloration; root rot
What to do:
When you supply your pothos plant with too little or too much water, it can result in total damage including hindering growth, production of small or unhealthy leaves, root rotting, and leaf discoloration. To be able to fix this issue, you need to make sure that you provide your pothos leaves with sufficient amounts of water and follow a strict schedule.
- Limited container space
What to look out for:
Deranged roots; small plant/leaves
What to do:
When your Pothos plant is grown in a container with inappropriate size, there is a huge tendency that it won’t be able to maximize its growth, thus the evident production of smaller leaves. So, when symptoms like this show, what you must do is to transfer your pothos plant into a larger container so it can freely grow more vigorously and eventually produce much larger leaves.
- Applying fertilizer more than the required amount
What to look out for:
Leaf discoloration, leaf curling
What to do:
Applying fertilizer to your plant can be quite tricky. You would think that feeding your pothos plant with plenty of fertilizer will make it healthier but on the contrary it will only make the condition of your plant even worse. Particularly, this can result in leaf curling, leaf discoloration, and production of smaller leaves.
- Underexposure or overexposure to sunlight
What to look out for:
Thin leaves, leaf curling
What to do:
Sunlight is one of the most essential factors to growing healthy and large leaves. When you expose your pothos to less or more sunlight, it can hinder the growth of your plant because of the insufficient supply of nutrients. To be able to rectify the situation, you could either place your plant on a spot where it can receive more direct sunlight, otherwise move it somewhere with more shade for lesser sun exposure.
Other growing problems and diseases
If you are planning on growing pothos soon, you must not just familiarize yourself with its growing requirements, but you also have to take note of the possible pests and diseases that may hinder the growth of your plant. Fortunately, this article covers pothos plant’s other diseases aside from producing small leaves.
1. Mealybugs infestation
Mealybug is one of the most common pests feasting on pothos plants. This soft-bodied insect, which is surrounded by a cotton-like cover, particularly feeds on the stems and leaves that reduces that plant’s sap. When not prevented, this could lead to leaf deformation and eventually leaf drop.
To fix this issue, you can start by soaking some cotton swabs with alcohol and gently pressing it onto the mealybugs and infected area. This will kill a number of mealybugs, but not entirely, especially if the infestation is really high. In that case, you need to bring your pothos in an open area away from the other plants or in a tub and rinse the mealybugs off of the plant. After this, you may opt to spray some horticultural oil to ensure that all the remaining mealybugs are completely killed off.
2. Stem rot
Stem rot is mainly caused by a fungus infection in the stem brought by Rhizoctonia. Since the soil level of the stem is the extremely affected part during a stem rot, you will notice a build up of fungal growth at the surface of the soil especially under wet conditions.
As a remedy, you can apply some fungicide to gradually get rid of the fungal infection and save your plant from totally rotting. Moreover, to avoid such growing problems from happening in the future, make sure to plant your pothos plant in potting mix free of pathogens.
3. Bacterial leaf spot
Your pothos plant is clearly showing symptoms of bacterial leaf spot when there are visible water-soaked spots with yellow disks spreading aggressively across the surface of the leaf. Since this bacterial disease rapidly spreads all over the plant, it is important that you quickly do preventive measures such as discarding the infected leaves, otherwise it can affect almost 75% of the entire plant.
One of the most common causes of bacterial leaf spots is overhead watering. Similarly, wet and cool growing conditions are main contributors to the development of this bacterial disease. After removing all the infected leaves, you can use some organic fungicide to kill the remaining bacteria.
4. Root rot
Closely similar to stem rot, root rot in a pothos plant is commonly caused by a pathogen called Pythium. Root rot can be easily recognized without having to dig through the roots just yet. Just from the looks of the leaves, you can already tell if your plant is suffering from such disease. Some of the affected leaves turn to yellow while others immediately wilt. There are also cases where the stems become mushy and black. Moreover, you will also notice that the plant’s overall growth is restricted.
Meanwhile, if you examine its roots, they become soft and soggy and the color is changed to brown or black, which are clear indications of rotting. To fix this problem, remove the brown, mushy parts of the roots and replant whatever is left in your pothos plant in a fresh, new soil with better drainage to avoid the roots from being soaked in water.
Tips on growing pothos properly
While pothos is considerably a low maintenance houseplant, there are still some important care tips that you must take note of in order to keep your plant at its best condition.
- Minimize fertilizer feeding
While it is understandable that you want to keep your pothos plant healthy by feeding it with plenty of fertilizers, it is actually recommended that you just light feed it. Pothos only needs a supply of balanced liquid fertilizer for about once every 3 months. Any more than the recommended amount or more frequent that the supposed schedule can disrupt the growth and quality of your pothos.
- Bring your pothos indoors
Pothos is a versatile plant. It can tolerate both low and medium indoor lights as well as slightly shaded outdoor lights. However, if you want to really maximize your plant’s beauty, it is best that you keep it away from direct full sun, thus an indoor setup is ideal. If your pothos plant is exposed to too much sunlight, its leaves will turn pale which is definitely the last thing that you want to happen.
You can also take this opportunity to use your pothos plant as a houseplant decoration for your living room or office. Its bright and fresh-looking green leaves will definitely bring a warm and cozy vibe to your home.
- Avoid overwatering your plant
Pothos plants enjoy some moisture but overwatering can definitely kill them. So, you have to be careful not to supply it with too much water as it may also lead to root rot. To regulate your watering schedule, you can check the soil’s condition first. If it is already dry to touch, then it might need some watering; otherwise, just wait for a couple of days. Also, if you notice that there is some excess water sitting in the saucer beneath the pot, make sure to drain it.
- Repot your pothos as needed
When your plant shows some signs of restricted growth, for instance drooping leaves and heavily clumped roots, then it is time that you transfer it to a much larger pot where it can further grow. In this case, a container 1-2 inches wider should be good enough. Make sure that the container has good drainage as well to avoid root rot.
- Keep the environment warm for your pothos
Since pothos is a tropical plant, it thrives better in warm conditions, preferably in areas with temperatures between 70 to 90 ℉, although it can tolerate moderate temperatures ranging from 55 – 85 ℉. So, especially during the winter, you might want to take your pothos plant indoors to avoid the chilling weather outside.
Benefits of pothos leaves
Pothos is more than just a decorative houseplant that pleases our eyes. Interestingly, pothos serves a lot of valuable contributions not only to human beings but to the environment, as well. Some of these are as follows:
- Pothos purifies the air and filters out formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide.
- In addition, pothos also get rid of foul odor mixing in with the air.
- After looking at the screen for too long, pothos can be useful to help reduce eye irritation.
- Pothos are also good aquarium companions as it reduces nitrate levels and algae growth which minimizes the need to change the water in the tank frequently.
