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Devil's Ivy ?

15 years ago

Hello everyone

I know what plant I have now its a devil's Ivy, hopefully I can keep it going. My mother sent me a book on house plants and she is going to try and get me some started at her house & send them to me. Now my question the book says it can live in water and do good. Has anyone ever had one in just water or would it be best to put it in dirt? The book she sent me was published in 76, and I'm not sure if the care of this plant has changed since then.

Thank you for your time

Frances

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Comments (4)

spiderplant
15 years ago
They can grow in water, but they thrive when put in soil. I would recommend putting all "cuttings" in soil and not do water, because when plants are put in water they grow a special water root, so when you go to plant it, it grows all new roots in the soil, but it is fun to grow in water.

Hope this helps,
Spiderplant
greattigerdane
15 years ago
You can grow Pothos/devils ivy 'Epipremnum aureum' in soil, or water.
I have some in soil and some in water. When the one's in soil become a little too long, I will take a few cuttings to replace any older, or yellowing ones growing in water.
The ones in water can last for many years, especially when you have an endless supply of cuttings.
Very easy!

Just don't over-water the ones in soil, let the soil pretty much dry out and keep both in bright indirect light, although a little bit of sun, or dapple sun shouldn't hurt them.

Billy Rae
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Yes, can't disagree with any of that. Looks like this poor plant got way too dry recently, but definitely not dead. Also agree, there's so many individuals in there, packed so closely together, all will be struggling. You could use a big scissors or knife to cut the root ball in to chunks, or try to separate them more if that sounds like fun to you. Then you can give some away, or just have more of them. If you like fiddling with a plant once a week or so, the pole is a fine idea. This vine won't grow up the pole without a little occasional guidance. It has aerial roots that should cling to the pole over time, but may need to be manipulated to be in close enough proximity to the pole to get started. If you just want to water occasionally and ignore, removing that might be better. In that case it could dangle over the sides. Syngonium are common in hanging baskets for that reason. This isn't the kind of plant that gets big and woody with age, and can discard older leaves quickly. People often trim the vine parts off of them to have just basal growth, and potted vines are generally prone to bouts of unhappiness, at which point most can be severed at the soil line and replanted, instead of trying to do a 'real' repot of removing old soil, untangling roots. They grow new roots at the drop of a hat, so don't feel bad about its' current appearance. You're right once you remove the ugly leaves for now, there will be a lot less to the plant, but that's OK. It looks like it has a ton of new leaves curled up, ready to unroll, and is a fast growing plant generally. The newer leaves are a different color usually, turning to a plain green as they age. Looks like these new leaves are somewhat orange (some plants are pink.) That's perfectly healthy/normal, just in case you were thinking all of those leaves were compromised too.
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Looked healthy to me too and the pot has holes. We have to remember that just like us no plant is perfect. I always find a torn or deformed leaf on my plants. Especially after watering day.
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Variegated Monstera or Devils Ivy
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Thank you very much for the information bossyvossy & Russ. I actually live in Nimbin Australia which is Sub Tropical. I have always had a love of plants and had many, many house plants back in the 70's. These days my potted plants surround our verandah and hide amongst the trees and Bromeliaeds. Philodendrons have always been my favourites and I have recently become obsessed again as my daughter has just discovered a love for them as well and it is so nice to share an interest. I managed to get Lisa a white variegated Monstera for Christmas and she commented 'my life is now complete'. These go for absolute silly money in Australia with most selling for $350 - $450 on eBay for 3 to 4 leaves. I bought one for myself as well but it is going to be a bit of a challenge as it is almost all white, the two leaves it had on it when I received it have already started to go brown but it was a bit damaged in the post. The new leaf has more green and is doing better. The very tip was damaged and it has browned of a tad. I am always searching for that rare cutting to add to my collection. Happy New Year
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i agree... looks fine .. water properly ... get it a bit more light ... and leave it alone ... do not move it into direct sun without hardening it off properly .... we can trim off the stub later.. in the meantime it might leaf out at a node ... patience ... ken btw: the damaged leaf looks like it was smooshed on the pot edge ... but it has plenty of leaf surface left to process light into energy ... with so few leaves.. leave this one as long as you can .. [smooshed is a very technical term.. i hope you understand it .. ]
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snowflake-rosa
15 years ago
Hey! This plant seems pretty much impossible to kill and it will grow in water or soil, sun or shade. You'll get more color in the leaves with higher light intensitly and less with more shade. If you keep it in water (fun and nice conversation piece) I would feed it a low strength fertilzer for houseplants occasionally. Just once or twice a year perhaps. The leaves might get bigger in soil, but this plant can grow either way. They are EXTREMELY hardy so don't worry about it too much. Hope yours does well!
Mentha
15 years ago
When I lived in Tennesse my pothos really looked spectacular, but it doesn't seem to like my dryer weather here. I have killed many of them, mostly because if they have spider mites, I throw them outside to fend for themselves. Pothos, roses, and ivy are the three worst plants for spider mites. Anyway, I used to take a few cuttings and just throw them in my fish tank. They are a natural water purifier. They would eventually root in the gravel and push up out of the water.
Pothos does fine in water. If you have some pretty colored bottles, try rooting some in them. Pothos is one of my favorite plants to grow in old wine bottles. The colored glass tends to curb the growth of algae. Put a few bits of aquarium charcoal in the bottle to help keep the water sweet, and lookout, because soon you'll have lots of the stuff everywhere. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants has a lattice above the cook's station and there must be 100 feet of Pothos weaved through it.

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