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Not sure what this is, now that all the leaves are falling off they're getting harder to ID. They were kept in a vase of water, and were doing fine up until recently. I noticed the whole vase was full of roots, and I mean FULL. So I decided I'd change the water and remove any rotting roots and they all fell off. Now I have these long things and I'm not sure if I should cut them down(the longest is around 18 inches), or leave them the length they are. And, if I cut them back can I root the cuttings.

Three plants
[img]https://i34.tinypic.com/24dkhh1.jpg[/img]
Leaf
[img]https://i37.tinypic.com/9k5l36.jpg[/img]
Brown nodes where leaves used to be
[img]https://i33.tinypic.com/wmkpic.jpg[/img]


I need help with care as well as identification. Any help is appreciated. I've got the new vase sitting full of water until the chlorine and what not evaporate.

It looks like variegated devil's ivy to me (Epipremnum aureum). Other common names for it are Pothos and variegated Philodendron. While it roots easily in water, it is not a water plant. It likes to grow in a good potting mix, in bright indirect light. It's a tropical plant, so in your area, it might grow outdoors in the ground, in a shady or partially shady are. I don't know that for a fact, though. Your area might not have enough humidity.

The "long things" are stems. Yes, you can cut them back to a reasonable length, and try to get the tips with leaves to grow more roots. Leave about 4 inches of stem attached to the leaves. You can root them in either water or a pot of moistened potting mix or sand. For tip cuttings, I prefer just to use moistened potting mix. I'm just not a big fan of rooting stuff in water, although many people do that successfully. Just my personal preference.

Although you could try if you wanted to, I don't think the extra stems, I.e. the parts that are left over after you cut them back, will generate roots, since they have no leaves. If you want to try, you can cut the stem in sections, making the cuts halfway between the nodes. Put each section just below the surface in a pot of moistened potting mix or sand. There should be a leaf bud and a root bud at each node, so you might actually get some plants, but then again, you might not. Sometimes it's fun to experiment with such things.

I have a bunch of those plants. They are easy to grow. They take a lot of abuse. Like forgetting to water them.
They grow in any light.
When they get leggy, like yours, I cut the leafless part into 6 inch pieces and put them in water.
When the roots grow I trim the roots a little and then plant. I trim them because they're water roots and I find that trimming them helps with the transition to soil.
These plants will grow in water, but do better in soil.

hmm. I might do some in soil and some in water then. Soil for bigger stronger ones, and water for the small ones she wants in the window over the kitchen sink. What's the best way to trim water roots away?

As far as I know, if a cutting is started in water, the only roots it will have will be 'water roots'. If you trim them away, it won't have any roots at all.

It is just my personal opinion, and I have no 'science' I can link you to to back it up, but I believe that plants started in water suffer a bit of a setback when they are transferred to soil. That's why I root starts in potting mix, or some other medium, rather than water. They just seem to do better for me. [img]https://bestsmileys.com/clueless/4.gif[/img]

I might be the only person on the face of the earth that ascribes to that belief, though!

I just need some time coming up with better pots for them, so starting them in water give me more time. Her other one is doing fine.

What's this one?
[img]https://i36.tinypic.com/16ld1yc.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i35.tinypic.com/t7ofn4.jpg[/img]

If I'm to keep it in water, what would be the best way to fertilize them?

I believe that is a Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema commutatum}.

[img]https://www.hear.org/starr/images/full/starr-070906-8788.jpg[/img]

I don't really know anything about fertilizing plants in water. I guess you could research how they do it for hydroponics. [img]https://bestsmileys.com/clueless/4.gif[/img]

a0c8c wrote:hmm. I might do some in soil and some in water then. Soil for bigger stronger ones, and water for the small ones she wants in the window over the kitchen sink. What's the best way to trim water roots away?

You don't trim them off, like bald. You trim, like a haircut. If the roots are ten inches long, you cut a few inches off before planting.

Cool, once they get soem good roots I'll get them planted. I'll have to find a good hydroponics site, that isn't drug related, to see how strong to make a fertilized water. Mayeb I'll just dip them in fertilized water for 10min every few weeks.

That's funny. I was searching something, I forget what, and it kept coming up with pot sites.

I only have water experience with this plant and a few others. I don't usually propagate plants because I have so many and no window space for more.

This plant doesn't need fertilizer, it will grow and grow. I like them because they don't need a lot of light and look nice and I can put them where other plants wouldn't survive.

I grew a bunch of those in my house in Japan after pinching some clippings from the plants at work and hanging them out of one of my fish tanks, in which they really took off!