Okay, from doing a more extensive search, I think this is probably from overwatering or roots that aren't getting enough air as a result. The spots were at the leaf margins, which supports this.

Does that sound reasonable?

Yes it does sound reasonable. What type of soil is it in?

Thanks! It's in regular commercial tropical mix, a fresh bag. Alas, I read Al's soil posts with great interest, and it makes a lot of sense, but being in an apartment in the city I just can't get (let alone store) the bags of ingredients to mix my own.

Can you find perlie?

I have some perlite.

Agree. Your plant is going to be just fine tho. Two leaves on a pothos, will barely be missed soon.

Thank you to you both. I've trimmed off the brown parts of the leaves, and a bit of a safety margin.

Normally, I water when the soil is dry at the top, the pot feels light (I lift it to test) and often when the leaves look limp and droopy. So I may not be watering too often, but when I do water, maybe I'm giving it too much. I water until water comes out the bottom, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes, and then dump out whatever's left. I let it sit a bit because sometimes the water runs through the soil so quickly that I can't imagine the soil has been moistened enough. The leaves usually weep (guttation) a fair bit after, another sign of too much water?

What should I change? Not let it sit at all, and dump the excess water right away? Or should I stop watering before it comes out the bottom?

I would mix half perlite or even 70% with the potting soil.

Also when checking the soil you should check a few inches down.

If water is running right through it sounds like its time for a repot. Its rootbound and its not able to take up any water. If you can pull the whole plant out of the pot intact and the roots are circiling the pot its time to repot.

It's not root-bound, nowhere near. I just repotted 5 cuttings, along with the original base of the vine, in a 6" pot (it had been in a 4" pot. There aren't that many roots at all (yet). When I don't water for a while, the soil dries out and then when I do water, the water just flows through.

I imagine I should reduce the amount of water I'm using, though perhaps not the frequency of watering.

I think you should soak it in a bucket full of water for about 30 mins when you water. When peat stays dry for too long it becomes hydrophobic.

I think that would make the situation even worse, as it would be more water than I'm already giving it -- which is already too much. I usually let it sit in the water for 5-10 minutes and the soil takes up too much.

As mentioned above, I'm looking to avoid over-watering it, since there are signs of over-watering (lots of guttation and now a couple of brown spots from roots being too wet (see the posts above in this thread).

Anyone have any suggestions on how to water this properly?

How often are you watering? Over water isn't neccesarily about the amount of water you're using but about how long the soil holds on to water. Putting your plant in a fast draining mix will solve your problems

Please read comment #8 above, where I described when when and how I water.

I meant like how many times a week, ect.

Hmm, that's a little harder to say. I don't water on a schedule, just by looking at the plant, lifting the pot, checking the soil. I'd guess once every 7-10 days or so?

Here are the possible causes I found for brown spots.

Disease Problems

Brown spots on golden pothos may appear as the result of disease, especially bacterial leaf spot (Pseudomonas cichorii). A yellow halo may form around the spot and the leaf may yellow and die. A bacterial infection typically occurs when the plant is stressed and is exposed to high humidity, overcrowding and poor air circulation.

Sun and Temperature

Golden pothos prefers shade or partial shade. It burns easily if exposed to direct sun and may develop brown spots from sunburn. Drops in temperature below 50 degrees Fahrenheit or touching a cold window pane may also cause spots to form on the leaves. Removing the leaf and moving the plant to appropriate lighting, or away from sources of cold air, typically corrects the problem.

Watering

Over-watering a pothos plant may result in brown spots on the leaves, especially if the soil is heavy and dense. When soil becomes waterlogged, oxygen cannot reach the roots, which stresses the plant and prevents it from taking up water and nutrients. As a result, brown spots may appear on the foliage.

Chemicals

Brown spots may form on the leaves of pothos from accidental contact with chemicals, such as herbicides or household products. This could include things like air fresheners or cleaners. Monitor the use of sprays near your pothos plants.

A lovely plant, and a lovely photo. Your watering technique is interesting. I'll give it a try. Thanks for all the info.

Nischa it sounds like you may not have any issues to worry about with your plant. We've discussed everything. Could you post a picture of the whole plant? If its only a few leaves just clip them and keep going.

Thanks. I really like this plant and want to act early if there's a problem rather than wait until it's too late. But I'll just watch the watering and see if that help.

I'll try and snap a good photo tomorrow when the light is better, and will post it then.

Thanks for your help, and have a good night.

For the record, there's no such thing as giving a plant too much water. Because if that were true, then I just "overwatered" every single one of my plants outside today, haha. If your plant's soil is staying too soggy, then I would repot it into a better, faster draining soil mix.

I have my 'Manjula' pothos outside, along with every other plant of mine. It gets very bright, sometimes direct sunlight from morning until the afternoon. Then shaded, dappled sunlight throughout the rest of the day. When it gets thirsty, I have a small bucket that I let it sit in, with water up to the soil line, for at least half an hour. If not more. With this scorching hot weather, sometimes I'll even let it soak for an hour. I don't time it, I'll just toss it in there and check back on it later on. There have even been times when I've forgotten about it, leaving it to soak overnight. This doesn't happen a lot, but it has happened. I'd simply remove it, let the water drain, and maybe flush it with fresh water, before hanging it back up in its spot. The soil I use never stays soggy. Any excess water drains completely away. This isn't the gritty mix that others use, and it doesn't even have any perlite mixed in with it either. When your plants are potted correctly, you don't have to worry about "overwatering" them.

Well, then the issue is the soil I'm using. The commercial tropical mix potting soils that I can find in stores here all seem pretty much the same, and unfortunately that's what I have access to. What soil are you using?

I went out to my garage and snapped a couple of photos. I couldn't remember the specific soil mix, and had to go look. Miracle Gro Garden Soil for Flowers & Vegetables. I have roughly a dozen bags of it stored out in my garage. Home Depot sells them every year for very cheap (5 bags for $10, or something like that).

Thanks for clarifying what I was trying to say Photo synthesis!!! I water my plants once a week , on a schedule,and haven't over watered one yet because of the soil I use. I use orchid bark, perlite, and a small amount of potting soil.

I bought this particular soil mix on accident. Well, not really an accident. I bought the soil because Home Depot was advertising it for so cheap. When I got it home, I noticed that it wasn't for container plants. I went ahead and used it anyways. I liked it so much that the next following year, I went back and bought some more. It never stays soggy and can dry out quite fast. But I keep my plants well watered and never let them dry out.

Photo Synthesis, thank you for the photos -- I appreciate the effort. Very interesting. And I love the emphatic way they say it's not for container gardening. (Why on earth not?) My ironic bent of mind finds it particularly pleasing that you have great success with it specifically in containers! ;)

jamilalshaw26, here is a view of the whole plant, as requested. What you see are 5 newly-rooted cuttings, plus the original base vine, potted up 2-3 weeks ago.

Less than a year ago, I received one small cutting (with 3 leaves), rooted it, and when the vine reached about 7', I cut it up, rooted the cuttings, and repotted as you see here.

I watered it today because some of the leaves were looking limp, but was more moderate with my watering. We'll see how it goes.

As an anecdote, a friend from Argentina has been trying to grow Pothos, and they just won't grow for him. He had already shown me pictures of his porch, where he had several hanging baskets with dying, scraggly Pothos. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong, until I asked him to send me a picture of the ingredients on the bag of soil he was using. I figured it would be mostly peat, but I was wrong, it was worse. The main ingredient was 70% ASHES. No wonder those poor plants wouldn't grow !

Nischa your plant looks great!!!!

Thanks, jamilalshaw26. It was fear of losing it that made me want to catch the problem at an early stage. I'll adjust my watering and hopefully that will stop the spots. Thanks for taking the time to discuss all this. Much appreciated.

hellkitchenguy Manuel -- yikes! Poor plants! I imagine he got different soil after that and they're thriving?

He says he can't afford to do that right now...

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

It really does, but at least now we were able to figure out what his problem was. I can't even imagine using ashes to plant anything in

I know! And you know that if easy-going Pothos is failing, something is seriously wrong. Good that you solved the mystery. I know a woman who uses outdoor dirt for her plants and her Pothos survives, though the leaves are small, dull and far between. Still, probably better than ashes. I wonder what ashes are good for?

Outdoor soil is fine...she just needs to mix pine straw or leaves in it.

I disagree. I would never use outdoor soil for a houseplant (unless a person really had no other choice, like the individual mentioned above).

Sorry, but no, I agree w/ Nischa & others who've said no to this:

"Outdoor soil is fine...she just needs to mix pine straw or leaves in it."

Not a good idea, especially not for newbies who don't yet know what they're doing.

I'd encourage folks to pls. disregard this bad advice.

Lena

Again another example of Anthony gives terrible advice.

At this point, I have a hard time thinking he's not joking and just trying to get a raise of people.

I just tell it like it is.

No, you just have no clue what you're talking about and spout off bad advice every chance you get.

"Outdoor soil mixed with pine straw and leaves" is absolutely laughable.