HA! During WWI, for the war effort, my great great great grandmother would get permission to cordon off short sections of paved streets, on which she scattered rubber bands of varying diameter. Under her miraculous care, within days the rubber bands grew into trees so laden with tires for various types of military vehicles that often she and the neighbors couldn't harvest them all before they became larger than intended; this, necessitating that they be trimmed back to a usable size. She would then have the trimmings ground into powder, which she mixed with white milk. When the slurry of rubber and milk was heated under pressure in small molds (like sinker molds or toy soldier molds, if you've ever made either from lead), the result was Ficus elastica seeds which were sold to tree farmers all over the world and served as the propagules for essentially every rubber tree plantation currently in existence. I sure do miss that lovely and determined old gal. ....... at her 100th in 1966: She sure was something. Sad that we have to wait until next summer to see her again. Michelin has kept her so busy at headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France for the last 49 years, she hasn't been able to get back to the states to see ANY of her great, great, great, great grandchildren. Fortunately for us, her employer is picking up all expenses and footing the bill for her bash back in the states. Keep your eyes peeled for pictures. Al

Rani, I'm sorry but you're making this FAR too complicated. The pot's way too big, the soil is too water retentive. We've all agreed on that; why that's a problem is that those 2 conditions combined are quite likely to kill the plant from rot. If mine, I'd pull the vines out of the mix & place them together in a glass of clear fresh, plain, room temp water. They can be rooting while you amend your mix. Dave said the same thing -- root them in water, it'll be easier & less stressful for you. Folks keep suggesting you what to do, you keep suggesting OTHERWISE. It's not that we wish to give you a hard time. It's that we have a combined few DECADES of experience in how to do this, what works & what doesn't. No, sorry there is no one bagged mix which will work well for these, if there were, we'd all be using it. Mixing what you've got w 50% perlite is the simplest fix you've got. These plants will not root from leaves alone, so pls. forget that & just throw those leaves out. Also, pls. stop treating it w/ anything until you've had a chance to read up more on what's what. (The cinnamon is to be applied to the cut end one is rooting, not the soil & is entirely unnecessary w/ this plant.) This plant is said to be easy, what's not said it it requires a fair amount of neglect. These are most often killed by overwatering. Once the mix is right watering can be about 10 days to 2 wks. One doesn't need a dowel, get a pencil to test for dryness. BEFORE you can grow long vines, you have to get the plant to survive & then grow & gradually the vines will lengthen, tho' it's best to keep pinching them back & putting the cuttings back into the pot for a full & lush look. IME those long vines get to looking bare & scraggly (that one gorgeous one posted on GW that filled that foyer being the exception, Dave was that you?) Your idea about 70-72 degrees is confusing, do you mean leaving the cuttings out in the open air? It's not too cold, just won't do anything. Again, water rooting is the way for you to go here. A small ordinary plastic pot w/ drainage holes would be best for these cuttings once they're established. Lena

I personally use the 5:1:1 mix for all of my plants. It's fast draining and it works well for my situation. Its a bit easier to get the ingredients. 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite with some dolomite lime. A good fast draining soil needs larger particles. The mix you currently have is all very small particles so it just can't drain fast. Their "moisture control" is extremely misleading. People buy it thinking they're getting something that drains fast and protects against overwatering. However, it's the complete opposite. when potting up into a pot that's too large, you wouldn't have many issues with a super fast draining mix because they're pretty hard to over water. But when you pot up to something much larger with a mix made of small particles, you'll never be able to water correctly and you'll run into root issues. Speakng of that, did you pot up or repot when you did all of this? the arrangement of plants does look great and the pot also looks wonderful with them. Whats the third plant besides the pothos and dracaena? They need to all have about the same watering needs. I think with a faster draining mix it would work out in that pot.

Not sure about the white stuff but it looks like you have a slime mold growing on the roots to the right of the stem in the top pic. You CAN grow pothos in water, but the water needs to be changed weekly. Otherwise it becomes a breeding ground for mold, fungus, and other things that thrive in an anaerobic environment. As far as what to do now, fill up the sink and very gently wash the roots and stems of the pothos until all the gick comes off. Do not use soap, just clean water. Remove all squishy, rotten plant matter and keep only stems and roots that are firm and healthy. You can also prune off the dead leaves. Dump out the nasty water in the vase and wash the vase very well. If you use soap, make certain to rinse very (very!) well. Refill the vase with a weak fertilizer mixture and a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide (as an antimicrobial). For the fertilizer: water alone provides zero nutrients but what minerals are in your tap water. If you make a big jug of fertilizer-water at 1/4 or 1/8 strength, you can just refill the vase from the jug when you empty it every week. This should help with the misshapen leaves and general vitality of the plant.