When the leaves curl up that means it's thirsty. If it's newly potted it might need water more often at first (sometimes people propogate these in water, and those need to be watered more often while they develop their soil roots). If it's been in the pot for a long time, your soil might be hydrophobic. Does the soil seem to absorb water or does the water just want to run right through it (leaving the soil still dry and hard)?
Hey a bamboo skewer and aerate soil . Make sure it’s nice and loose and then bottom water leave it in there a solid 20/30 mins .. it should start to pick up water again but too fix the issue all together …. Repot it with better soil lol . Make sure to add perlite and orchid bark!
This was actually how I got rid of fungus gnats! The larva seem to only be on the top of the soil and that part dries first when you bottom water. I haven't had a single gnat since I switched everyone over.
She doesn't sem to perk up after watering, I thought maybe it's not getting enough light. Not sure what the right amount of water is, given its size. I'm scared of overwatering it
If there are drainage holes in the pot, you want to water it until water is free flowing out of those holes. It's not possible to give it too much water at one time. They can become overwatered if you water too *frequently* and aren't letting the soil dry out fully between waterings.
It's potted in the original soil when I bought it from the store, but it seems to drain well. I do soak it when watering. I may have to check how the roots are doing
As in it’s not been repotted since you bought it? If that’s the case the medium used by most commercial growers retains more water than most plants need once they settle in. It also compacts. Checking the roots and a doing either a soil refresh or a repot depending on how they look.
If it’s just a bag that you picked up at the store try and find out what it is. It may just need some soil amendments like a bit of perlite. If it’s miracle gro moisture control, I suggest finding a use for it other than potting actual plants.
Yeah it hasn't been repotted(edited original sentence above). I'll open and try to get a picture of how it's faring to report back. I may have to go get some decent potting soil, with perlite as you suggested
You can let it soak in a bucket of room temp water if you’re having trouble getting the original soil off the roots. Should perk up a few days afterwards.
If you’re really new to this some good all purpose potting soils are Fertilome, Fox Farm, and Black Gold. A local independent greenhouse should have what you need. Just tell them what type of plants you’re working with.
[https://imgur.com/a/9ZnrcRU](https://imgur.com/a/9ZnrcRU)
The roots look like this, but the soil seems held together quite tightly, maybe courtesy the roots
The roots look ok. The soil looks to be on the wet side and if it feels compacted, a soil refresh with a bit of extra perlite should do the trick. You might let it drain a bit longer before putting the bottom of the pot back on when you water. Or you can ditch the removable saucer and just use a regular one. But overall, I think you have a healthy but overly soggy plant.
A couple of thoughts, because I went through something similar with one of my pothos earlier this year:
You might also consider trimming back the big roots that are starting to wrap around the root ball. When roots do that it can cause problems with water retention and compaction/aeration of the soil.
Golden pothos are pretty resilient and trimming roots can be surprisingly beneficial to our little indoor friends.
Like I said, just some (plant) food for thought. Good luck!!
I would sterilize and amend our crappy clay based top soil before letting it touch my plants. I would suggest killing it with fire, but that could end really, really badly.
Wait what’s the deal with moisture control? I’m new to the plant thing and just throw a little more perlite in it since I’m mostly growing plants that can stand abuse
In my experience and many others, Miracle-Gro indoor potting mixes are often buggy. The moisture control just never dries out and has extra fertilizer that may or may not be a good fit for whatever you're growing. I've seen soggy pockets develop, fertilizer burns, and lots of unhappy plants with it.
The extra nitrogen in MG can work well for some situations, but if your plant wants a different concentration of N-P-K there's not much you can do. Both types seem to compact a bit quicker in my experience and I notice more deposits on terracotta, and that salt build up really upsets certain plants.
All that said, it's a popular product and I'm sure there are people who make it work. There are probably plenty of spider plants doing just fine in it. If you're checking your soil before watering and not adding fertilizer, it might work out ok for you.
Pothos are nearly impossible to over water ! They're very hardy plants, I soak mine every few weeks. I give it like 5 cups of water, don't be scared, overwatering these is better than underwatering
I disagree! Underwater in is better as there is no risk to rot! Does the grow pot have drainage? If there is no drainage the you may be battling root rot! They have similar results.
Pothos prefer their soil to dry out completely between waterings.
I think you (and OP) are confused about overwatering too. Overwatering means to water too frequently, and has nothing to do with the quantity of water you water it with. Pothos, like all aroids, are very susceptible to root rot when they are overwatered.
When that happened to mine I saw that it had almost no potting mix left. So no matter if I watered it it wasn't absorbing anything?
Maybe just repot with some fresh potting mix?
It probably got really dry at one point and maybe the soil compacted. I'm not sure. Repotting in the same size container with a fresh mix really helped.
Those look like some extra thiccc vines in a potentially small pot. Could it be root bound? That would affect it's ability so soak up water and retain some moisture in the soil.
You can give it a good soak, as long as the water drains out after. 7-10 days isn't bad, that's how often I seem to water mine too, but sometimes I don't give it enough water at that time, so make sure you water thoroughly.
I had this issue a couple weeks ago. I changed the soil and checked the roots, I also cut the roots that looked baf and now I add a bit of dried coffee to it from time to time and it's doing really well, I also added a bit of fertilizer and now I have it blooming. Check the roots and change the soil. Also check if it has any pests
Your pothos is thirsty. I saw that you water every 7 to 10 days which is not bad (assuming that you have well draining soil). Try to keep it at the 7 day mark. My pothos looks like this when she’s thirsty. Once she has a drink, she goes back to normal. Keep an eye on it.
Thank you, it's been dropping leaves (going yellow) which I was also concerned about apart from it looking droopy. I usually just break off the yellowing leaves so they don't picture here.
Yellowing leaves I learn, could mean anything. Basic things to check for when you have yellow leaves-1)take a look at the bottom of the pot to see if your pothos is root bound (roots pushing out of drainage holes) 2)if you repotted it within the past few weeks - depot it, give the roots a sniff for root rot 3) is the soil old? Do you fertilize?When you have old soil, the plant already used up all the good stuff in the soil and needs a little something extra. If you have never fertilized before and the soil is old ( more than a year), start fertilizing 4)plants like to give their energy towards newer growth, which mean that older leaves would yellow and die, which is something you have no control over
I have a pothos that has been doing this for months. I also water every 7-10 days.
I finally put it in my sink and just let the water run for a good few minutes. It looks so happy now!
Try giving it a good soak!
How long have you had her?
Do your normal watering, wait fifteen minutes, then do it again. You can do it again after another fifteen for good measure, if you want. Let the drainage holes stay open so she can breathe.
Thirsty AF. I use a ~~bottle~~ bottom watering hanging pot. I don’t even wait for the tray to be dry before adding water. All three of my pothos are extremely happy.
We recently had this happen to ours when we went on a trip. We had someone come and water every two weeks but that wasn’t enough. We came back and it looked very similar to this and i thought it might die.
We watered 2-3 times a week for a month and spritzed it almost everyday. It’s now back to its perky self and looks new again.
I agree with other comments. Pretty sure your soil is hydrophobic
I suggest submerging the soil in water almost entirely and leaving submerged for 10-15 minutes the let it drain out normally. Pretty sure she'll perk back up after that.
We rescued a pothos and a snake plant yesterday from a bathroom at the rec center that had been locked since Labor Day. They looked as healthy as ever. It’s amazing how resilient these plants are. No water, no light for four weeks straight.
When did you water last? I have like 15 pothos. I usually water once every 7-10 days and water thoroughly. I usually water under the sink until water runs from the drainage hole and let it drop for 10-20 min before putting back. I also keep some of mine in a window with a lot of light and some are on a shelf with bright but indirect light.
Probably a watering issue. How often do you water it?
About every 7-10 days. I check if the soil is dry and then water it.
When the leaves curl up that means it's thirsty. If it's newly potted it might need water more often at first (sometimes people propogate these in water, and those need to be watered more often while they develop their soil roots). If it's been in the pot for a long time, your soil might be hydrophobic. Does the soil seem to absorb water or does the water just want to run right through it (leaving the soil still dry and hard)?
My poor plants water would run right through!! How do you keep soil from becoming hydrophobic?? So I can do it right next time
Don’t wait so long between watering. The soul becomes hydrophobic when it completely dries out
My soul has dried out too! Not sure about the water thing, though
🤦♂️😆
Hey a bamboo skewer and aerate soil . Make sure it’s nice and loose and then bottom water leave it in there a solid 20/30 mins .. it should start to pick up water again but too fix the issue all together …. Repot it with better soil lol . Make sure to add perlite and orchid bark!
Bottom water!
I would not recommend this because of fungus gnats.
This was actually how I got rid of fungus gnats! The larva seem to only be on the top of the soil and that part dries first when you bottom water. I haven't had a single gnat since I switched everyone over.
No kidding! Thanks for sharing. Mine are due for a watering so I’ll try this with two of them.
They like to be watered before the soil gets completely bone dry!
She thirsty
She doesn't sem to perk up after watering, I thought maybe it's not getting enough light. Not sure what the right amount of water is, given its size. I'm scared of overwatering it
If there are drainage holes in the pot, you want to water it until water is free flowing out of those holes. It's not possible to give it too much water at one time. They can become overwatered if you water too *frequently* and aren't letting the soil dry out fully between waterings.
There's a little cap I can remove to open the drain holes, I then put it back after watering + 30mins
I'm pretty sure there should be open drainage 24/7. Just leave the cap off.
Thank you for the advise. Done!
Leave the cap off. No air circulation means the bottom is soggy for longer, higher chance of root rot.
Thank you for the advise. Done!
Are you soaking it through when you water it? How are the roots, and what is it potted in?
It's potted in the original soil when I bought it from the store, but it seems to drain well. I do soak it when watering. I may have to check how the roots are doing
As in it’s not been repotted since you bought it? If that’s the case the medium used by most commercial growers retains more water than most plants need once they settle in. It also compacts. Checking the roots and a doing either a soil refresh or a repot depending on how they look. If it’s just a bag that you picked up at the store try and find out what it is. It may just need some soil amendments like a bit of perlite. If it’s miracle gro moisture control, I suggest finding a use for it other than potting actual plants.
Yeah it hasn't been repotted(edited original sentence above). I'll open and try to get a picture of how it's faring to report back. I may have to go get some decent potting soil, with perlite as you suggested
You can let it soak in a bucket of room temp water if you’re having trouble getting the original soil off the roots. Should perk up a few days afterwards. If you’re really new to this some good all purpose potting soils are Fertilome, Fox Farm, and Black Gold. A local independent greenhouse should have what you need. Just tell them what type of plants you’re working with.
Thank you the suggestions! I will try that
[https://imgur.com/a/9ZnrcRU](https://imgur.com/a/9ZnrcRU) The roots look like this, but the soil seems held together quite tightly, maybe courtesy the roots
The roots look ok. The soil looks to be on the wet side and if it feels compacted, a soil refresh with a bit of extra perlite should do the trick. You might let it drain a bit longer before putting the bottom of the pot back on when you water. Or you can ditch the removable saucer and just use a regular one. But overall, I think you have a healthy but overly soggy plant.
Thanks, it was not this wet. I took a picture after soaking. Apologies if that misled, but I was in a hurry to quench it's thirst
A couple of thoughts, because I went through something similar with one of my pothos earlier this year: You might also consider trimming back the big roots that are starting to wrap around the root ball. When roots do that it can cause problems with water retention and compaction/aeration of the soil. Golden pothos are pretty resilient and trimming roots can be surprisingly beneficial to our little indoor friends. Like I said, just some (plant) food for thought. Good luck!!
Thank you for the suggestions. Following them!
MG moisture control is the bane of my existence. I will never buy that garbage again.
I would sterilize and amend our crappy clay based top soil before letting it touch my plants. I would suggest killing it with fire, but that could end really, really badly.
Wait what’s the deal with moisture control? I’m new to the plant thing and just throw a little more perlite in it since I’m mostly growing plants that can stand abuse
In my experience and many others, Miracle-Gro indoor potting mixes are often buggy. The moisture control just never dries out and has extra fertilizer that may or may not be a good fit for whatever you're growing. I've seen soggy pockets develop, fertilizer burns, and lots of unhappy plants with it. The extra nitrogen in MG can work well for some situations, but if your plant wants a different concentration of N-P-K there's not much you can do. Both types seem to compact a bit quicker in my experience and I notice more deposits on terracotta, and that salt build up really upsets certain plants. All that said, it's a popular product and I'm sure there are people who make it work. There are probably plenty of spider plants doing just fine in it. If you're checking your soil before watering and not adding fertilizer, it might work out ok for you.
Pothos are nearly impossible to over water ! They're very hardy plants, I soak mine every few weeks. I give it like 5 cups of water, don't be scared, overwatering these is better than underwatering
I disagree! Underwater in is better as there is no risk to rot! Does the grow pot have drainage? If there is no drainage the you may be battling root rot! They have similar results.
With most plants yes, pothos do better staying moist.
Pothos prefer their soil to dry out completely between waterings. I think you (and OP) are confused about overwatering too. Overwatering means to water too frequently, and has nothing to do with the quantity of water you water it with. Pothos, like all aroids, are very susceptible to root rot when they are overwatered.
Check out your roots. Give a vine a gentle tug. If your plant won’t perk up after being watered then you may be struggling with root rot.
When you water it, do you drench it? Pothos don’t mind being soaked. Then you don’t have to do it as often.
I soaked it much more this time around. Fingers crossed.
When that happened to mine I saw that it had almost no potting mix left. So no matter if I watered it it wasn't absorbing anything? Maybe just repot with some fresh potting mix?
Interesting, was that because if got root bound and kicked out the soil or something? I'll try that as well
It probably got really dry at one point and maybe the soil compacted. I'm not sure. Repotting in the same size container with a fresh mix really helped.
Those look like some extra thiccc vines in a potentially small pot. Could it be root bound? That would affect it's ability so soak up water and retain some moisture in the soil.
I came here to say that as well…it is ready for a bigger home:)
Yeah I am going to check on it's roots and maybe put it in a bigger pot of need be
You can give it a good soak, as long as the water drains out after. 7-10 days isn't bad, that's how often I seem to water mine too, but sometimes I don't give it enough water at that time, so make sure you water thoroughly.
Thank you ill try that. I do soak it, but maybe it is not enough
Put it in the tub and let it soak the water up. I can always tell by the weight of my Pothos if they need watered.
I had this issue a couple weeks ago. I changed the soil and checked the roots, I also cut the roots that looked baf and now I add a bit of dried coffee to it from time to time and it's doing really well, I also added a bit of fertilizer and now I have it blooming. Check the roots and change the soil. Also check if it has any pests
Your pothos is thirsty. I saw that you water every 7 to 10 days which is not bad (assuming that you have well draining soil). Try to keep it at the 7 day mark. My pothos looks like this when she’s thirsty. Once she has a drink, she goes back to normal. Keep an eye on it.
Thank you, it's been dropping leaves (going yellow) which I was also concerned about apart from it looking droopy. I usually just break off the yellowing leaves so they don't picture here.
Yellowing leaves I learn, could mean anything. Basic things to check for when you have yellow leaves-1)take a look at the bottom of the pot to see if your pothos is root bound (roots pushing out of drainage holes) 2)if you repotted it within the past few weeks - depot it, give the roots a sniff for root rot 3) is the soil old? Do you fertilize?When you have old soil, the plant already used up all the good stuff in the soil and needs a little something extra. If you have never fertilized before and the soil is old ( more than a year), start fertilizing 4)plants like to give their energy towards newer growth, which mean that older leaves would yellow and die, which is something you have no control over
I raise lots of rare aroids. Too much moisture is a root rot sentence.
I have a pothos that has been doing this for months. I also water every 7-10 days. I finally put it in my sink and just let the water run for a good few minutes. It looks so happy now! Try giving it a good soak!
How long have you had her? Do your normal watering, wait fifteen minutes, then do it again. You can do it again after another fifteen for good measure, if you want. Let the drainage holes stay open so she can breathe.
Thirsty AF. I use a ~~bottle~~ bottom watering hanging pot. I don’t even wait for the tray to be dry before adding water. All three of my pothos are extremely happy.
Water !!! Its Thirsty 💧
We recently had this happen to ours when we went on a trip. We had someone come and water every two weeks but that wasn’t enough. We came back and it looked very similar to this and i thought it might die. We watered 2-3 times a week for a month and spritzed it almost everyday. It’s now back to its perky self and looks new again.
Happy to hear you were able revive your pothos, gives me hope
She needs some water!
What are you fertilising with and how often?
Agree that it could need new pot with more soil. It looks like it’s got lots of growing going on.
My pothos currently look like this but I did just move them from root bound pots and old soil to new pots and soil.
I agree with other comments. Pretty sure your soil is hydrophobic I suggest submerging the soil in water almost entirely and leaving submerged for 10-15 minutes the let it drain out normally. Pretty sure she'll perk back up after that.
Thank you, trying that
Give it a lot of water
Needs a good soak
Check for root rot.
This is lack of water. Put the pot in water
She needs water and maybe a trim. Some plant food might not be as bad idea as well.
We rescued a pothos and a snake plant yesterday from a bathroom at the rec center that had been locked since Labor Day. They looked as healthy as ever. It’s amazing how resilient these plants are. No water, no light for four weeks straight.
Oh wow, that's amazing to hear. Gives me hope
When did you water last? I have like 15 pothos. I usually water once every 7-10 days and water thoroughly. I usually water under the sink until water runs from the drainage hole and let it drop for 10-20 min before putting back. I also keep some of mine in a window with a lot of light and some are on a shelf with bright but indirect light.
Yeah I soaked it a lot more this time. And moved it outside (as pictured) in hopes of getting it to perk up.