Will they grow?
I recently discovered my Pothos had root rot. I have since took the pothos out of it planter that it came in from the store, cut the effected roots, and gave it a hydrogen peroxide bath to disinfect. I placed them in glass jars with water because they don’t really have much roots anymore so I was wondering if they with still grow not being in soil and all…
2ft to light, indirect
10” pot with drainage
Last watered 2 days ago
2
@ProlificWeed you did exactly the right thing cleaning the roots and removing the rot. As long as you cut above a node, your cuttings will root in water. It will take 4-6 weeks for strong roots but they will come. Here are some of my Pothos and Philo cuttings I’ve had in water a while just to demonstrate the strong roots they developed over the past 3 months.
Like @Shells_Garden said, it can take a while for new roots to grow in water. Here are a few tips I've found help increase the chance of root production and also how quickly roots develop:
• Instead of using a very narrow-neck bottle, place them in a wide-mouth mason jar or similar. The more space, the more water, and the more water in a jar, the more oxygen available to the roots.
• Instead of placing long vines in water with several nodes/sets of leaves, cut them up into pieces with one lower node (which stays covered in water) and one leaf (which stays above water). I've tried both ways with many different plants, and the cuttings with only one node + one leaf always rooted faster, whereas the cuttings w/ multiple nodes/leaves often didn't root at all. There's a great instructional video on YouTube that shows exactly how to do this. I share it with everyone who asks about pothos propagation because it really helped me when I first found it. The guy on the video is kinda old school, he pronounces things weird and he calls nodes "eyes" lol, but he walks you through each step clearly and has great visuals to follow along with 😛
https://youtu.be/xpmdo_0CZrU?si=eYgmIS9qp66OgiZN
• Your cuttings will grow water roots, which are different than soil roots. If you plan to eventually move them back to soil, wait until the water roots are around 3-4 inches long. I wouldn't recommend keeping them in water indefinitely unless you add hydroponic fertilizer. Water doesn't have the necessary nutrients plants need like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. They'll survive for a while, but then they'll start to decline. Leaves might turn yellow, and any new growth will be significantly smaller. Also, while they're in water, make sure to change it out at least once a week to replenish oxygen. If they're somewhere that gets direct sunlight, you might notice more algae growth inside the bottles/jars. Place them somewhere bright that only gets indirect sunlight.
• Instead of using a very narrow-neck bottle, place them in a wide-mouth mason jar or similar. The more space, the more water, and the more water in a jar, the more oxygen available to the roots.
• Instead of placing long vines in water with several nodes/sets of leaves, cut them up into pieces with one lower node (which stays covered in water) and one leaf (which stays above water). I've tried both ways with many different plants, and the cuttings with only one node + one leaf always rooted faster, whereas the cuttings w/ multiple nodes/leaves often didn't root at all. There's a great instructional video on YouTube that shows exactly how to do this. I share it with everyone who asks about pothos propagation because it really helped me when I first found it. The guy on the video is kinda old school, he pronounces things weird and he calls nodes "eyes" lol, but he walks you through each step clearly and has great visuals to follow along with 😛
https://youtu.be/xpmdo_0CZrU?si=eYgmIS9qp66OgiZN
• Your cuttings will grow water roots, which are different than soil roots. If you plan to eventually move them back to soil, wait until the water roots are around 3-4 inches long. I wouldn't recommend keeping them in water indefinitely unless you add hydroponic fertilizer. Water doesn't have the necessary nutrients plants need like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. They'll survive for a while, but then they'll start to decline. Leaves might turn yellow, and any new growth will be significantly smaller. Also, while they're in water, make sure to change it out at least once a week to replenish oxygen. If they're somewhere that gets direct sunlight, you might notice more algae growth inside the bottles/jars. Place them somewhere bright that only gets indirect sunlight.
