Soft and droopy leaves.
I've had this plant for about a week now and have only watered it once. Some of the older leaves on the plant felt soft, droopy and leathery. I cant tell if it's still adjusting to the new environment or something else might be happening #help #growlights #sos #droopyleaf #marblequeenpothos
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@WizardGrapeivy (still typing- sorry) [Which reminds me, I am apologizing up front for being so wordy.. but apparently it’s my thing!!]. Of course some of the birds would nibble at them, and they were fine.. birds and plants alike! one day I realized one of my birds missing - few days later I heard noises coming from the planter - one of my nutty little birds had a brood of 6 right in my pothos!!! The pothos was eaten up .. did I mention birds eat plants?
.. All survived, birds and plants and a few weeks later the little birds flew out one by one, the pothos grew back to its original glory, and I remained with 22 parakeets. BACK to your pothos.. FIRST THINGS first: check the pot: look under the droopy leaves and follow it to the root area. Is it touching the soil? Pothos tend to grow roots not only on the bottom like other plants, but they also sprout roots on other areas where they are touching the soil, usually on its side. If you find that there are roots that the soft leaf/leaves were growing from and now have been separated from the soil (watering tends to settle soil downward) then add soil to the pot to be sure the root areas are covered and water the plant OR if plant is fairly wet - water just that area (yes it’s difficult) you just added soil to. I’m sure you are aware, no plant matter (soil, bark, moss, etc.) means Nowhere for the roots to uptake water from and thus the leaf/leaves are getting no water at all to keep the plant turgid and stiff. In other words, the leaf is dehydrating. That is the most plausible reason the leaf is dropping. This is a good time to mention that Pothos, while they should NEVER be allowed to dry out as they will droop or yellow (dehydration) they do not like soggy soil and are much happier with a semi arid pot. Lastly, make sure your pot is big enough that all roots are in contact w soil you may find as they start to trail.. the roots and some of the plant w the roots grow right over the side of the pot. This is okay for a couple of weeks but keep in mind it’s time to go pot shopping. If all else fails- cut out the offending leaf if it is only one or two for the very important reason that it will keep you sane!
.. All survived, birds and plants and a few weeks later the little birds flew out one by one, the pothos grew back to its original glory, and I remained with 22 parakeets. BACK to your pothos.. FIRST THINGS first: check the pot: look under the droopy leaves and follow it to the root area. Is it touching the soil? Pothos tend to grow roots not only on the bottom like other plants, but they also sprout roots on other areas where they are touching the soil, usually on its side. If you find that there are roots that the soft leaf/leaves were growing from and now have been separated from the soil (watering tends to settle soil downward) then add soil to the pot to be sure the root areas are covered and water the plant OR if plant is fairly wet - water just that area (yes it’s difficult) you just added soil to. I’m sure you are aware, no plant matter (soil, bark, moss, etc.) means Nowhere for the roots to uptake water from and thus the leaf/leaves are getting no water at all to keep the plant turgid and stiff. In other words, the leaf is dehydrating. That is the most plausible reason the leaf is dropping. This is a good time to mention that Pothos, while they should NEVER be allowed to dry out as they will droop or yellow (dehydration) they do not like soggy soil and are much happier with a semi arid pot. Lastly, make sure your pot is big enough that all roots are in contact w soil you may find as they start to trail.. the roots and some of the plant w the roots grow right over the side of the pot. This is okay for a couple of weeks but keep in mind it’s time to go pot shopping. If all else fails- cut out the offending leaf if it is only one or two for the very important reason that it will keep you sane!
@WizardGrapeivy Thanks so much! I figured that could be the problem but I'm still relatively new to plant keeping so I wanted another opinion. I will definitely take your advice and soon hopefully he'll perk back up! 😁👍
Problem solved! I gave it more water and it had time to adjust. I guess I freaked out 😅 Thanks for the help @WizardGrapeivy and @witchesspells!
Pothos is a great starter plant and almost indestructible- I say almost due to neglectful husbands. I had a number of pothos when I was living on NY, hanging, on my windowsill, all over. The three or so Bodegas within walking distance sold them for $10 a piece in the summer, beautiful and lush plants. One winter I had to run to Fla myself for a sick relative I was gone less than 2 weeks. When I got back, my pothos on the windowsill was crumpled and BLACK in the front because my husband turned the radiator on (which was actually part of the windowsill) However to offset the radiator he opened the window and left a portion of my long flowing pothos outside the window which turned black and mushy from freezer death. So depending on which side you looked at it, my poor baby had either died from frostbite or radiator burn. Lesson learned! Think about where you position your plants and NEVER, ever, ever, leave them in your husband’s care (especially when he don’t care!) his response was “you shouldn’t have left it there.. I’m more important than a plant.. I kind of didn’t respond to that one!!😀. As far as positioning.. without running into any of the absurdities I mentioned above, if you want to keep the features of the golden pothos, you need a bright window as I’m deep shade they will do fine but the leaves will turn dark green.