Thank you for responding! It is rootbound, a lot of people told me evergreens like that so I never thought to put into something bigger. When I checked it's roots I filled in the sides with more soil to cover them but maybe I did sloppy job. It's in a mix of of soil, orchid mix, and perlite but it's mostly whatever it was the nursery (Calloways) had it in. I honestly use to water it when it was mostly dry, like 3/4s of the way down, then I upped the watering to fours days and then went back to watering when it was mostly dry cause of the dropping leaves.

I think I've fertilized it twice the whole time I've had it, I actually really bad with fertilizing my plants.

When you water, do you water 'til some water runs out the bottom? That matters.

Pls. search here for using a 'tell' or wooden dowel or stick, even a pencil if long enough to be able to test the soil for moisture, which tells when to water.

That plant would benefit from adding a saucer filled w/ pebbles under its pot to act as a humidity tray. Then water 'til water comes out the bottom. As the potted plant sits on top of the pebbles which are in the water, the soil can absorb more humidity as needed. This a a useful way to grow tropicals, I use them under all my Hoyas & holiday cacti.

In answer to: " Also, if I put it in a taller pot and bury the bare stalks in dirt will it make roots there?" No, not recommended as it can rot the stems.

"soil, orchid mix, perlite and what ever Calloways had it in", sounds too non-uniform a texture for good root health. If it does not stabilize with a better watering regimen, then I would repot it in potting mix with added perlite (at somewhere around 40% ratio). Review the proper conditions of light, temperature and humidity, and try to provide the optimum conditions as best you can. All plants appreciate good air circulation (not talking about drafts mind you).

Thanks to all of you for your replies, I really appreciate it!

So I got impatient and ended up dividing it. When I inspected the roots there were a lot of papery shriveled up roots around the outside, but they weren't rotten. I'm thinking they dried out from being so potbound. There are quite a lot of thick healthy white roots though so I'm hoping it'll recover from the rash decision I just made.

Karen S: Thank you for the tips. I only thought of putting the stalk deeper in the soil because I thought the stalks had these little nodes on them and they would turn into roots if given the chance. And yes I water til it runs out the bottom.

Sans2014: I repotted it in just straight orchid mix so I hope that'll be ok, it's all I have and it's rent time : / As far as air circulation goes if it's not too hot or cold I usually have my windows open. What do you think a better watering regimen would be? Is watering it after repotting a bad idea?

Picture of the outside roots, I should've taken more.

Here are the notes I have on Aglaonema ( Chinese Evergreen), hope this helps:

Common Name: poison dart plant

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Araceae

Native Range: Philippines, northeastern Celebes

Height: 1.00 to 1.50 feet

Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet

Bloom Description: White spadix with green spathe

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Tolerate: Heavy Shade

Culture

Grow as an indoor plant in the St. Louis area. Prefers diffused sun or good indirect light. Avoid placing in direct sun. Well-drained, peaty potting mixture. Consistent moisture from spring to fall. Does not require winter dormancy, but appreciates a winter period of rest. Reduce watering from early fall to late winter. Do not allow soils to dry out. This indoor plant tolerates atmospheric dryness and somewhat shady locations. Normal room temperature with recommended 60 degrees F. minimum winter temperature.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Chinese evergreen is an evergreen perennial that generally resembles dieffenbachia (dumb cane) in appearance. It typically grows to 20” tall. Thick, elliptic to lance-shaped, dark green leaves (to 4-8” long and 2-3” wide) with attractive silver-gray blotches on erect, sometimes branched stems. As a houseplant, it rarely flowers. Each axillary flower (typical arum family) features a small creamy white spadix enclosed by a pale green spathe, usually in late summer to early fall. Clusters of red berries follow the flowers. Genus name comes from Greek aglaos (bright) and nema (thread). Commutatum means changing in form.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for aphids, mealybugs, spider mites or scale. Rots may occur if plants are over-watered. Leaves may brown up if plants are grown in very dry air or placed in a drafty location.

Garden Uses

Houseplant for bright to moderatly bright areas.

missouri botanical gardens

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The aglaonema is a highly decorative plant with several interesting varieties. There seems to be a little controversy in the books over whether this plant is easy or difficult to grow. The simple rule to follow is this: the lighter the variegation, the more light it needs. Otherwise, these are slow growing, dependably attractive and make excellent foliage plants. They have large, narrow oval leaves on short stems.

Growing Conditions:

Light: The darker green varieties can grow in near shade, while the variegated varieties require brighter light. Do not expose to direct sun.

Water: Water thoroughly in the summer, and mist often to raise humidity. During the winter, reduce watering but do not let the plant dry completely. Seek to raise humidity in general.

Temperature: They do not like cold drafts or temperatures below 65ºF. The warmer, the better.

Soil: A well-drained potting soil is perfect.

Fertilizer: Slow-release pellets or liquid fertilizer during the growing season.

Grower's Tips:

Because of their high humidity requirements, some growers consider aglaonema to be greenhouse plants. It's true they will do best in the warm, humid and bright environment of a greenhouse, but they can successfully be grown indoors by coming as close as possible to these conditions. The number one rule to remember with aglaonema is this: keep them warm and moist. If you do this, you'll be rewarded with a long-lasting, stable houseplant that will not soon outgrow its pot

houseplants.about.com

To help you sort it out: A) If your plant never wilts, it can't be over-watering. If your plant does wilt, it could be under-watering or over-watering. Over-watering can cause chronic loss of turgidity (wilting), and/or intermittent bouts of willing that takes the form of: lowered turgidity and wilting during the daylight hours, with the plant regaining partial to full turgidity as the dark period approaches. This is because excess water limits water uptake and wilting. When your plant's stomata close in preparation of the dark period. It slows water loss through stomatic openings in the plant. This allows the plant's internal water pressure to rise, which eliminates or reduces the tendency to wilt.

Al

You're welcome OSL, glad to try & help.

I've already suggested what to do abt watering: Quoting myself from above.

" Pls. search here for using a 'tell' or wooden dowel or stick, even a pencil if long enough to be able to test the soil for moisture, which tells when to water. "

so I don't have to retype it all, as it's been explained multiple times.

If mine, I would have waited, I have no idea how it'll do in just orchid mix If you didn't throw out the soil you could have just bought a bag of Perlite, less than $10 mixed them 50/50 & been fine.. What was the great rush to divide it? Especially now that the weather has cooled.

I'll have to disagree somewhat w/ the poster directly above me, I would not recommend a peaty mix as it won't drain well. Also I do not advise misting, a pebble tray as I described above will do the trick.

Also 2 discolored leaves wasn't such a bad thing that needed such drastic action, it could have waited for some time, just take off the fading, drooping leaves..

The trick to these plants is understanding their watering & use appropriate mix. I see Spaths (Peace Lillies) in your opening pic, folks have lots of trouble w/ their watering. Took me a while to learn it myself; now I have 4 Spaths ;>) If you can grow Spaths, you can grow Ags, I'm sure of it.

There's actually three yellowing leaves in that picture and if those were it I wouldn't be worried in the slightest. It's lost about 13 in the past month and a half, Usually 3-5 at a time. I live in Texas and aside from a week were it got in the mid 40s it been pretty warm.

As for why I divided them I guess I just wanted to see if giving the stems more room would help. And I just wanted to see what would happen, I'm the kind of person who learns better through error I guess.

As for the Spaths in the picture I dare not show you how they look now. They're alive but not exactly thriving. Now that I think of it with the exception of my monstera, some pothos, and a few small cacti, and up until recently the evergreen all my plants are in a state of being alive but not really putting out that much new growth.