What is wrong with my pothos?

last year

last modified: last year

Hey! I am a relatively new plant owner! I purchased a golden pothos a few months ago. It has been doing really well, but I noticed that it had some holes/ tears in the leaves and repotted it a few weeks ago, removed affected leaves, and applied some neem oil as I feared it had a fly infestation. The last time I watered it was a week ago. The pot has drainage holes and I only water when the soil feels like it has dried out. I have it hanging in my window (basement, west facing) so it has low light except for certain parts of the day. It has been getting chillier especially right next to the window, but it is right underneath a heating vent. The plant looks healthy, but upon closer inspection, it seems to be growing a fungus? I don't know how to help it!

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Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Your plant looks great!! There is evidence of a fungus growing but on the soil, not on the plant. This is not uncommon with houseplants - fungal organisms are the natural digesters of the organic matter in the potting soil and they often appear, especially if the soil tends to stay wet. They are harmless to the plant but may be an indication that watering is on the heavy side.
hopesworld thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
last modified: last year
you are on the verge of loving your plant to death.. since you brought it home.. youve reduced the canopy.. repotted it.. put it in the basement.. severely reducing light levels.. and you change watering protocol ..

how about you just water it properly .. and otherwise leave it alone for 2 or 3 months .. and then decide if its over all the stress inflicted on it ...

house is warm enough.. dont care about the window cold.. unless the window ices up..and the leaves are actually touching the ice/window ...

the heat register could dry media surface while leave the lower media wet.. so learn how to FEEL the weight of water in the pot.. and water when it drys thru the whole pot...

what gal said on the mold/fungus being media related. not plant related.. ignore is.. or just scratch it off with a spoon ...

ken
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Remove the old, blemished leaves as they become breeding grounds for mold/mildew and other germs. The one leaf is yellowing so it is past its prime. The other two are blemished from some kind of pathogens/injury and will only get worse (and weigh on your nerves too as they get worse). Sometimes it is hard to remove leaves due to the old myths that the plant needs them to photosynthesize which is true but the plant should have enough reserves in its roots and stems to regenerate new leaves. I often remove every damaged leaf off some plants (outdoor plants and houseplants). New leaves often appear within a couple of weeks. Sometimes I have to cut the entire plant down due to death in the stems for whatever reason and the plant will often send up new shoots from its roots.
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Is this just white because the papers were keeping the light from reaching it? Yes. Depriving certain areas of plants of light is called blanching. It is an effective method of predisposing the plant to produce root initials or (in this case) to activate existing root primordia to grow. I use it along with a growth hormone to considerably hasten the process of air layering. If you pr others have interest in learning how to put blanching to work, just ask and I'll go over some methodology. It really is a slick trick. Does it need to stay covered? I can't say precisely because how roots respond to light varies by species. Some plant's react to light on their roots with a good degree of ambivalence, while others respond in a decidedly negative fashion. My guess, because this plant is so predisposed to formation of adventitious roots that it matters little or not at all. I do know though, that you'd be much better off if you potted the nodal cutting up in a grow medium rather than in water. Separate the cutting by cutting through the stem immediately below the node that supports the subject root and potting in a moist grow medium.. The roots that will form in water are very different than roots which form in a solid medium, and 'water roots' are very brittle and transition poorly to a solid medium. Why is this one white and bulbous, though? Blanching inhibits production of chlorophyll and other sundry pigments, and blocks harmful rays of the sun that cause the periderm (outer skin) of other adventitious roots not deprived of light from dying and turning brown. This is (in part) how bark on trees is formed. The reason it is bulbous is because it is actively growing. Al
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last year
Several things can cause holes/tears in the leaves. The most obvious would be mechanical injury (for animals - like a bruise). Sometimes though, dry air/ low relative humidity can cause leaf surfaces to stick to each other while the leaf is still furled and yet to fully emerge, so "right under the heat vent" is a concern. The counterpart to photo synthesis, the process by which plants make their own food (sugar/ glucose), is respiration, during which the food/ energy created is used. Increasing temperatures and decreasing humidity can significantly increase the rate of respiration, so much, in fact, that it causes the plant to use more food/ energy than the plant can create. This is an unsustainable arrangement that can have serious consequences for the plant.

The other potentiality would be the plant's inability to maintain a steady supply of calcium in the nutrient stream. Only some nutrients are mobile in the plant, that is to say the plant can only mobilize and move certain nutrients from place to place within the plant. Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium are mobile in the plant. The remainder are only somewhat immobile or immobile in the plant, meaning the immobile nutrients must be in the nutrient stream at all times if cells (and particularly cell walls) are to form normally. Soggy soils limit calcium uptake, causing weak cell walls and abnormal cells. When many cells are affected, it forms weak spots in tissues that cause holes and tears. This can occur as the result of a true deficiency due to an actual inadequate supply of calcium in the soil, or it can be a cultural deficiency, during which a cultural condition inhibits uptake of calcium from what could be an adequate supply; thus, a culturally caused calcium deficiency. If you actually saw fungus gnats flying around the plant, that would tend to add support to the idea the grow medium holds too much water, or, you're watering too frequently. BTW - it is best practice if you do not allow any water to remain in the collection saucer after a thorough watering. If no water collects in the saucer, you're not watering thoroughly. If water does collect and remain in the saucer, you are ensuring that all salts from tapwater and fertilizer solutions remain in the soil where they eventually cause the plant's inability to take up enough water to keep the plant properly hydrated.

The white filaments on the soil are fungal hyphae. If you notice, they occur where there is the least amount of air movement due to the movement being slowed considerably by the stems. This also contributes weight to the idea you might be over-watering. The fungal hyphae are not in themselves a concern, as plants live in harmony with thousands of fungal species. Like Gardengal mentioned, the concern has more to do with the over-watering that might be occurring chronically.

Almost all commonly grown herbaceous houseplants in the Northern Hemisphere are best repotted in the 2-3 weeks immediately before the summer solstice (21 June). This is because they will (or should) have a high level of reserve food/ energy, and, their current ability to create food/ energy will be peaking. This means recovery at that time will be quicker than at any other point during the growth period. Repotting in fall, winter, early spring should be avoided because low light and short days increases recovery time considerably, leaving plants more vulnerable to insect herbivory and biotic/ abiotic pathogens. Plants are most vulnerable in terms of energy depletion in mid-winter through early spring.

Al
hopesworld thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

What is wrong with my pothos?

Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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