Marble Queen Pothos yellow leaves can be worrisome for any plant owner.
You’ll notice this quickly as the plant’s lovely variegated leaves will look very different.
What’s worse is that you’ll see more and more leaves turn yellow as each day passes.
If this happens, check to see what’s missing in your plant’s care. Often, fixing this issue means giving the plant the proper care it needs.
Marble Queen Pothos leaves turning yellow is usually caused by overwatering, pest infestation or too much fertilizer.
Yellowing leaves can also be caused by too much sunlight, disease, nutrient deficiency and humidity issues.
Therefore, make sure to let the soil partially dry between watering. Also, get rid of any pests you may see on your plant.
Causes of Marble Queen Pothos Yellow Leaves
Natural Aging
Marble queen pothos with yellow leaves usually means there’s a problem happening. However, there is one exception to this, aging.
Plants, like all living things, get older.
And their leaves go through their own life cycles as well. In this case, each leaf will emerge, unfurl, grow, develop then change its shape and color.
This is why you’ll see some bigger leaves and other smaller leaves. Similarly, this is why some leaves have fewer variegations as they’re still developing. On the other hand, other leaves have lots of white and cream patterns.
The thing is, as the leaves approach the end of their life cycle, they will start turning yellow. This is a sign of aging.
It is also why you’ll notice that the bottom leaves are the ones that turn yellow. These are the older, bigger foliage.
The main thing to look out here is that you should not see a ton of leaves keep turning yellow.
After all, each leaf will age at its own pace just like every person will be born at a different time.
Therefore, if you see more and more leaves turn yellow then it is likely something else that’s causing this.
But if aging is the cause, then there’s no need to do anything.
It is part of the natural life cycle of your marble queen pothos.
Watering Issues
The most common reason for marble queen pothos yellow leaves is overwatering.
Yellow leaves are a very important sign to look out for since overwatering can lead to more serious issues.
The earlier you notice your marble queen pothos leaves turning yellow, more likely you’ll be able to fix it early.
The important thing to remember is that the marble queen pothos does not like wet, soggy soil. This means it is important not to water the plant too often.
Instead, the plant prefers the soil to dry between waterings.
Why?
Like other plants, the marble queen needs both water and oxygen to survive.
When you water too often or the soil is consistently kept wet, the excess moisture will prevent the roots from getting enough oxygen.
This happens as the water will fill all the tiny gaps between the soil particles.
In doing so, it pushes out the air that used to be in those gaps.
As a result, the roots now sit in lots of moisture with little to no access to oxygen.
The problem here is that if this condition persists, then the roots can get damaged, or they may not function at 100%.
The issues with the roots will prevent them from absorbing water and nutrients as they normally do. This causes deficiencies for the plant leading to yellow leaves and wilting.
Solution
Watering is an important aspect of caring for the marble queen pothos. But like all plants, there’s such a thing as too much or too little.
When your marble queen pothos develops yellow leaves it usually means the plant is getting too much water.
In most cases, this is the issue since many gardeners end up watering more often than not.
However, with the marble queen pothos, there are a few things to keep in mind when watering.
- Allow the soil to dry halfway down between waterings.
- Water thoroughly when you do water the plant.
- Adjust your watering routine based on the time of year.
As mentioned, the plant prefers dry soil.
Thus, wait until the soil is dry 50% way down before you give it more water. Never add more water when the soil is still wet or moist.
This will allow you to avoid overwatering.
When you do water the plant, do so thoroughly.
This means keep adding water until you see the liquid begin dripping from the bottom of the pot. Then allow the excess moisture to completely drain.
Also, don’t water the plant overhead such that the leaves get all wet. Instead, water directly on the soil.
Finally, the changes in the seasons will cause the amount of sunshine and temperature to change with it.
Therefore, the soil will dry faster during summer and much slower in the winter.
So, it is important to check the soil more often during the summer to avoid underwatering or dehydration.
During winter, scale back on frequency and allow the soil to dry more between waterings.
Water Quality
Plants are generally sensitive to salt and excess minerals. This is why your may see your marble queen pothos have yellow leaves if you use hard water or highly mineralized tap water.
Hard water, like highly mineralized water contain extra amounts of salt, chlorine, fluoride and other minerals.
These minerals can cause your marble queen pothos’ leaves to turn yellow, brown or even black depending on what minerals come in excess and how much in the water.
The downside is that it isn’t always easy to tell.
That’s because some municipalities add more minerals in the tap than others.
In most cases, there won’t be any issue. But if you happen to live in a locale where the city government adds more salt and minerals in the tap water, you could see the leaf discoloration in your marble queen pothos.
Solution
To avoid marble queen pothos yellow leaves due to water quality issues, make sure that the water you use does not contain lots of excess minerals.
You can ask your local government about this. Or you can test things out yourself.
If you’re using hard water your tap water has high mineral content, switch to other water sources for your plants.
One option is to filter the faucet water. This will remove the excess minerals before you water your plants.
You can likewise use distilled water which I do not recommend as it can get costly in the long run.
Rainwater is another good option.
But this only works if you live somewhere where there is enough rainfall.
If so, you can collect the rain using a rain barrel.
The simplest alternative is to collect tap water and let it sit overnight before watering your plants. Doing this will allow the excess chemicals and minerals to evaporate by morning.
Pests
Marble queen pothos yellow leaves can likewise be caused by pest infestations.
Although pothos do not experience a lot of pest issues, you still need to be wary of them.
That’s because any pest issue can turn into infestation very quickly.
When pothos are attacked by pests, the most common ones you’ll see include aphids, mealybugs, scale and spider mites.
All of these are sap sucking insects.
This means that they feed on the plant’s sap.
Unfortunately, the sap contains both moisture and nutrients that the plant needs. Additionally, these bugs will reproduce fairly quickly due to their short life cycles.
During their lives, the females will eventually lay eggs. This quickly increases the number of insects if you do not intervene.
The more pests there are, the more sap they rob from your marble queen pothos.
This affects the amount of chlorophyll your plant is able to produce. Thus, causing yellow leaves.
In addition to that, they will make holes and damage the leaves as well.
If the pests overwhelm your marble queen pothos due to their numbers, the plant will eventually get weak and deteriorate.
Solution
Unfortunately, there has so far been no proven way to 100% prevent pests from happening in plants.
Some gardeners swear by spraying their plants with neem oil once a month or using insecticidal soap spray as a preventive measure.
This does help.
Ultimately, the healthier the plant, the better its natural defenses are.
So, it is important to keep your marble queen pothos healthy by giving it the proper care.
Besides prevention, the other thing every houseplant owner needs to do is regularly inspect for pests.
You can use a magnifying glass to easily see these tiny creatures.
If you see any, quickly isolate the plant and start treatment.
My first line of defense is usually to spray off the plant using water. You can use the showerhead for smaller plants or a gardening hose for the larger ones.
The stream of water will dislodge many of the pests to get rid of them.
You do need to be as thorough as possible. And make sure to let the plant dry after each spray session.
It usually takes several sprayings to get rid of all of bugs. So, you can repeat every 4-5 days.
That said, the earlier you spot the issue, the fewer water sprayings needed since there will be fewer pests.
Another option is to use neem oil spray.
Again, spray the leaves and cover them with the neem oil solution. You’ll also need to repeat every 3-5 days until all the insects are gone.
Too Much Fertilizer
Many people think that feeding their plants with more fertilizer is a good this.
But it is not!
Instead, over fertilizing can cause yellow leaves in marble queen pothos.
This is likewise the case with other houseplants as well.
Why?
Commercial fertilizers contain soluble salts in addition to nutrients.
Therefore, feeding your plants more often than needed not only gives them more nutrients, it also supplies them with too much salt.
As the salts built up in the soil, their particles will attract moisture.
This makes it harder for your marble queen pothos’ roots to absorb moisture.
Since plants absorb nutrients from the soil via water as well, the plant becomes deficient in both moisture and nutrients.
This results in water and nutrient deficiencies that cause yellow leaves. It will slow growth as well.
What’s worse is that plants hate salt.
And too much salt accumulation in the soil will eventually damage its roots and leaves causing fertilizer burn.
Solution
To avoid marble queen pothos yellow leaves due to overfertilizing, do not give the plant more than it needs.
Marble queen pothos only need plant food during its growing season.
And it does not need fertilizer during the winter.
When applying follow the instructions.
You can use a balance liquid houseplant fertilizer and apply once a month during spring and summer. That’s all the plant needs.
On the other hand, in case you notice yellow leaves and white crusting on the soil, it means that your marble queen pothos is already suffering from too much fertilizer.
To fix this, flush the soil by running water through it for a few minutes.
Pour the water directly onto the soil. You can use a hose and rest it on the rim of the pot.
Do not water overhead and wet all the leaves.
By running the water and saturating the soil, the excess moisture will dissolve and carry out the salts, excess minerals and other tiny debris out with it through the pot’s drainage holes.
Then allow all the excess water to drain.
Excess Light
Yellow leaves on marble queen pothos can also happen due to too much sunlight.
Like other pothos plants, the marble queen will grow best when there is plenty of light. However, it needs indirect or filtered light.
More importantly, it cannot tolerate direct sunlight or full sun for more than 2 or 3 hours a day.
If you keep it somewhere with too much sunlight or very intense light, it can experience sunburn.
When this happens, you’ll notice your marble queen pothos leaves turn yellow. After a while, they will become brown.
This tells you that the leaves are burning or getting scorched due to too much intensity and heat.
Solution
The good news is that marble queen pothos yellow leaves due to excess sunlight is easy to fix.
While the damaged and discolored leaves won’t turn green again, you can avoid other leaves from suffering the same fate by moving the plant.
Make sure to move it somewhere that is well-lit. But into a spot where it does not get hit directly by the sun’s rays.
This will give it the light it needs to grow optimally without the risk of sunburn.
That said, avoid low light as well.
When placed somewhere with too little light, your marble queen pothos’ growth will slow down. The insufficient light will also cause fewer leaves and smaller ones at that.
Just as importantly, you run the risk of losing your marble queen’s lovely variegation.
This can happen as the plant will go into survival mode.
When there is too much light, it will struggle to create its own food and energy via photosynthesis.
Therefore, the plant will try to produce more light-capturing chlorophyll.
But in doing so, the leaves will turn more green.
This causes your marble queen to lose is white and cream patterns.
So, if your home does not get enough natural light, you can use artificial lighting to supplement the sun.
You can likewise use artificial grow lights on their own. This will keep the plant happy as well.
That said, keep in mind that bulbs also emit heat.
And since you’ll see to keep your marble queen pothos under grow lights for at least 12 hours daily, they can burn leaves as well.
To avoid this from happening, place the plant at least 10 to 12 inches away from the bulbs.
