That moment I realized I was drowning my pothos for 2 years straight

My pothos in the living room kept getting yellow leaves no matter what I did. I was watering it every 3 days like clockwork because I thought that was the safe bet. Then my neighbor who works at a greenhouse in Austin told me to actually stick my finger in the soil before watering. Turns out the bottom half was soaking wet the whole time and I was basically giving it a bath every week. Anyone else have a plant they almost killed with too much love?

3 comments

3 Comments

sams251mo ago

Stick that finger in the soil like your neighbor said, best advice ever. I killed a snake plant doing the exact same thing, watering every 3 days because I thought all plants needed constant moisture. Turns out they like to dry out completely between waterings. Now I wait until the pot feels super light when I pick it up, or the soil is bone dry a couple inches down. For my pothos, I only water when the leaves start looking a little sad and droopy, which is usually every 2 weeks or so. Yellow leaves are almost always a sign to back off on the water, not add more.

jordanr891mo ago

My golden pothos in the kitchen had the exact same problem. I switched to watering it only when the leaves start to droop a tiny bit, which ended up being once every 10-14 days. That plant doubled in size within a few months after I backed off. I also learned that yellow leaves can mean overwatering while brown crispy edges mean underwatering, so that helped me figure it out faster. Sometimes less really is more with houseplants.

sage_rodriguez23h ago

Not that you're wrong, but I had the exact opposite experience with my pothos. When I waited for the leaves to droop like that, the plant got really stressed and some of the bottom leaves turned yellow and dropped off. Maybe it depends on the variety or the pot size? I've got mine in a terracotta pot that dries out faster, so every 10 days is about right for me. But I also check the soil with my finger before I water, and if it's still damp an inch down, I wait. The yellow leaves thing though, I think that's a good general rule. Just saying, every plant can be a little different even if they're the same species.