pothos leaves getting lighter and lighter

[CT_]

 

I'm having trouble with the pothos in my HOB.

Each new leaf on my emersed pothos is getting lighter and lighter green, its almost a faded lime green at this point.  Any idea what the issue might be?  The tank is getting lots of food with nitrates in the 20-40 range, but i don't use ferts in this tank.  No direct sun but there's two large windows and a sky light, so its a bright room most of the day.

 

The leaf i started the vine from is still a nice dark green

[Guppysnail]

I’m not a great plant person I’m too chicken to add fertilizer to any of my tanks. I am good with terrestrial plants though. When my pothos struggle I remove them and soak in water with easy green easy iron and equilibrium.  The existing leaves rarely perk back up but new growth comes in great. I keep some pothos like this all the time with used tank water so I can rotate. I know it’s not terribly helpful but it works for me. If it helps I think new leaf growth that is lighter is an iron deficiency I just looked it up. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Guppysnail

[CT_]

Have two of those three already.  maybe I should just dose and see what happens.

[Mmiller2001]

Sounds like a non transport issue. Might be deficient in micros. Maybe dose a bit of all in one and see if things improve.

[CT_]

interesting.  i also didn't add that the leaves are much closer together than the one in the pot or the other pothos i've seen in photos.

[Mmiller2001]

Is a light real close to the plant. High light?

[Odd Duck]

It sounds like it might just be getting more light than your parent plant.  Pothos gets more leggy with lower light trying to reach for light, closer leaves says more light is available.  The marbling gets less distinct with lower light.  Plus it tends to be a lighter color with more light since it needs to make more chlorophyll in lower light to survive, so if it gets more light, it makes less chlorophyll (chlorophyll is hard work so they don’t make as much if they don’t need it to survive).

[Torrey]

@CT_ it sounds like your pothos is telling you it's happy in the tank.

Shorter internodal length, plus lighter colored leaves = sufficient light.

New growth means plenty of nutrients.

 

I use pothos because in addition to being great at removing nitrates, it's a tattle tale about light and water quality. 

New growth, short internodal length, nice marbling = healthy, happy plant.

 

Longer internodal length, darker and larger leaves = this plant wasn't getting sufficient light or nutrients. 

Lack of marbling is the big tell, and the yellowing here isn't marbling but a macro deficiency 

[anewbie]

On 9/10/2021 at 8:50 PM, Torrey said:

@CT_ it sounds like your pothos is telling you it's happy in the tank.

Shorter internodal length, plus lighter colored leaves = sufficient light.

New growth means plenty of nutrients.

 

I use pothos because in addition to being great at removing nitrates, it's a tattle tale about light and water quality. 

New growth, short internodal length, nice marbling = healthy, happy plant.

 

Longer internodal length, darker and larger leaves = this plant wasn't getting sufficient light or nutrients. 

Lack of marbling is the big tell, and the yellowing here isn't marbling but a macro deficiency 

Bit confused; my pothos never marble but the leaves are dark green and very shinny; i would say they look really healthy. Are there different types of pothos or is this just the lack of light ?

[Odd Duck]

On 9/11/2021 at 11:15 AM, anewbie said:

Bit confused; my pothos never marble but the leaves are dark green and very shinny; i would say they look really healthy. Are there different types of pothos or is this just the lack of light ?

There are different types.  They come in many shades of green but also with yellow, cream, or white marbling.  The shades of green range from very dark to a light lime green and everything in between.  They also come with some variability in size and shape of the leaves.

They naturally have variation in size and color depending on growing conditions and they’ve been bred to retain certain traits, just like different varieties and sizes of fish.

Here’s a poster of different varieties.  There are far more than this, too.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Odd Duck
Added image

[anewbie]

Interesting. So i should find one that marbles; make the tanks more colourful. The stuff grows well enough... maybe too well.

[Torrey]

This is my 'mother plant'. In addition to all the varieties (thank you @Odd Duck for showing some of the variaties available) there is significant variation on the leaves of each plant according to growing conditions. 

Yes, the pothos grows great and puts up with a lot of abuse (the yellow and browned leaves happened when I had a stroke and was hospitalized, but the plant itself didn't die), and is excellent at removing nitrates from the water. 

Here's a cutting in another tank, that is just getting established. 

In areas where this plant gets less light, the leaves get darker green and lose the marbling.

If I forget to add liquid fertilizer, the whole leaf goes yellow, and also loses the marbling.

Lime green leaves, in my experience, have only happened when *all* the plant's needs were met, perfectly. 

Last year, a cutting from the same mother plant was in my Back2TheRoots system, and none of the leaves were bigger than 2", were lime green with white marbling, and had the smallest, healthiest root system I have ever seen on a pothos.

So even on one plant, you can get a lot of variations depending on water chemistry, nutrient availability, and lighting. 

[Odd Duck]

On 9/12/2021 at 2:21 AM, anewbie said:

Interesting. So i should find one that marbles; make the tanks more colourful. The stuff grows well enough... maybe too well.

If you like the look of the marbling, you should be able to source some easily enough.  “Golden” is the most common variety, by far.  Start asking friends and family, somebody will have some and be able to get you clippings, I’d bet.

[ARMYVET]

Sometimes I read posts and I just cannot identify with them.  Not saying the posts are wrong or not real in the problem they describe but just one I cannot fathom.  This post is one of those. 

Problem with growing Pothos?!?  My entire front yard if full of the stuff.  I cant get rid of it no matter how hard I try.  I spray it with round up and it snatches the container from my hands...gargles with it and throws the empty container back at me.  To me its the duck weed of the terrestrial plant world.  Dont chop it up with a lawnmower either.  It replicates ant an exponential rate then.  Dont ask how I know this!!🤦‍♂️

I honestly believe it laughs at me as Im walking by.  

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by ARMYVET

[Odd Duck]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:02 AM, ARMYVET said:

Sometimes I read posts and I just cannot identify with them.  Not saying the posts are wrong or not real in the problem they describe but just one I cannot fathom.  This post is one of those. 

Problem with growing Pothos?!?  My entire front yard if full of the stuff.  I cant get rid of it no matter how hard I try.  I spray it with round up and it snatches the container from my hands...gargles with it and throws the empty container back at me.  To me its the duck weed of the terrestrial plant world.  Dont chop it up with a lawnmower either.  It replicates ant an exponential rate then.  Dont ask how I know this!!🤦‍♂️

I honestly believe it laughs at me as Im walking by.  

 

😆 😂 🤣 

Where do you live that it survives the winter?  I’m in north Texas and I know it wouldn’t survive here.  You must be near tropical?

[ARMYVET]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:02 AM, Odd Duck said:

😆 😂 🤣 

Where do you live that it survives the winter?  I’m in north Texas and I know it wouldn’t survive here.  You must be near tropical?

South Florida....AKA little Hell....Satan himself goes home because its too hot  and humid here for him.

[Odd Duck]

I’ve been to vet conferences in south Florida during the summer.  Almost everyone was complaining about the heat and humidity.  I was like, “Feels just like home!  Actually it’s a little cooler.”  😆 

[ARMYVET]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:21 AM, Odd Duck said:

I’ve been to vet conferences in south Florida during the summer.  Almost everyone was complaining about the heat and humidity.  I was like, “Feels just like home!  Actually it’s a little cooler.”  😆 

Yeah....I was stationed out of Fort Hood Texas for a few years.  Its definitely hot there but you all do not know what humidity is.  Oh yeah ...its a dry heat they say.  Try dealing with that heat while your breathing water 24/7.  I have friends that moved from here to Arizona and even they say they would never come back to the humidity.

I spent a month in Fort Ord California in the middle of the dessert and it was nothing compared to Hell uhhh I mean Florida

[Odd Duck]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:29 AM, ARMYVET said:

Yeah....I was stationed out of Fort Hood Texas for a few years.  Its definitely hot there but you all do not know what humidity is.  Oh yeah ...its a dry heat they say.  Try dealing with that heat while your breathing water 24/7.  I have friends that moved from here to Arizona and even they say they would never come back to the humidity.

I spent a month in Fort Ord California in the middle of the dessert and it was nothing compared to Hell uhhh I mean Florida

We do get the humidity with heat, but more in the late spring and throughout fall when the weather keeps flipping back and forth, rain every other day, then boiling heat the next day.  That will definitely build your tolerance for heat with humidity.  Long hot summers do dry things out, but over 100 degrees for over 100 days in a row . . . . ?  Yikes!  That gets old in a whopping hurry!  😆  And it’s not that unusual for a Texas summer, either.

It’s those long, super hot spells make us switch from paintball to jetskis.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Odd Duck
Fix error

[ARMYVET]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:35 AM, Odd Duck said:

We do get the humidity with humidity, but more in the late spring and throughout fall when the weather keeps flipping back and forth, rain every other day, then boiling heat the next day.  That will definitely build your tolerance for heat with humidity.  Long hot summers do dry things out, but over 100 degrees for over 100 days in a row . . . . ?  Yikes!  That gets old in a whopping hurry!  😆  And it’s not that unusual for a Texas summer, either.

It’s those long, super hot spells make us switch from paintball to jetskis.

Amen brother!!  I'm surprised you guys don't get more brush fires with that kind of drying out.  

[Odd Duck]

We get plenty, but the grass fires will usually be stopped by a road +/- a little help.  The brush is all in creek beds so it doesn’t get dry enough to burn even if the creek has dried enough to go underground.  We have sooooooo many creeks and lakes (mostly manmade lakes) that it’s rarely a significant issue.  Once every few years there will be a really large brush/grass fire, but it’s pretty uncommon to get a big one and they’re usually much farther west where it’s drier.

They’re not usually started by lightening around here, since that’s nearly always accompanied by rain.  Most are from idiots with cigarettes so they’re roadside, spotted quick, and snuffed pretty quick.

[Brandon p]

Pothos will yellow and drop leaves if the amount light is changed. This happens so new leaves are able to grow in at the best color for the light conditions. Kind of like when You put a new plant in the tank and you get a die back and it regrows leaves that best suit the new conditions. Ficus are Notorious for this as well.  I have a pothos that I moved to a tank that is in front of a window. It happpen all the time. If you have a pothos in in a window/skylight the plant may change with the seasons. In the summer the light is more intense than in the winter. Position of the sun also changes and light is changed as well. I have one that I is in front of a window that I didn’t open the curtain for a week and the leaves started to yellow and dropped leaves. 

[anewbie]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:21 AM, Odd Duck said:

I’ve been to vet conferences in south Florida during the summer.  Almost everyone was complaining about the heat and humidity.  I was like, “Feels just like home!  Actually it’s a little cooler.”  😆 

Makes me miss the Rockies. Wonderful place to live.

[CT_]

jeez I go out of town for one weekend and this post grows 80 replies. 😮

 

I meant to update though:    Since I added a bit of equilibrium and a pump of easygreen (into 5g) its started to green up more. 

When I said light lime green I mean still green, like not a yellowed dieing leaf, but really getting closer and closer to white.  I'm dumb and should have just taken a photo, if for no other reason to have a before and after.  In any case all the leaves are now getting into what I feel is a healthy green for a bright indirect light room. 

 

The mother plant was on a table that got 30m-1hr of direct light/day and it's interesting to see the difference.  I turned the plant occasionally, but you can def see the side that got the sunlight.  and the side that got the shade.  it's pretty cool actually 🙂

Edited September 13, 2021 by CT_

[ARMYVET]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:02 PM, CT_ said:

he mother plant was on a table

Ive got the mother plant of all pothos living in my front yard and I just know its plotting my death seeing how I have tried to kill it numerous times and have failed every single one of them.   This thing has leaves on it the size of small children.😱   I know you think im kidding but I will be taking  pic as soon as I get home and fight my way to the front door!