Why Does My Pearls And Jade Pothos Have Brown Spots?

The age-old conundrum of a plant problem is that one issue can be caused by just about anything. And that is also true when Pearls and Jade Pothos plants get brown spots on their leaves. Brown spots on a Pearls & Jade can be caused by overwatering, underwatering, environmental change, because it’s new, pests, or being in the sun. In this article, we go over the different reasons why a Pearls and Jade Pothos gets brown spots and how you can work on determining which issue is causing the spots.

Why does a Pearls and Jade get brown spots

Why A Pearls And Jade Pothos Could Have Brown Spots On Its Leaves

Change in Environment
Direct sunlight
Too much water.
Not enough water.
Low Humidity
Pests.

Brown spots on the leaves of a Pearls and Jade Pothos plant are usually the first sign that the plant gives you showing you something is wrong. But what exactly is wrong can be one of several issues. If your plant is new, the spots could just be from stress. Direct sunlight could be causing burns. The plant could be getting too much water or not enough. The humidity could be too low. Or it could be some creepy crawly bugs causing issues.

Brown Spots Due to a Change in Environment

Whenever you change the area a plant is in it can cause issues. This change could be anything from turning on the AC or heat to moving the plant to a different location with different light levels. Or you just brought the plant home.

All of these issues can cause stress on your Pearls and Jade and result in some brown spots starting to pop up on older leaves.

So if you have changed something in the room where your plant resides, changed the room it resides in, or have just brought the plant into your house and these brown spots are showing on the old leaves then time is usually going to be the answer to helping it out. It will need time to adjust and to get new growth going.

Give your Pearls and Jade the proper care and you should start to see healthy new growth thriving on the plant.

Brown Spots on Pearls and Jade Pothos Due to Direct Sunlight

Pothos plants are not big on being in direct sunlight. When you leave your plant in a window where the sun shines directly on it this can cause brown spots on the leaves due to burning from the sun.

Move your plant away from the area where the sun rays fall directly during the day. Another option would be to filter the sunlight with something such as sheer curtains. This way your Pearls and Jade Pothos won’t get sunburn.

Brown Spots Due to Overwatering Your Pearls and Jade

Overwatering is probably the number one cause of brown spots on Pothos plants.

Pothos plants are prone to being overwatered and do not like sitting in soggy soil. Allow the soil of your Pothos to dry out more between waterings. If you don’t allow enough drying time for the soil or your soil is not draining well it will starve the roots of your plant of oxygen and this can lead to more serious issues such as root rot.

Brown Spots Due to Underwatering

Usually, if brown spots are due to being underwatered you will also have some leaves with brown edges on your Pearls and Jade due to drying out. If you see this then increase the frequency that you water your plant.

You should be letting the top few inches of soil in your Pearls and Jade to dry between watering but not always letting the entirety of the soil in its pot completely dry out. When this happens too often you will start to get damage on the leaves by the way of brown spots and brown edges.

Too Low Humidity

Pothos are tropical plants and therefore prefer humidity levels over 40%. But sometimes this isn’t always achievable, especially in winter when the heat has to run.

Pearls and Jade Leaf Brown Spot Due to Low Humidity

While many Pothos can adjust well to very low humidity levels, sometimes the more variegated varieties of Pothos are a bit pickier when it comes to the humidity.

If your watering seems on point and you are in a place that is running below 30% humidity then this could be the cause of your plant’s brown spots. Try increasing the humidity in the room or area that your Pearls & Jade is in by using a humidifier or pebble tray.

Pests

Pests can be the other reason that your Pearls and Jade has brown spots.

Take a close look at your Pearls and Jade, especially on the undersides of the leaves and on the stems of the vine to see if you find any bugs. Pests that most often cause brown spots are thrips or spider mites. Use an insecticidal soap or neem oil to help get rid of these.