Pothos Plant Cuttings Wilting and Dying

JenniferNE · Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:11 am

I have a few cuttings from a pothos plant, but they are wilting already. I have tried this in the past and they always wilt and then die off before they take root. I have them in a pot with fresh, fertilized and moist soil. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

lorax · Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:06 am

Are you taking only leaves, or are you also taking stem sections? Pothos (Epipremnium aureum) and most other domestic Aroids won't root from just leaves.

Next time, try taking at least three nodes of stem and allowing them to callus over before planting in loose peat, then mist the surface of the peat instead of watering until the plant resumes growth. That's always worked for me.

thanrose · Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:32 am

If you are transplanting very long stems with lots of leaves, that's another reason your leaves could be wilting. With no roots yet, the leaves are just too much to support.

My recent potting of some pothos cuttings has maybe five stems and four leaves overall, with 3-4 nodes on each stem as lorax suggests. That was maybe a month ago, and each stem has at least one budding node right now, except for the one stem with two leaves. Make of that what you will, but I think that stem is struggling a bit more because of the second leaf on it. The totally naked stems are happy little exhibitionists with the most advanced buds on them.

JenniferNE · Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:37 am

I had only been trying leaves up until two days ago. I started a fairly long stem section with healthy leaves on it two days ago and it also has wilted. I will try just misting the soil and see if that helps. Thanks so much for the advice!

rainbowgardener · Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:42 pm

Or make a humidity dome for them. You can make it by cutting a 2 liter soda bottle in half (crosswise). Plant your cutting in the bottom half, then use the top half to make a dome for it.

the reason they wilt is that until they grow roots, they have no way to take up moisture. So they need a really moist, humid environment (hence the misting), to keep them from drying out until they get roots and can uptake water again.

a0c8c · Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:51 pm

I've always started mine in water and then transfered them to soil. You need to make sure they have a lot of strong roots before transfering them to soil. I've got tons of them now

I get atleast one node under water, sometimes two depending on the jar I use.

Kisal · Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:44 pm

I always just stick my pothos cuttings back in the same pot with the parent plant. I just poke a hole in the soil, insert the cutting, firm the soil around the cutting, then water it to make sure there aren't any air pockets around it.

I think the cutting should include a node on the part of the stem that is buried in the soil.

Green Mantis · Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:19 am

Can't wait to see what happens with my cuttings. We went to some garden centres yesterday, ( 7 plants and cuttings later

) At one of them, the lady working there had just cut off a bunch of pothos cuttings, to shorten a couple of plants. She had swept them in a pile on the floor. Well I had to ask, lol if I could have some. She was very kind, said to put them in my purse as she was supposed to be selling plants not giving them away

But we did buy 2 plants there, so she did actually sell some. I love true gardeners, they can't stand throwing them away either!

I put mine in water today, so will see if they root in there. Sure hope they do.

Green Mantis · Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:38 pm

Well I have been watching my pothos cuttings from the nursery, fairly closely. Then the other day, I saw tiny roots starting!!! I'm really excited!!! I going to let the roots get really big before potting them. They are really pretty ones, a multi coloured green and white. So at least SO far they have made it!!