Well my pothos is going nuts. I have one vine that is probably 10 feet long and the ends are getting simply huge in size compared to the stem in the ground that were planted middle of last year. The longest top part of the vine is a good 1/2 inch across and the root in the pot is 1/2 a pencil at best. This concerns me that eventually the demand will not be able to be met if I don't cut it back and replant. I know it a good thing to cut it back so it bushes out but I LOVE the HUGE leaves on the large stem. 1) If I cut back the large stem and replant should I get larger base stems and hence get larger leaves earlier than 10 feet of growth? 2) How do I encourage larger stems from the get go? 3) Where do I cut/trim to promote thick stems on the older ones and keep the plant full and growing well? 4) Why are the longest stems getting so thick compared to the bottom ones and the leaves so much larger?
1) You are getting that type of growth due to either getting dried out (they will shed their leaves to save themselves) or too low of sunlight. The size of the stem on a healthy plant is generally about the diameter of a pencil.. Do you have more than one stem in the pot? I usually plant 6 or more in a 10" hanging basket. One makes for a spindly looking plant. 2) Don't let the plant get too dry and fertilize it every month or so. 3)You can wrap the stem in a circle on top of the pot and pin them down. Put a little sphagnum moss on the area to keep it moist/hydrated and it will grow roots at each leaf node right into the pot re-rooting it without cutting it all off. Or cut it back to about 4-6 inches and let new leaves/stems emerge and re root the rest in a pot of perlite covered with a bag. Don't just drop them in a glass of water. They will usually grow roots, but when you take them out to plant them the roots are very brittle and don't hold up to the transplant very well (if at all). 4) not sure what your plant is doing from your question. do you have a picture? But it could be the change in the season. More humidity and quality sunshine will make a difference on how the plant will grow.
Sunshine might be an option but I do have a mother in law plant in with it. I do underwater. As for #4, the highest leaves are huge compared to the rest. 7 inches long and 5-6 wide. It is the only part of the plant that is above the light source which shines up. The stems are as thick as my pinky where the ones in the pot are tiny and were when I started them. Not getting smaller, just always were.
Honestly, I would first: separate the plants. Two different needs and it is too hard to meet each one. You will damage one or both trying to do so. Is the snake plant that valuable to you? do you need it in the same pot? remove it and replant it. They are pretty easy to propagate if you damage it too much trying to remove it. Just slice it off (a section of the leaf tip) and insert it into a container with perlite or a soilless media; cover with a plastic bag to keep the humidity high and it will re root. The huge growth I would attribute to better sunshine if this has happened since the weak winter sun has disappeared. It sounds as if better conditions for it are making the new growth thrive. Without taking care of the plant myself, I wouldn't have a 100% accurate reason or answer for the new growth being so nice.
Sounds about right, bottom of plant gets very little light other than indirect. I can redirect the lights so they shine on ore of the plant. As for sunlight, none to speak of. 10 feet from any window. I imagine more equal light on all the plant might make a difference. As for the Sansevieria trifasciata, (I finally found the scifi name) I am more than happy to relocate it , restart it with your instructions or whatever. I have almost killed it 3 times so a new start may be just what is needed. Who knows, maybe the sans will do better with more indirect lighting by the sliding glass door.
There are 4 of them in the large pot. Not against adding more for sure. I want it to be a huge tangled mass of leaves and stems!
You can reposition the lights, but I doubt that the naked vine parts will regenerate any new growth. You may end up causing the new and nice growth to look bad, though. If it is one or two stems that are nice and you can separate the stems maybe you could cut back a couple of the ones that are doing poorly and then reposition the one or some of the lights so the pruned part is stimulated to popping some new growth. I would still remove the sanservia.
So replant the sanservia, move the pothos to a brighter location and put the sans back where it it was. Can do that. I like how large it has gotten but I am fine with doing more starts from larger stems so I get a fuller larger leafed final plant. All the upper stems that have reached closer to the light are getting larger leaves and thicker stems. I started them off very thin stem cuttings but my neighbors plant never grew any stems close to even the medium sized ones I have. I kinda had the idea that the sans would not do well since the pot was so big and they prefer to be root bound from my reading. I repoted them with 3 very nice plants and almost killed it completely. The new growth of the sans is very good but I never expected the pothos to go so nuts and hide it so well. I got the cuttings for my neighbor and hers is growing very slow and easily managed. Mine is a wild weed on steroids comparatively.
Sans do not like to be root bound but that's the only way to not rot them for those who water a lot, or use a very dense, airless, water-retentive soil. When conditions allow, these are very fast-growing plants, like when I put them in the ground for summer vacation. In the ground for summer, making tons of babies ( photo / image / picture from purpleinopp's Garden ) Cramped in a pot, the pups have a difficult time finding their way to the surface. Sansevieria trifasciata roots. ( photo / image / picture from purpleinopp's Garden )
Hmm, I have not had mine put out babies but then again I did almost kill it a number of times. Maybe it will be happier once I get it moved out of the pothos or I move the pothos. I will have to try a much lighter draining soil this time also. The current pot has no drainage but the soil has a lot of coir, perlite and other aeration media in it.
I can't keep a plant alive in a pot with no drain hole. Sans in particular would make me really nervous since they can rot easily if moist while not warm. I would find another pot for it when possible. It may not be able to make babies/pups if it doesn't have enough light. Although Sans will sit in a dark corner for years without getting upset, it can't grow quickly that way.
