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Eleven days ago, I had asked why my young plants were not growing. Well, weeks later, one of them is regressing. What can be the issue now? I added organic material( yam peel, banana peels and egg shells in the soil) about 3 weeks ago. What is the matter with it now?

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user272671
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    Your pot maybe too big as well. Aside from the great answers below, in my experience pothos do not enjoy a large pot when they are small or trying to regrow themselves. A smaller container will also allow the soil to dry out faster. – treeNinja Jun 29 '15 at 19:40

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Adding UNcomposted organic matter to potting soil is not a good idea. For one thing, it will likely mold and become slimey and attract insects, and for another, it will cause the nutrients in your soil to be tied up to feed the composting process and your plant will not be able to make use of them until the composting process is complete. "Adding organic matter" to the soil means adding fully composted organic matter, not kitchen scraps.

That having been said, while there does seem to be some damage to the plant, as was mentioned, it is showing some new growth. I agree that adding better drainage to the potting soil is probably a good idea, especially if it is outside and is constantly being rained on.

TeresaMcgH
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Pothos hates lots of light. Is this plant outside? Put it in the shade. It looks like too much light for this guy. How are you watering? Is this plant hanging or sitting in a saucer? A good sterilized potting soil IS FINE. Be careful with overfertilization...Osmocote is fine. What I am seeing is too much watering but more than that is too much light. Allow the soil to dry before watering. Allow no water to sit in its saucer. This is such a tough plant that it REQUIRES less attention to thrive. Weird, huh!

stormy
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  • stormy,pothos can grow outside in mexico in full sun. They are fine with lots of light – kevinskio Jun 29 '15 at 11:00
  • Huh? Too much light? I kind of had it in the shade for a while. I know it is supposed to be tough but so far, they keep turning up dead and leaving me scratching my head. According to a boo "What is wrong with my plant? and how do I fix it? " It is suggested this problem is leaf-spot? Does that make any sense? – user272671 Jun 29 '15 at 17:00
  • Sure this plant would be fine once they've been acclimated to the sun. Did I miss something, has this plant been out doors? It looks to me like it is getting too much water and wasn't acclimated for sun. Nope, don't see any leaf spot either. Allow soil to dry out before soaking your plant again. – stormy Jun 29 '15 at 19:39
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I see the following:

  • new growth
  • what looks like a soil mix that stays wet and does not drain well
  • a round osmocote slow release fertilizer ball
  • older growth has brown necrotic (dead) areas which look like fungus/virus/bacteria. These can take hold of any plant that is stressed and are more prevalent in plant that are too wet.

I conclude that the pothos is either over watered or the soil drains poorly which seems in line with your earlier question. Pothos is one of the tougher topical vines grown as a house plant. What you are doing with the soil mix is not working. I would repot the pothos with a bag of commercial house plant soil, don't fertilize, watch for over watering and insufficient light.

kevinskio
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  • It 's neen raining a lot lately and there isn't much I can do about that. The plant lives in container but on the balcony. – user272671 Jun 28 '15 at 05:41
  • I re-potted as suggested but wanted to let you know this is the second time in less than month I have had to do that. – user272671 Jun 28 '15 at 05:43
  • @user272671 Perhaps that indicates that the soil mix you are using does not match the plant's requirements – kevinskio Jun 28 '15 at 12:13
  • @kevinsky "commercial house plant soil" If you can find it. Many places sell only "potting soil", which contains enough sphagnum to drown an Ox. A generous helping of sand, or plain old dirt, will turn that into something that doesn't promote root rot in mature plants. – Wayfaring Stranger Jun 28 '15 at 12:18
  • oh man! I add sand to help improve drainage as I continue to battle with that as well. Perlite has not been the 'savior'I expected it to be. – user272671 Jun 29 '15 at 17:03
  • Sand does not do as good a job at adding drainage as you would expect. it washes out and is too fine grained. Perlite, vermiculite, even fine gravel are better choices – kevinskio Jun 29 '15 at 18:33
  • If you are planting in a pot you HAVE to use sterilized potting soil. You are making a tiny, self-sufficient (sorta) micro-environment. To improve ANY type of soil the ONLY way is to add DECOMPOSED ORGANIC MATTER. Sand, gravels, gypsum, lime...water and mixing this is a formula for concrete!! A scoop of soil from the garden is but one piece of a complex system. Possibly full of disease...the best drainage is through soil full of decomposed organic matter. Don't use gravel, rocks at the bottom of the pot. Lift pot off of any surface. Your plant is one of the most forgiving and hardiest! – stormy Jun 29 '15 at 19:34