Pothos plants are some of the best houseplants that you can buy. Not only do they look pretty, but they’re pretty basic when it comes to the care requirements.
Many people choose to buy these plants for people who don’t have a lot of experience. They can be fantastic starter houseplants to get people into the hobby.
Of course, things can still go wrong when you make mistakes. If you’ve recently started caring for a pothos plant, you might be concerned if it starts dropping leaves.
What does it mean when a pothos plant starts dropping leaves? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about this topic.
What Causes Pothos to Drop Leaves?
There are a few different things that might cause pothos plants to lose leaves. If your pothos is dropping leaves, it’s a sign that something is wrong with the plant.
Below, you’ll learn a bit about several different things that might be causing your plant to lose its leaves. If you can fix these issues, you can try to turn things around to get the plant looking better again.
1 – The Soil Is Very Dry
It could be that you haven’t been watering your pothos plant enough. If you forget to water the plant for a very long time the soil will be incredibly dry.
When this occurs, you’ll start to see the leaves look limp. Eventually, you’ll notice significant drooping.
The drooping should be taken as a sign that you need to water the plant. Continuing to ignore the situation will lead to the leaves dropping.
You’re not supposed to allow the soil to get bone dry. Pothos plants like it when the soil stays moist, but you’re not supposed to water the plant too much either.
To get good results, you must ensure that the top two inches of the soil remain moist. Always check the soil with your fingers to determine when it’s time to water the plant.
If you allow the plant to get very dry, it’s best to soak it thoroughly. To do this, grab your plant and place it in the sink.
Fill the sink up with water until it’s four inches high. The water should be lukewarm, but you don’t want it to be hot.
Let the plant soak until the moisture has reached the top two inches of the soil. Let the sink drain and then rest the plant while it’s draining.
When the plant is finished draining, place it on its saucer and put it back where you like to keep it. This should help the plant to bounce back.
2 – Lack of Sunlight
Sometimes a lack of sunlight can cause issues with leaf loss. You might notice problems with the plant if you keep it in a dim environment.
These plants do best when they’re put in bright indirect sunlight. You should try to find an ideal spot for the plant.
Too much direct sunlight will potentially scorch the plant. A lack of sunlight is just as bad, though.
Take the time to find a good spot for the plant. You can always filter the sunlight to make things safe for the plant if necessary.
3 – Problems with Humidity
Humidity is also very important when caring for houseplants. Most houseplants don’t do well if your home is too dry.
Pothos plants do best when the environment is fairly humid. You want the humidity level in your home to be above 40% or the pothos plant won’t thrive.
Some people live in parts of the world that are very dry. It’s possible that your house might have low humidity, and that could negatively impact your houseplants.
Pothos plants tend to do best when the humidity stays between 40% and 60%. Check the humidity level of your home using a hygrometer to see how things look.
There are ways that you can raise the humidity near your plants to make things better. One good idea is to simply mist the plants with water every so often.
Misting the plants with water will raise the humidity level in the area quite a bit. Another way to do it is to place the plants on top of pebble trays that have water at the bottom.
Sometimes it’s best to simply use a humidifier, though. If your home is dry, you might benefit from using a humidifier that will work for your whole home.
Keeping the humidity level in your home slightly above 40% will be just fine. The appropriate humidity range for a home is said to be between 30% and 50%.
Just make sure that it stays above 40% and your pothos plants will do well. If you don’t wish to make your home more humid, you can buy a small humidifier for plants that can be placed right next to your houseplants.
This will raise the humidity in the plant area without impacting the rest of your home. Fixing humidity problems can help the pothos plant and keep it from losing its leaves.
Will Pothos Regrow Leaves?
The leaves that have been lost will not grow back, but new leaves will come over time. Like all plants, pothos plants go through periods of growth.
New growth will be capable of producing leaves. When the leaves have dropped off of the plant due to mistakes that you’ve made, it’s best to start encouraging new growth.
Fix the problems that you caused. Make sure that you water the plant well and that the environment is humid enough.
Make sure that the plant is placed in a spot where it will receive bright indirect sunlight. Once per month, you can feed the pothos plant some fertilizer that has been diluted.
Eventually, you’ll notice that new growth will form. You’ll see new leaves pop up and your pothos plant will look nice again.
In the future, you want to avoid having all of the leaves drop off of the plant. Be sure to water the plant consistently without going overboard.
Monitor the humidity level near the plants and remember to give the plants enough sunlight. If you do everything that you can, it’ll be easy to keep pothos plants looking great in your home.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.