My mom sold the family home in Los Angeles and didnt have any way to take the plants she's care for (some for 14 years since I gave them to her after I thought I'd killed them in college). I went home and got as many as I could to try and save them for her. I brought them back to MD, (in the worse way possible, boxed as checked luggage). I then did nothing positive for them I'm sure, but tried to plant them in all. Some in potting mix and some in what turned out to be a bag of dirt. Three of the Pothos are terrible. First they just wilted. Still green, but lifeless droopy. Now they are getting yellow. Some of the leaves have turned brown now and few have gone hard enough to rustle. The brown spots start first then I think the leaf curls up. Some leaves are half brown and rustly will the rest of the leaf is just green and limp. Some of the stems leading to the leaves are yellow. Each leaf has some problem, either brown, yellow or limp. Is there ANYTHING I can do. I dont know anything, but I can follow directions like a pro. If there is something I can buy. I tried some super hormone stuff in one, I dont know if it did any thing. Is there some healing place I can take them - a nursery? Should the soil be moist or should I let it dry out. Warm? Should I put them in a plastic bag, shower them, what! Please help me save my mother's plants[/FONT]
HI there ... I would just get it some water and good light .. and if the leaves have turned brown just pull them off.. and if the stems are brown i would just cut it back new shoots will form soon .. pothos are pretty hardy plants .. it is probably just going through some shock from the move.. it should spring back.. good luck .. Marn
Thanks. Is that the final word, just wait? They seem to be getting worse every day. It doesnt matter what temperature they are in? Should I let the soil get completely dry? Does it matter if they are in dirt or the mix? I dont need to put them in a bag? Right now it seems like I'm just watching them die
In the Hort board 2 weeks ago we discussed pothos. Look under 'Queen Marble', maybe that can give you an idea. Good Luck!
Don't know if you are still keeping the pothos alive, but here's some input - I can't kill mine. Pothos loves office light and moderate temperatures (65-72 ish). It needs a good soaking about once a week, but not more often than that. Although fertilizer isn't necessary, a couple of doses as spring approaches would be OK. In short, the plant thrives on benign neglect.
The species which normally gets the common name "Pothos" is Epipremnum aureum (Linden & André) G.S. Bunting. No one is certain where this plant originated but it is thought to have come from the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean and is today the most commonly grown plant in the world. There is some mystery surrounding this species and botanists have for some time tried to prove or disprove it is a hybrid or actually a totally different species (Epipremnum pinnatum). This one is hard to kill. You almost have to try! But it doesn't like cold and your problem may be from the flight itself if you sent it in your luggage which can get cold in the cargo hold of the plane. This species is tropical and prefers very loose, fast draining soil. The mixtures you buy off the store shelf are not great for tropical plants and you will do better if you just mix it yourself. I suggest and use a mixture of good potting soil, peat moss, Perlite, and orchid potting media. You can buy them all in small bags and just mix them in equal mixtures. Now here's the part that most horticulturalists will argue about: water! This is a tropical rain forest plant. It is commonly found in Malaysia and grows everywhere in South Florida. You can find it in just about any city park in Miami. It is an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant) and grows up trees to 50 feet above the ground. The leaves will reach well over 1 foot in size, sometimes close to 18 inches. In the rain forests it gets water daily most of the year! In Miami it gets soaked in the rainy season and dry in the dry season. That tells you something about how to care for it. Give it lots of water but if you use the fast draining mixture it will use what it needs and that's all. It can do fine for a week or more with little or no water but will grow best if kept evenly moist all the time, not soaking wet. Since you are now trying to make this one recover even, frequent water will help it along. A dilute fertlizer (Miracle Grow or similar) will help. You would do best to just mix a little fertilzer with a large jar of water and give it the dilute fertilizer every time you water. About 1/4 teaspoon in a gallon of water does just fine. In my atrium I have the plant growing all the way to the ceiling which is 17 feet and the leaves are huge. Once it hit the ceiling it began to drop long thick vines which now hang all the way back to the ground. They even hang into the pond and sit in water all the time until we remove them. It grows so fast we throw it away. Today we cut over 15 feet of canes and tossed them since no one around here wanted it. If your plant is now almost barren of leaves just remove the bad ones and repot the plant in a good fast draining soil mix. Water it at least every few days and it should recover. I've seen it almost dead and then come back to life in Miami. It is a tough plant which is exactly why it is the most often grown plant in the world. If you've had it that long it would be a shame to let it die now. The plant prefers medium to lower light but can survive even in near direct light, it will just loose most of the color. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Epipremnum aurenum pc.html