Make the soil have more air in it – perlite, expanded clay? In addition – maybe cutting the longest vines and propagate from them? Or make a circle, touching the nodes to the soil.
MadamNineTails
I’d recommend checking for root rot just incase. Checking if they smell off or have black or mushy roots. If they do remove the mushy or discolored parts then treat it with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Make sure to throw away the soil and use a different pot if too.
The other 2 things are soil and pot size. Most bagged soil straight from the store or nursery don’t have a lot of amendments to increase drainage and airflow. Adding things like orchard bark, perlite, vermiculite, pumice, etc… can help with this and will let it dry out between waterings better. There are lots of soil “recipes” online for specific plants but if your budget is tight or you don’t have access to those other ones you could probably get away with mixing house plant soil with equal parts perlite.
As for pot size you only want a pot about an inch (or 2 inches for larger plants) bigger than the root ball. Even if the top of the plant looks like it belongs in a bigger pot only go by the root size. This is because if the roots aren’t able to get to all the soil it will stay wet and increase the chance of root rot. If it’s already in a pot only an inch bigger than the root ball consider going down one size because it’s not drying out. Also it’s probably okay, but I don’t think people recommend using terracotta pots for pothos since they’re tropical and not cactus. Terracotta does remove moisture from the soil though so if that’s your goal it could potentially help.
2 Comments
Make the soil have more air in it – perlite, expanded clay? In addition – maybe cutting the longest vines and propagate from them? Or make a circle, touching the nodes to the soil.
I’d recommend checking for root rot just incase. Checking if they smell off or have black or mushy roots. If they do remove the mushy or discolored parts then treat it with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Make sure to throw away the soil and use a different pot if too.
The other 2 things are soil and pot size. Most bagged soil straight from the store or nursery don’t have a lot of amendments to increase drainage and airflow. Adding things like orchard bark, perlite, vermiculite, pumice, etc… can help with this and will let it dry out between waterings better. There are lots of soil “recipes” online for specific plants but if your budget is tight or you don’t have access to those other ones you could probably get away with mixing house plant soil with equal parts perlite.
As for pot size you only want a pot about an inch (or 2 inches for larger plants) bigger than the root ball. Even if the top of the plant looks like it belongs in a bigger pot only go by the root size. This is because if the roots aren’t able to get to all the soil it will stay wet and increase the chance of root rot. If it’s already in a pot only an inch bigger than the root ball consider going down one size because it’s not drying out. Also it’s probably okay, but I don’t think people recommend using terracotta pots for pothos since they’re tropical and not cactus. Terracotta does remove moisture from the soil though so if that’s your goal it could potentially help.
Best of luck and happy planting! 🌱 🙂