Pathos (pathas?) Vine Deleafing

Is this the one, Noddy?





This is the Golden Pothos variant.

eBeth--

That's the one--plain green rather than golden.

Noddy - are you trying to run the innerHelga in me ragged?
Houseplants dying, dogs with fleas, soap opera life year ... and you're dieting. Are you trying to take on too much at once?

You need 4 hands to hold onto your dominion!

eBeth--

Thanks for the kind words. Winter is a-cumin' in and if I don't create little islands of order now before the sunlight dwindles, I'll spend the dark months in a state of chaotic torper (right next to the well-stocked refrigerator).

I'll be moving Iffy, watchdog, companion and flea sanctuary, to her own thread. She's not happy playing second fiddle to an inedible vegetable.

Noddy - if the pothos is the plant you've temporarily lost control of - take some cuttings - root them in water (they're pretty quick about it) - and then decide how you want to proceed. Have you been re-potting regularly over the past 20 years with the existing plant? The soil might be getting a bit thin and 'sour' by this point.

eBeth--

After reading your suggestion, I stirred my stumps, filled a Mason jar with water, whipped out my pruning shears and whacked off half a dozen promising tendrils.

I'll keep you posted on progress. Hold your green dominion.

Noddy - is the plant in a room with a decent amount of natural light?

Good luck with the cuttings - and keep us updated. Part of my 'getting through university' income came from rescuing houseplants in desperate straits.

You can bring the mother plant back to life by going on a crusade to pinch back all new growth on the ends of the tendrils for a few months and give it a shot of good plant food. That will force the new growth to occur further down the old stems rather then at the ends.

About 20 years ago, I brought in one 6" pothos plant to the office and over the next 20 years with repotting, pruning, rooting cuttings and buying more pots and soil, we ended up with several dozen plants all over the office from that one mother plant. They're great plants, take a lot of abuse and seem to bounce back quite easily.

If you're a tea drinker, start brewing an extra cup of tea for your plants and water them now and then with the cooled liquid.

eBeth--

The cuttings are on the kitchen windowsill where they get sunlight and where I can't fail to notice when they need a bit more water.

I whispered to them that Auntie eBeth was taking a personal, kindly interest in their development--they were as pleased as I was.

Butrflynet--

I'll try tea. I've been using the rinsings from milk cartons for watering. Evidently the residue of calcium is very pleasing. I also have a kelp-based, organic plant food.

Tomorrow they shall have the dregs of the teapot with your compliments.

Hold your dominions, ladies.

ehBeth--

First, I'm sorry for trunciating your name. Your name is one of my first New Year's Resolutions.

Second, HELP! My pathos cuttings are in a mason jar on a sunny windowsill. They are green--flourishing like wickedness, flourishing like a green bay tree--but they are not rooting.

The parent plant has increased in scrawness.

Any suggestions?

Get some striking mix and plant them into it. Should be rooted in 3-4 weeks. These aren't particularly delicate plants, you could just about do it in ordinary potting mix.

As for you old, tired one. Cut it back hard. Knock it out of its pot. You will find that you have a dense, matted rootball - that is the cause of your problems.

Take some secatuars, cut through the thickest roots and cut away that encircle the whole rootball. Tease out the remaining roots. Pot up again in fresh potting mix. Feed with half-strength liquid fertilizer. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR A WHILE.




And I mean LEAVE IT ALONE. No poking into the pot or overwatering or overfeeding. It will survive.

Mr. Stillwater--

I hear and will obey--on the 26th of December. Happy Solstice to you.

I should have made a little qualifier there. By 'striking' mix, I do mean 'propagating mix' - you may probably find it more easily by that name. It's a straight mix of peat moss and sharp sand, allowing it to be free draining, but also retaining moisture. You may also want to dip the cut ends in hormone powder ('rooting' powder) prior to potting them up.



Failing that you can designate a fellow gardener as the 'Lord of Misrule' and follow up his last meal with a ritual sacrifice to ensure a good crop next Spring. :wink:

Mr. Stillwater--

I'm inclined to save human sacrifices for large issues--like World Peace. Wouldn't a mouse be enough to enrich a Pathos vine?

Ladies and Gentlemen--

Place your bets.

Aided by an agile friend the original spindly pathos vine has been cut back and repotted.

Also the pathos cuttings have been potted.

The the first pot to flourish will earn the living room window. The runner-up will have to be contented with the kitchen windowsill.

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