To repot or not to repot a pothos

last year

We got a new golden pothos at the end of March. The nursery repotted it for us the day we brought it home. Now, just under six months later, it is already showing signs that it needs repotting - there is one root growing up from the soil and one growing out of a drainage hole (although the plant still looks healthy and is growing). But everything I've read says pothos plants will need to be repotted every 1-2 years, and it has only been half a year. Also, we are getting toward the end of a growing season, which I know is not an ideal time to repot. Should I wait until the end of winter or should I repot now?

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Comments (2)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
i have a couple that havent been repotted in 7 years ..

and why no pix?? ...

tip it out of the pot.. AND LOOK AT THE ROOTS .. take a pic.. shove it back in the pot.. and post us that pic also ...

pot media is a water management system.. and when it fails.. you start having water issues .. e.g. the media is not holding enough water relative the the size of the plant.. so the plant is browning.. or wilting ..

we really dont need to repot by some schedule.. or because someone wants to sell you a pot or media..

we fix things that are broken.. and leave things that are not broken alone .. no need to make you life more complicated than need be ..

just to verify all that.. show us a a pic of the plant and pot..

ken
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last year
We don't need to repot on some schedule in the same way we don't need to change the oil in our car on some schedule. Does the prudent person wait until the car's engine is damaged and THEN change the oil; or, do we voluntarily follow a schedule designed to head off the inevitable issues that develop when we adopt a laissez faire attitude? Doesn't planning ahead make life less complicated and easier to manage?

The fact is, plants have rhythms and the most important of those to growers is the growth cycle. You CAN repot now and no one will mind, but now is getting close to the worst time of the year to repot. Day length and light intensity are quickly waning, so the plant is about to enter a period where it's likely making about the same amount of energy (via photosynthesis) as it uses. That means that repotting mid-fall through mid-spring is when plants are weakest and slowest to recover. So, while I can't quarrel with the idea we can do what we want when we want (with/to our plants), working with the plant's annual growth cycle by taking advantage of strong periods and making allowances for the weak period that occurs during the darker months not only makes good sense, it will make you feel like a better nurturer, which is not an insignificant part of why we grow things.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and decide to repot. Early to mid-June is the best time to repot a very large % of houseplants. Repotting includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a change of soil. It's also a good time to do any cutting back of the plant, which would help hasten the recovery.

If you're concerned about rootbound conditions robbing your plant of too much potential, you can pot up at any time without issues; except that, you need to be a little bit more careful about the size of the pot you pot up to at this time of the year than if you potted up in spring or summer. Reason: Slow growth from now through mid-spring means roots will be slow to colonize the additional soil mass, which means it will act as a saturated sponge for unnecessarily long periods.

Al
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Hi LeslieM, Thank you for your input. It surely will be much easier to repot without all those long vines. :) I'll try to start the cuttings in water and then pot them once the roots are about the size you suggest. I'm sure it will be fine. Pothos are so forgiving, thanks be to mother Nature. They are ideal for people like me, who love gardening but seem to be unlucky with growing plants inside. I miss the country! Things are so much easier to grow outdoors (where they belong). :) I want to try a container water garden, so I am thinking about using some of the cuttings for that. We'll see how that turns out. Thank you again! :)
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When you repotted, did you see the roots on the small plant? The wilting sounds like it doesn't have a large enough root system to support the number of leaves on the plant. If bagging helps, you'll have to leave it in there until it develops a bigger root system. If you can get that plant back out of the pot without too much fuss, you could put it in a glass of water to revive and form more roots. It also might be easier to bag this small plant in it's own pot rather than the whole bigger pot with both plants. Dave could be right regarding the very crunchy mix with orchid bark, it might not be retaining enough water to support the weak plant. I think strong plants would adapt to the mix you've used, if it was mine I'd just separate the little one and deal with it separately. Let us know what you decide to do, and if bagging the pot helps to plump the little plant back up. Dave, that's a great close-up of your bark, it looks much like the pine bark mulch I'm getting from Walmart. But 'The Water Saver' pine bark by Fafard I get from a wholesale nursery is finer, I think. If I can get a closeup pic of both I'll send to you for comparison with what you have. Russ
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To repot or not to repot a pothos

Comments (2)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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