It's the soil choice.........Miracle Gro has a long standing reputation of being excessively moisture retentive. The potential for root rots is a valid concern and I would be inclined to repot in a faster draining, less water retentive mix ASAP.

Different strokes ........... I wouldn't use a MG soil product even on a dare; this, because of the excessive water retention Pam mentioned and the media are widely known for.

If a medium is capable of providing watering intervals in multiples of weeks, there is no way the grower cannot be leaving a very large measure of their plants' potential lying on the table.

Al

I have the same issues with my marble queen. I repotted my other pothos using a mix of the same MG potting soil plus orchid bark and perlite and it dries out just a tad faster than my marble queen. Maybe it’s because the soil isn’t as exposed as other plants? I’d love some thoughts on how to remedy as well. Or suggestions for the right mix.

I’ve been using MG (yellow bag) and the Cactus Succulent mix for a few years now. I always heavily add perlite to the mix. I recently added perlite and MG orchid bark in two plants I repotted.

Lack of adequate aeration is the negative force in media that retain an excess of water. Adding perlite or bark to a water-retentive medium does precious little to increase aeration, and only minimally reduces water retention. Start with a container half full of potting media, poor by virtue of the fact it holds too much water/too little air. Add a perlite particle to it. Does it increase aeration? No, not so the plant would notice. Add another particle, then another and yet another. Any change in aeration or water retention? Nope. Now add enough perlite to fill up the jar and mix well, a 1:1 mix of perlite and poor potting soil. One might think the perlite is a good fix; however, if we examine the 1:1 mix we can clearly see, even in the mind's eye, all the fine material is tightly packed around the perlite or whatever other course ingredient with which we might have attempted to 'amend' the water-retentive medium.

In fact, as you add chunky material to a water-retentive medium, the % of air porosity actually decreases. Let's say we start with a pint of medium in a quart jar. In that pint of medium, there are 10 units of aeration. Add enough marbles to fill the jar, and what do you end up with? You end up with 10 units of aeration and twice the volume, so you have effectively reduced the % of air porosity by 1/2.

Though "Threshold Proportion" is a term most growers haven't heard, understanding what it represents is a key factor for anyone with a desire to build or amend their container substrates. Simply put, 'threshold proportion' occurs at the point where there is exactly enough fine material to fill all the larger spaces between the coarse material. To fully enjoy the significant benefits offered by highly aerated media with moderate water retention, it's important the medium is structured so the coarse ingredients represent, by far, the largest volume fraction of the medium. 75% minimum, up to 95% should be particles larger than about 1/8". How much fine material you add to the larger fraction of coarse material depends on the size range of the coarse material.

Example - many readers know the 5:1:1 mix consists of

5 parts pine bark size dust to 3/8

1 part perlite, preferably coarse

1 part sphagnum peat moss

plus, an appropriate measure of dolomitic/garden lime; however, after gauging the volume of fine material in the bark, I very often reduce the volume of peat or eliminate it altogether; this, to make sure I'm taking full advantage of the materials/ingredients at hand by ensuring a minimal fraction of fine materials in the medium.

Whether a grower knows it or not, (s)he can have near complete control over water retention and aeration, within the parameters of reason, by having on hand a few coarse ingredients as a base for their grow medium, to which small fractions of vine ingredients can be added to adjust water retention. For the most part, based on physical characteristics, plantings utilizing media which force the grower to water very frequently can be counted on to offer plants a far superior opportunity for plants to realize as much of their genetic potential as possible.

Al