I have a Epipremnum aureum that i have had for about 6 years... for the first few years i had it hanging in my bathroom wimdow and it was beautiful and bushy and very happy. Two years ago we moved and I put him on a table near a window and many of the leaves at the top fell off and he became very leggy looking. I read that new leaves wont regrow on the parts where they were lost. He is growing new leaves at the ends of the vines but now many of the leaves are turning yellow then brown and falling off! I am worried he is dying and I dont np what to do! How do I help him return to the bushy long plant that the was previously? Thos is the only plant that I have ever been able to keep alive beong that my thumb is quite black. I am thinking of repotting him (something I have never done) and cutting him way back and trying to reroot the ends that have all the leaves in the same pot... is this a good idea? Please help! Here are some pictures so you have an idea of how i wrapped his vines and tried to give him places to grow. I appriciate any advice I can get! Thank you in advance.
This is a no win situation, I fear. To be truly helpful, I'd have to be kinda insulting. First, the overall green of the leaves tells me that it has not been getting enough light. Only when grown in too much shade do they lose their variegation. Once a stem has lost it, it will likely continue growing all green even if lighting is improved. What I have done is cut the plant back to where the last variegation was, give it improved lighting and then wait and see if the new growth has the patterns. Second, while this is a notorious vine with long runners it generally does not grow as you have it. I know people like to have remarkably long vines, but in terms of health and appeal of a houseplant, they are kind of pointless. On the other hand, where I live, some folks have it outside growing up trees well into the canopy and the twine like vines you have would be nice fat ropes attached to tree trunks, but then the leaves would each be larger than your head, and fairly covering the vine. I don't encourage that, but it's still fascinating. Third, an individual leaf will not regrow after it has fallen, but that node could still sprout new growth that will branch out. If you had this in a hothouse with high humidity and very good lighting, you might see some of those expanses of denuded vines get new growth. But, then again, the older and less vigorous a vine section is, the less likely it is to sprout. With enough skill you could turn this into a few dozen plants, but I realize that is daunting and probably not desirable. I would cut everything off below the base of the pot, and insert tip cuttings of the better looking ends into the pot, bag the whole thing with a clear plastic bag tented over it and just let it recover. Me personally? I harshly hack off the trailing vines on my potted Epipremnum aureum probably once a year. Having had other aroid vines grow up the side of my house and onto my roof, I'm no longer enamored of exceptionally long vines.
Thank you this helps alot. I dont particularly like the long vines either. I will cut off the vines and put the ends into the pot, find it a window that gets more light, and put a plastic bag over it. Do you suggest i repot it also?
I don't use the plastic bag tent, and I still have success with the tip cuttings using a similar method.
Yeah, Daniel, I don't use a cloche usually, but it does increase the humidity for people with less attentiveness to their plants. mmr_michelle, given that it took quite a few years to grow those vines, you probably should toss all that old soil and repot with a good mix. Good luck with it.
