Plant Rescue

Figure out what's wrong—and what to do next

Something wrong with your plant? Upload a photo or describe what you're seeing and Plant Rescue helps you narrow down what may be happening, decide what to check next, and make a practical rescue plan.

See what Plant Rescue gives you

Real output from an actual run on the plant below — an excerpt of a longer result, nothing reworded.

The plant

Pothos in a 6-inch pot. Leaves yellowing from the bottom up over the past two weeks. A few have brown tips. New growth still green but smaller than before. Indoors, partial shade, watered weekly on a schedule, pot has drainage. Pets in the house.

Real run, 2026-10-08 — one of the tool's own built-in examples, described in words without a photo.

Watch and check

Bottom-up yellowing with active new growth still present suggests the plant is under some stress, but is not in immediate crisis. The pattern fits a few different causes that need to be distinguished before acting. Check soil moisture and watering practice first.

Check this first

Soil moisture before your next watering: Push a finger or wooden chopstick well into the potting mix, below the dry surface layer. Note whether it comes out damp, wet, or dry. If it is still damp or wet: hold off watering and switch to watering only when the top portion of the mix has dried out. This is the single most useful change you can make right now.

What to do now

Switch from a fixed watering schedule to watering based on soil feel. A calendar interval does not account for how quickly this particular pot, mix, and plant actually use water. Checking the soil directly removes the guesswork that a fixed schedule introduces.
Remove yellowed leaves that have little healthy green tissue remaining. Leaves that are mostly yellow will not recover. Removing them is tidier and lets you see clearly whether yellowing continues to spread to leaves that were green before.

What improvement looks like

Yellowing stops progressing to leaves that were green before
New leaves grow to a comparable size as earlier growth, rather than continuing to shrink
The plant does not produce more yellowed leaves after you correct the watering practice

Pets

Pothos is considered toxic to cats and dogs if ingested, primarily causing oral irritation and gastrointestinal upset. Keep the plant out of reach of pets. If you have reason to think a pet has chewed on or eaten part of it, contact your vet or a pet poison information service.

Plant Rescue works from what you describe and any photo you add. It gives the checks that tell causes apart rather than a guess; a local nursery can look at the plant itself.

In a Nutshell

When: Something's off with a plant and you're not sure why.
You give: A photo or description, plus light, watering, and what's changed recently.
You get: A few plausible explanations, what to check first, and what to do next.
The edge: It won't diagnose your plant with certainty or promise a recovery timeline — only what the evidence you gave it does and doesn't support.

Good to Know

A photo of the affected leaf and one of the soil surface help more than a single whole-plant shot
How you decide to water (checking the soil vs. a fixed schedule) matters more than how often
The single suggested check usually matters more than jumping straight to a fix
Selecting more symptoms doesn't make the read more certain — describing what changed recently often does
Save a plant to build a short observation history instead of starting over each time

Questions people ask

Why are my plant's lower leaves turning yellow?

Often it is watering — too much, so roots sit in wet soil, or too little. Older lower leaves also yellow naturally as a plant grows, but slowly. Check the soil a couple of inches down before you water: if it is still damp, water less often.

How often should I water a pothos?

Not on a fixed schedule. Water when the top part of the soil has dried out, then let the excess drain away. How often that is depends on light, temperature, pot size and season.

Is pothos toxic to cats and dogs?

Yes. The ASPCA lists pothos as toxic to cats and dogs; chewing it usually causes mouth irritation, drooling and vomiting. Keep it out of reach, and call your vet or a pet poison line if your pet has eaten some.

Do I need a photo?

No, a description works, as in the example above. A clear photo of the affected leaves, the soil and the drainage hole makes the checks more specific.