I've adopted a "rescue" plant that I've been nursing back to health, and though it seems to be recovering, the pot and soil are in pretty bad shape. When I got the plant it was bone-dry and the leaves were brown, but the soil was moldy and probably waterlogged at the bottom of the pot. I've tried a few things (such as cinnamon) for getting rid of the mold, but at this point I'm afraid it needs a clean new environment with optimal drainage. Unfortunately, this plant is extremely fragile and loses big sections of vine if I try to (very gently) re-position or untangle it, despite the fact that it is now green and no longer dry. What would be the best way to go about transferring it to another pot? Would it be worse to repot it or to leave it where it is? It would probably help to know what this mystery plant is in the first place, and I posted a couple pictures in the identification forum, but so far no luck in identifying it.
I'm pretty sure that's a "wandering Jew" that's been grown in too little light. The last comment in the other thread gives good advice: vicious pruning and rooting the cuttings. At the same time I would carefully disintegrate the root ball in lots of water and a mild disinfectant, followed by a good rinse and repotting. It will likely put up new shoots eventually. I grew one for many years on a bright but not sunny window and it thrived as long as it had good drainage. This might be a case when you would dust the roots with powdered sulphur (garden sulphur) after the washing/rinsing. It's a mild disinfectant and will acidify the soil and provide a nutrient. Just a little is needed, a pinch, say. If the roots are quite entangled, just sever them vertically and sort out the pieces. Use any decent potting soil or even light sandy loam and fertilize gently once you get some growth in warmer/sunnier seasons. It's a very forgiving plant as its survival in this case demonstrates. It adapted to terrible conditions taking risks but still doing the right thing. You'll be thanked with neat little flowers and seed-pods eventually.
