A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Help with my Pothos, Please?

This plant must be near to 15 years old. Last spring he just started to fade- yellow and browning leaves, branches are withering in spots too. I changed his pot (last spring) and put him in this terracotta. At first I thought bugs and sprayed and watched, but I haven't seen anything even with a magnifying glass. It's almost a year and the decline seems to just progress. Most of the big leaves are gone even though it keeps growing but new leaves are sporadic. He is in a room with high humidity and I wonder if this could be the cause, but I'm not sure.
Any ideas guys? Thanks

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looks like he needs a hair cut and put in a pot that isn't terra cotta. terra cotta dries out much more quickly than other types of pots, and for a plant that is used to a lot of water, that can be a problem.

also, when you cut the vines back, you can put any that have leaves on them in a glass of water and they will take root.

anytime you have a vine that goes over 6-8 inches without a leaf, that puts stress on the plant if it is used to having closer leaves.

also, another problem may be a change of light. when you repotted it, did you move it to another room?

I bought "The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual" at Borders and it is very useful. From what I read (I'm no expert) it said Pothos longevity is 10 yrs or more (however long more is?) and yellow leaves can be caused by overwatering or transplant trauma. For watering the book says to "allow soil to dry within 1" of surface. Tolerates dryness better than overwatering." I highly recommend this book! I hope this helps. Please PM me and let me know.

Thanks for the thoughts. See how I'm caught between overwatering and to dry. I switched to the clay pot because I was hoping to help. The hair cut is a good idea, but scary. he's been in the same spot for a while and I have other pothos near by thats why I think the conditions are good. Is age really signifigant? I didn't realize that plants had a life span.

Becky- I don't know what PM is, but thanks.

Sorry, PM is private message. You can just post here and I'll keep track of it. My aunt recommened taking some cuttings and trying to root them to make a new plant.

IMO also, clay pots are ideal for pothos, as they like to dry out a bit, I've read to let dry 1" down(as Becky wrote), and read elsewhere to let dry even more than that, like the top third of the pot, which is what I do. Mine are in clay and thriving.

Hate to say it, but I think your pothos has just reached the end of it's life-span. plants do have them. And, since you had this one so long and have others that are doing fine, you obviously know what you're doing in regards to pothos care. Don't grieve, if you make a new plant from it's cuttings it will have lived on!

Karamy

How is that pothos doing? What have you done with it?

I did a big trim. You guys were right, He had one stem that was like 10 feet with no leaves. I did that around 2 weeks ago and the leaves look beter already. I think he's still fragile, but managing.

We're still in denial about the age thing. I changed vets when he said that about my dog. Turns out it was lymes disease!