Well, color me stunned.

Yup, I had a really leggy and old pothos. The node intervals were like 3 inches...... so I chopped it back to maybe only 7 or 8 leaves (I had 3 vines) and each vine put out new shoots at most of the nodes.... got lots of good growth. Might have helped that it was in my terrarium getting lots of light at the time, I don't know. Feels good, huh? :D

so this is not a normal occurence?? At least two vines have four separate branches starting, maybe my plants just love me...lol. I am pretty surprised too, I thought maybe one branch would dominate and the others would stop growing, but they arent, I am multi branching!!

Hummm...I thought it *was* a fairly normal occurence, as mine also has branched like that. It only happens about 30% of the time though. I don't do anything special for my pothos as far as care goes, so I don't know what triggers it. I'm glad your plants are doing so well---that hoya of yours still sticks in my mind!

Well I am thrilled that it is happening, its going to be a bushy plant if this continues....lol. I love my hoya, I only have one, I find it really hard to find them in alberta, and it is babied....lol. I ooo and awww over it several times a day, and now I am smelling it everytime I pass it, which is like every five minutes....lol.

Tracy

I think the thing, but I'm a newbie, is that pruning them back doesn't make more limbs but letting it grow does. It has to grow long enough to want to make a climber, then that climber will want to make a climber. At least that's what mine has done. It was very leggy when I got it, it was in a hanging basket. I've since put it on the ground with hopes of it growing up rather than hanging down. It's gotten very full, making new leaves everywhere. Unfortunately I have yet to learn how to make it climb (see my other post about "Golden Pothos, Meet Trellis" and give me advice please)

There's a different growth pattern with up versus hanging also but I can't recall details.

That is normal, however if you hade more than one stem coming from a node then I'd worry. More than likely only one of those stems will really get going. You can wrap the long stems around the inside of the pot and pin those roots to the soil, it will bush that way also.

I was thinking of doing that also......so far I have not seen multiple branches from one node, the most is four branches forming on one vine.....I noticed the leaves are getting smaller, I am hoping they grow as big as the rest, it has not been moved recently so I know it has been getting the same amount of sun, wondering maybe if the plant cant keep up with itself....lol.

Tracy

trace, have you fertilized? Maybe it's hungry!

I was always taught that leaves that hang on a vine are smaller than leaves that are on a self supported stalk or leaves that grow on upward vines. How the plant knows the difference I don't know. That's why I'm trying to grow mine up. I've seen plenty that hang in baskets and it seems like the ever shrinking leaf syndrome always occurs on hangers. Not that that's a bad thing, the small leaves look nice also if the coloration is good.

Mk, yeah, I wonder why that happens..I too have seen Pothos growing on poles and the leaves are huge.
I've several pothos growing in water, (several yrs) in a north window that gets little sun..maybe I should take a cutting and grow up a pole..There's quite a difference between haning Pothos and upright..I thought it might be a different type..should try it..Toni

What I did was transfer mine to a 12 inch pot and then at Home Depot they had a obelisk that is 11 inches around. It looks like a fancy tomato cage. I've started twist tying the Pothos to it at certain points on each vine to help it grow up. If I had it to do over I'd use some sort of pole that it could root into, but I didn't want to go through all that trouble.

I'm told that in nature the Pothos is a tree killer, or at least a tree parasite. It supposedly likes to climb them, root into them, and suck their blood. Perhaps they shrink when hanging because it's looking for a tree? Maybe it's like the way the get leggy but in a different way. Just a guess though, I have no idea really.

Hi Tracy, I have different pothos varieties and always cut them back to make bushier plants. Considering, the results, I presumed this is the natural growth of these plants.

Madam W

Miki, there are two conservatories near my house..
At one, as soon as you walk in the second room, in view there are tall, super tall, palm trees w/thick trunks..growing around the trunks are Pothos w/huge leaves. They actually wrap themselves around trunks..maybe that's one reason they call them tree killers..and also your theory. I always assumed these pothos were not the standard types. I'm still unsure, but who's to say..I love the way they grow, and since Palms are doing well, guess Pothos aren't hurting them..
When I first saw these trees, they reminded me of ivy or moss growing on trunks..then as I grew closer, it was obviously pothos. I haven't any huge palms, over 20' tall, growing in my house, lol..but if I lived in a warm climate, I'd defiantly try it..looks fantastic. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress..Toni

I took a hanging pothos I was tired of and grew it up a pole. I found a plastic mesh pole with sphaghnum in it at a nice garden center. However, it was too hard to keep the sphagnum wet all the time, so the pothos wouldn't root into it. I ended up tying it with green velcro garden tape. The leaves did get a lot bigger when growing up.

There are lots of pothos varieties out there today - some have naturally larger leaves than others to begin with. A really nice one we use at work is called 'Green Machine'; it has larger leaves and seems very vigorous and bushy naturally.

I think the leaves in a hanging pothos get progressively smaller in low light or lack of fertilizer. Someone told me once that you can tell how regularly a pothos has been watered by looking at the distance on the stem between the leaves - if it has been watered regularly, the leaves will all be about the same distance apart; if not, they will be erratically spaced. Not sure if it's true, but I found it interesting.

BTW, I prune LOTS of pothos on the job, and usually they just grow one new stem where the cut was made. Sometimes I get more stems, but not often.

I have been watching my pothos, and three of the new stems are already giving off leaves, so they are going good, the other ones are still developing hopefully they leaf as well. I just might try growing some upwards on a pole as well as the hanging ones.....I love pothos....I have a jade one, a marble queen, and the golden one. and of course cuttings from all of them. Thanks for all the input everyone, I didnt know they multi branched, but now that I know they do, I am excited.

Tracy

Tracy, what's the golden Pothos? Do u have a pic of one? Toni

Well, you know me I could be wrong....lol. The Marble Queen is green/white, the jade is pure green, the golden is green/yellow flecks. Here are some pics from google, all the ones with the yellow are in my understanding the golden pothos. I have one pothos that is pure green, its my fav, its called a jade pothos.

Hope this helped

Tracy

Here is a link that might be useful: google pics

You think the jade pothos is cool, you should see the neon yellow ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Epipremnum 'Neon'

I've seen the neon in person. Many people adore it. But to my eye, it has a sickly yellow color. And I usually love chartreuse or other unusually colored foliage.

The 'Neon' cv. does take some getting used to.

I like it....lol, but DH thinks it looks sickly as well, one day I will find it....lol. I havent seen that anywhere around here only on the net.

Tracy

I like it too..LOL..the contrast between both colors is stunning..I've never seen one sold either..Toni

I have a "Hawaiian" pothos which is white and yellow variegation on green leaves. It also has much larger leaves than a normal golden pothos. I find the Marble Queen the hardest to grow of the three, but the Hawaiian is by far the slowest. Then again my Hawaiian isn't looking too good either, I need to give it a trim, repot, and feed.

I have never seen a hawaiin pothos, I bet its really pretty. Last night I fond another plant labelled as a pothos, some call it satin pothos, others call it silver philo.....it is actually neither, but they are pretty neat looking. Heres a link.

Tracy

Here is a link that might be useful: satin pothos

Trace, oh I love Scindapsis..They really are something..I had a few in the past but they are in plant heaven..think they needed more humidity in winter. Maybe a bit more sun, too..Maybe I'll try one once more..lol..Toni