A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Yellowing leaves

I dont know whats wrong with my plants! I have 2 ivy's, 1 pothos, 1 philodendren, 1 basil and 2 spider plants. My ivy's, basil and philodendren are doing fine. but my pothos's leaves keep yellowing and my spider plants have yellow and brown leaves--im watering them with rain water and keeping them by the window. I tried moving the spider plants into a shadier area too and it didnt help. I think I might have fungal flies. One of my previous plants was infested with them--bought it that way unfortunatly. It died, but could it have spread to the other plants? I have been trying the wine trick--putting wine out by the infested plants and having them be drawn into it and drown. Ive gotten only 1 fly so far. Please help! I dont want to loose my plants!

too much water

I actually havent been watering them that much....

that would be my guess, too.
are you letting them dry out between waterings? I nearly killed my philodendron and ivy the first year by watering too much.

I thought a pothos was a philodendron?

what kind of light, exactly?
typical room temperatures?

spider plants shouldn't be in direct sun and they like to be root-bound. and let them dry out a bit before rewatering. you need to do a deep enough watering to get all the soil moist - not just the top layer.

I've had fungus gnats before. They got into every plant I had. I ended up dumping all the soil out of all my plants and starting again. If you have them- then you need to treat your plants immediately. I put sand in the pots and that got rid of the eggs. I also read about putting potato slices on the top of the soil to draw out the babies. Anyone have any advice???
Gail

Well I lucked out! I dont know if this solved the problem or mearly made it a bit better,but I fertilized the spider plants yesterday and they perked right up. I dont know about the Pothos, how its doing.

I actually have been letting it dry out in between waterings. Its weird, I thought they were pretty parched before I watered them, but the water seemed to go right through the soil? How do I do a deep enough watering to get all the soil wet, not just the top layer? Dunk them in water from the pot up? Thanks for all your help guys! Me and my plants sure do appreciate it!

is the pothos getting root-bound? or did you put too much water in at one time?

if you dump too much water in at one time, it can just flow all the way through and go out the bottom. for all my plants, i put a bit of water and let it soak down and then come back a few minutes later and put in a bit more.

Oh thats a good idea! Thanks I'll try repotting it in a bigger pot add less water at a time. I bet it is a bit root bound.