I’m new to keeping live plants, and I have no clue what to do for these guys 🙁 the pothos is so droopy with some black leaves. The spider plant is super flat and not as green as it should be 🙁 I wanted them about once a week with rain water and there’s no way light is an issue since they’re near a window and if it’s not sunny out, I have while LEDs above them. Please help 🙁
by Ocean_Miller1231
21 Comments
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That pothos is wayyy beyond sad 😔
Honestly I’m not sure if at least the current pothos leafs are beyond saving. Anything after a dark or dried up piece of stem is gone for sure. I’d take some clean sharp scissors and cut at least those pieces of with a bit of a margin.
As well as any dry, not just sad leafs. Have you checked the roots of it yet?
The pothos and its soil look dry, how have to been watering it? I would start by giving it a thorough watering
How much water are you giving it once a week… a cup full, a thorough drench? Does the water run out of the bottom after you water?
These guys look totally dry, which is the mystery…. When soil dries out entirely, it becomes hydrophobic and takes a while to start absorbing water again, so maybe when you water you haven’t been giving it enough water to actually break through the compaction?
Here’s what you do: if we’re sure that the soil is currently dry, you’re going to SATURATE it. Put the pot in a saucer, skillet, deep plate, whatever, and then water the plant, making sure that it ends up sitting in a pool of water. Wait a few minutes, then add more water to the top of the soil. Let the soil soak up as much water as it wants for an hour or so; by the end of this process, the soil should be totally wet and the pot should be HEAVY.
Once that’s done, put the plant where it normally lives and let it dry completely before watering it again.
General principles:
— almost all houseplants plants want to dry out in-between waterings
— therefore, you can’t be married to a set schedule for watering, since different factors cause plants to dry out faster or slower, even in the same house; you can, however, be on a set schedule for CHECKING to see whether your plant needs water (i.e., whether the soil is dry under the surface)
— overwatering is always about the FREQUENCY of watering, not the AMOUNT of water in a single watering session; when you do water, SATURATE: you’re not done until the soil is legit soft with water and the pot is heavier than it was
— the rain water vs tap water thing doesn’t make as much difference as you think, unless you’re dealing w/ bog plants
Follow up: the pots have drainage holes, right?
Water.
Pothos actually like to be watered more often. The soil should be at least rich looking. This one looks very dried and hard. Make sure you give it a deep soak to bring it back. And I can’t see the soil on the spider plant but I’d think it was the same issue.
The plants look super dried out. You can’t just water once a week and think that is fine. You should be checking the soil regularly to see if it actually needs water and water accordingly. Your weekly watering has clearly not been enough.
I’d put them in the bath tub spray lightly fill the tub with 2”-3” of water spray again and leave overnight to soak up as much as they can. Looks like they might could use a good aeration with a chopstick or screwdriver. Gently poke around in the soil as deep as you can to loosen it up. If it has become hydrophobic this will help with the saturation. Before the soak.
Waster, waaater. Poor things are like crawling thru the desert.
They are thirsty as frick
My pathos does better with bottom watering
I would transplant them into a vase with water so that oxygen can get to the still living roots and to provide time for the plant to grown more.
I’ve done this several times with pothos and peperomias. Once I see a good amount of roots, I transplant into a soil less mix. Etsy has a bunch of vendors that have mixes to buy or you can make your own.
Soak them in a big tub. Make sure the soil is all the way wet. Then take them out and let them sit overnight I’m sure by the time morning comes they’ll be perking back up, can we see spider plant soil?
The look very dehydrated. Sun damage. I would get fresh soil and repot give a good water and give a few days sees how it perks up and then after you can trim to take off any bad foliage. Don’t do before because it’s already in trouble.
Water the poor plant.
I have that very same pot. I do not plant directly in it because that tiny little drainage hole is not big enough to drain all the water. Outside of not watering that poor plant, that may be a contributing factor when it does get water.
water
That spider plant also needs loads more water. In a healthy plant when the leaves start to get a little pale it’s time to water it again. Make sure the soil is properly wet. Tap water is perfectly fine for both plants as well, they don’t really care about the difference between rain and tap.