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Very Long Vine Pothos Losing Leaves

SP123
12 years ago

I've had two golden pothos plants for a couple of years.

They grow from the second floor balcony of my sunroom, and over the past summer, have gotten to be 15-20 feet long.

I was hoping to grow them even longer, but over the last 2-3 months, many vines have dropped most of their leaves, and the rest are yellowing.

I've seen suggestions of cutting vines back, but I'd like to avoid it. Any ideas how I can keep the vines healthy AND long?

Comments (9)

  • zzackey
    12 years ago

    Do you fertilize them? Maybe they need more water? They don't like alot of watering. Sometimes I over or under water them. They aren't as forgiving as some of my plants are.

  • pirate_girl
    12 years ago

    Hi SP,

    Sorry, but I don't believe you can. I think once the vines go bare, they won't fill back up.

    I've never grown the golden pothos, but grew the green for many years, always cutting it back & replanting the cuttings into the mother plant's pot. Now I just grow bunches of it in cups of water in my bathroom.

  • birdsnblooms
    12 years ago

    Sp..How did your Pothos do last winter? Did leaves drop then, too?

    My Pothos are placed where most other plants won't grow. Not enough light, dry/stuffy air drop leaves.
    Those in brighter light, less stuffy air, humidity and watered when soil dries, usually keep their leaves.

    How much light is your Pothos getting?

    How far up/down the vine did leaves start dropping?
    If a couple feet, cutting won't make much differnce.
    I know, to you it will, lol.
    If you decide to prune ends, don't toss, instead, root cuttings..once they're rooted add w/mom plant. By doing this your Pothos will look fuller. Not longer, but full. Eventually the new cuttings will grow long, too.

    Spring is nearing so before you know it stems will continue growing.

    SP123, wish there was another way, but unlike some plants, new leaves won't grow in the same spot on the stem, once they drop. That's the reason you read about people cutting back Pothos. :)

    Toni

  • drtabby4
    7 years ago

    Ok I have a question ? Is it possible to take part of the stem devoid of the leaves and gently scrape of a node to expose a bit of tissue and loop it down into the soil to possibly get some roots. I hate to cut it before I get some sort of root growth, when the remaining 1-2 ft is full of leaves. I'm afraid without some root that it might cause the leaves to die and fall off the end of the stem.


    I thought I'd try this for two weeks before cutting.


    Just trying to see what you all think about it.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago

    It's called ground or mound layering or in some cases stooling. Yes - it's a good way to propagate with almost no risk of failure.


    Al

  • Katherine Boyd
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Thank You for this vine! Forgive me, my hortculture vocabulary is kindergarden. I let my pothos run long and free. Recently, some of them have developed bald spots... stems are dropping leaves for just a foot or two somewhere nearer the pot, and seem happy and healthy for the remaining 10-15'. If I pick the scabs (node) on the bald spots, will this inspire new leaves? Is there such a thing as "too long" of a stem for sustainability? Also... would you recommend a root-starting solution for cuttings? How big of a cut is sustainable? Any response would be greatly appreciated!

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    You don't need rooting hormone (root-starting solution) for these. They only set roots from leaf nodes, where the leaf joins the stem. So make sure you have at least one node, or better still a couple. It's fairly normal for long vines to lose the leaves lower down. Low light can cause it but once the vine gets quite long they tend to lose those lower leaves even in bright light. I don't know what their limits are to vine length but I have them growing 25 metres up into trees. The leaves up top are huge and very healthy, the stems are nearly as thick as my wrist.

  • Josue Navarro
    3 years ago

    has anyone tried tried this.Th this guy looks like he took a very very big vine

    From a tree and he did the same thing with the philodendron and propagated that huge fine. I just t was crazy https://youtu.be/SzWPmSAfovw 

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