I’ve had this plant for 7-10 months (memory of when I brought it home is failing me). About 3 months ago it started curling and losing leaves. I moved it to more direct lighting and it stopped losing leaves, but I noticed it would be very dry quickly. I was watering every 2 weeks but switched to every week when I noticed it very dry by then. Unfortunately I haven’t seen any improvements, but the leaves stopped falling off when I moved it into more light. Anybody know what I can do to help it? Pretend like I know nothing. 😂
by NikkiMerci
9 Comments
I hope somebody answers because I’ve lost two or three satin pothos, and they all did this leaf curling before dying. I keep thinking maybe it’s too hot for them where I have them?
Check to see if your soil has gone hydrophobic. Usually it forms into one large clump, and then water can’t actually reach the roots. I use a wooden skewer or chopstick to poke holes in the soil to ensure water is reaching the middle of the pot.
Look at its roots, he may have root rot or dry rot. I had one do this and it was also either taking too long to dry or way to fricken fast on drying out. Turned out he had root rot lol. He’s doing a lot better now! He was curling just like this but his ends were also crispy (they were when I bought them though so idk about that)
This pot is way too big. It was probably doing find before it went dormant. Plants have circadian rhythms and can tell when our days are shorter, and that is when they go dormant. I’d take it out of the pot, and check for mushy roots. You’ll want to repot in something much smaller, 4” pot would work fine. Pothos are tropical plants so they need aerated soil for their roots to breathe. Amending your soil so it’s chunkier will also ward off root rot. Let me know if you want a soil recipe.
This is a Scindapsus, also called satin pothos. It is not in the Epipremnum family and I’ve found their care to be a bit different. I treat my Scindapsus more like a succulent, and I have it in a south-facing window. I also let it dry out completely between watering. (My copy-paste answer)
I also feel your plant is in too big of a pot or it may not like that terracotta pot specifically I would try repotting.
I don’t know if this helps, but I do remember reading about terracotta being good for plants that like to be dryer because it basically wicks away the water. Maybe it’s drying out too fast. Or maybe the water is sitting towards the bottom and the roots can’t reach it because it’s a pretty big pot!
Thank you everybody! I’ll try repotting and trying a more aerated soil!
Your soil is too organic. Root loss. It’s staying wet too long and they hate Terra cotta pots. I’ve lost 2 pothos for the method you are doing. Use a plastic pot with drainage and a bark mix.
https://preview.redd.it/kqzjz04zakje1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e1ebc7c7e25f372fc5e98292f42ce4e5dd2ba01
Here’s mine in a bark mix.