Pothos plants are known for their beauty and the beauty of their large and broad leaves. It has large waxy heart-shaped leaves with green and green-colored splash and is striking.
But all of sudden you started noticing holes in pothos leaves. It is a point of concern why these holes are occurring. Is there any problem with pothos or are they suffering from any disease? Let’s have the answer!
Why are there holes in my Pothos leaves?
Holes in pothos leaves may be a sign of the presence of pathogenic flies such as liriomyza melanogaster in the soil. These are pathogenic flies that are known as leaf mining. They create a tunnel into leaves and damaged them. The holes in pothos leaves are due to these flies. It is a little bit difficult to detect the presence of these flies as they come out during nighttime and relish the leaves and hide during daytime.
It might be also possible that your pothos is suffering from leaf spot disease that causes the holes in leaves. Lack of humidity, shot hole disease and excessive fertilization is also a reason for the holes in pothos leaves.
1- Liriomyza melanogaster
It is a pathogenic species of flies that are known for leaf mining. It creates a tunnel into leaf tissue and damages the plant foliage. These are famous species for destroying your gorgeous pothos leaves and creating holes in them. It is difficult to detect their presence as they hide in the soil during the daytime and come out at the night.
These insects cannot be seen during the daytime, they come out only at night and feed on the plant’s tissues and leaves.
If you have been tired from the presence of these naught flies and also cannot detect them, then go shopping. Buy phoxim or other insecticides for your plants that will be helpful to keep away insects and flies from your plants.
2- Some natural wear and tear
If you love to re-pot your plant regularly or keep changing the position of your plants day after day, you are doing wrong!
Sometimes when you are re-potting your plant or changing its position, you cause some wear and tear with your plant.
When you are changing your plant’s position be careful. If your plants get holes at a young age they start developing holes as gradually they become mature. Pothos are so sensitive to touch so whenever you touch them uncarefully they can start developing holes.
3- Bacterial leaf spot disease
Bacterial leaf spot disease is a serious plant issue. It is a bacterial disease in which pathogenic bacteria attack the plant’s tissue and leaves. it might attack the lower side of leaves or might be on the upper side also. It is a highly transferable disease so you can detect that it is either a bacterial disease or something else!
This disease starts as tiny holes in leaves that are negligible. After a few days, these holes then transfer to new and healthy leaves. These holes become larger in size and then start as brown spots on the edges.
This disease is highly communicable and starts damaging the new and healthy leaves. It is highly recommendable to prune these damaging leaves. Leaves with yellow or brown spots on them are very notorious and consume the handsome amount of nutrients present in the plant.
There are some insecticides and fungicides that are available to treat these diseases. Always spray your plants with insecticides and fungicides to protect them from insects or any bacterial disease.
4- Shot Hole Disease
It is a disease that is mostly observed in fruiting and indoor plants. So whenever you keep your pothos in wet soil then it is possible they start developing holes in them.
It is a fungal infection that affects the plants growing in wet environments and newly budding leaves. This is detected as a brown to purple spot on the leaves. It looks like a gunshot spot on the leaves. These holes become more prominent day after day.
The best way to avoid this disease is to improve the watering of your plant. Whenever your pothos is getting excessive water, this appears as brown and yellow spots on the edges and the center of the leaves. Make sure that your plant receives water only when topsoil is dry. You can also add some perlite to improve the aeration of the soil.
5- Decrease humidity
Pothos are those plants that thrive well in a well-drained environment. They usually love to live in a humid environment and prefer a good level of humidity.
On hot summer days when the air is dry and plants are suffering from underwatering situations. underwatering can make the leaves lose their moisture and freshness and they become crunchy. Leaves become crunchy and lose their freshness. This loss of crunches can cause small holes in pothos leaves.
6- Overfertilization
Overdose of fertilization is serious damage to plant growth. Fertilizers contain an excessive dose of salt content in them. Excess salt alters the natural pH of the soil and creates damage to the leaves.
Gardeners or beginners using an excessive concentration of fertilizers for their plants often face the problem of brown or yellow spots on the leaves. Holes in pothos are a common issue caused by excessive use of fertilization. This can also lead to permanent damage to the whole plant.
Pothos do not need fertilizers when they are doing good without any vitamins or nutrients. But when you notice that pothos need nutrition or vitamins then always use a liquid fertilizer. Read the label carefully and give it according to the instructions.
Ways to prevent holes in pothos
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Neem oil
It is the best-recommended oil for infected plants. It is a natural organic compound that is used for damaged plants. This oil is a good old trick to spray your plants with diluted neem oil every once a month.
As a natural solution, you can also use spray-on healthy plants to avoid bacterial and fungal infections.
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Cide vinegar solution
It is a natural organic solution that acts as a fungicide.
Gently clean your leaves with a diluted solution of apple cider vinegar once a month to keep the pests away.
You can make this solution at home by mixing one part of apple cider vinegar and five parts of water to make a potent mixture.
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Dish soap mixture
There are some dish soaps available in the market that are specially made to keep away the pests.
Spraying this dish soap mixture on your plants is the easiest way to keep the mists and bugs away from insects and pesticides.
The smell of dish wash and its slippery nature is perfectly made for these pests. This thing causes the insects to repel form plants.
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Sterilized soil
Regular garden soil has plenty of microorganisms, and not all of them are beneficial to the plant. Insects, fungal spores, and bacteria are prevalent in all types of garden soil. Therefore, it is best to use a sterilized potting mix for your indoor pothos.
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Changing potting mix
If Liriomyza Melanogaster is destroying your pothos plants then it will be best to change the potting mix.
Most insecticides and pesticides do not act on pests. Most of the Liriomyza Melanogaster is resistant to pesticides so you cannot get rid of them. To avoid these pests the best way is to change the potting mix.
How to save pothos from sunburn. It will also be useful in terms of goof health of pothos.
One Last Thing!
Hence it has been clearly explained why are there holes in the pothos. Try to avoid all these factors to prevent these holes in pothos. Take proper care of the watering and fertilization of your plants.
Hope this article will be useful for you and have the answer to your question. Also do share with your friends and fellow as it will be a grant to them!
Have a Good Day!