I would give it a thorough drink. If you don't usually bare root when repotting, wilt isn't such a concern. From what you described, the plants desperately need a drink, just make sure the excess drips away. Watering from the bottom isn't something I ever do, and could only help if there are established connections with roots and such in the pot already. With this new situation, there's no way for water to wick up.

Hi purpleinopp,

Thank you so much for your reply!

I will proceed with watering (from the top). Normally, how long should it take for it to perk back up (so I can gauge if it's doing better)? It's never wilted before!

If it fails to perk up by the end of the week, should I go into salvage mode and cut the long vines and try rooting those?

Again, kind thanks for your reply.

In future I wouldn't do anything to disturb the roots of a Pothos unless I had to. They are very sensitive to damage.

I know you guys seem to love your repotting but it really is Russian Roulette with these.

i repot my large ones once ev 4-5yrs - not that often.that is bareroot repot, complete soil change - then it's bagged for the whole summer in good diffused light. interim i just topdress.
otherwise small plants that i rooted in my own soil - i just uppot into a next size up may be after 1-2 years, depending on size/growth.
i am a lazy potter at best. i did not know that they resent root disturbance, but i noticed the sulking every time.
they are the easiest plants though, somehow i thought it was all my fault.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies and all the info. I will never again disturb a thriving pothos, even if the pot/soil situation seems less than ideal. Argh, I feel so dumb!

Unfortunately, I think I managed to kill it. I woke up this morning to limp leaves that had begun to yellow near the base. Curiosity got the best of me and I unearthed some roots...some were brown, and a lot of the finer, feeder roots were soft and dark that quickly fell off. I don't think it's normal for some of a plant's roots to die after a repot, so I'm assuming it got root rot... don't know how they managed to go from perfect to dead in 3 days :(

At any rate, I went into emergency mode and cut the vines, removed the leaves near the nodes, and plopped them in water. I have so many cuttings, my kitchen counters are covered in jars, bottles, vases of all kinds with vines of varying lengths (but none longer than 10 inches). I also experimented with some cuttings and planted them directly in some tiny pots I had laying around, and misted the soil. They're super limp though. Has anyone here had luck rooting a cutting from a sick mother plant? I hope some will make it. I'm praying to the plant gods!

At this point, I don't think you have anything more to worry about. I don't usually bother with the roots of Pothos (or many other vines/creepers) at all if I'm in a hurry or just don't feel like it. They make way more roots than they need, don't have a 'crown to ruin.' Like you've done, just cut everything off at the soil level, stick in water until the aerial root nubs soften, turn white, (about a week,) then back in a fresh pot'o'soil.

Sometimes I just dump the pot out and pull out the nice pieces, cutting off most of the roots anyway. I would do that if I wanted to instantly go back to a pot since I always see a lot more wilting with this plant when trying to root directly in a pot.

Either way, the foliage doesn't need the old roots, which are just taking up space where new soil could go (lessening the longevity of the repot.) Plant will grow new roots, much nicer, brand-new ones.

Thanks for the input purple. I'll let them be for a few weeks or so and see if any roots come. The leaves that were limp are now turgid, so hopefully that's a good sign!

Thanks for the input purple. I'll let them be for a few weeks or so and see if any roots come. The leaves that were limp are now turgid, so hopefully that's a good sign!

Thanks for the input purple. I'll let them be for a few weeks or so and see if any roots come. The leaves that were limp are now turgid, so hopefully that's a good sign!

I recently repotted my Pothos Marble Queen as well. It went from a very crowded pot in whatever soil it was sold in into 3 different pots in gritty mix. I've also had some wilting issues, especially in a pot that is wider (7 inches) than it is deep (4 inches) - the pothos clearly seems to not like shallow pots, so check that you are not using one like that. Watering helps perk it up for a while, but your mileage will be highly dependent on the soil there, of course.

I did not think of bagging it - I probably should. Or I'll repot it into something more appropriate. I feel like pothos is a forgiving plant - there's a lot of margin of error / learning room in there.

Best of luck with your plant!

This post was edited by greentoe357 on Fri, Aug 9, 13 at 1:10

Hi all,

Kind thanks for all your replies. Here's my very late update:

All my cuttings rooted in water after a week or so but I only potted them a couple of weeks after the fact (got busy with other things). Potted them in left over 50% MG (bad I know) 50% perlite. I found it very difficult arranging the vines after they had been growing this way and that over the past several months --had to cut some vines up so they would fit. I also tried NOT to bury a lot of stem deep in the potting medium out of fear for future rot, but found it difficult to keep some of the vines stabilized otherwise. Hope I didn't mess that up too badly.

In the end, I was left with one medium sized "plant", one small, one tiny, and a handful of leftover vines to give away to friends. After potting, I watered, and then wrapped them up in those big dry cleaner bags and set aside.

None wilted! Hurrah! Two leaves turned yellow but I suppose that's acceptable collateral damage. Overall they seem to be doing well --some new leaves have unfurled at the tips. I've only watered once or twice since they were potted, when the soil feels dry. I hope by next spring I'll see the same level of growth as the mother plant had this year.

I should clarify: when I said I only planted the cuttings after roots had been growing for a few weeks, the roots by this point were pretty long (several inches). I'm pretty sure they should have been potted when the white roots were just emerging from the nodes. For future reference, is it OK to pot cuttings with established water roots? Or should they be planted as soon as water roots sprout? Is trimming long water roots to a smaller length when potting OK to do? (I may have been guilty of doing that last one as well.)