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About a month ago, a friend of mine gave me a cutting (around 10" with several leaves) off her golden pothos plant. Since then, I have kept it sitting in water with in view of sunlight. As far as I can tell, it hasn't rooted yet. Recently, one of the leaves yellowed, so I'm starting to worry. Should I have transferred it to soil right away?

kevinskio
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jackwise
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1 Answers1

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It's usual, when rooting in water this way, to have a cutting about 8 inches max, with about 4/5 leaves (having stripped off any lower ones) - rooting in water takes, usually, about 4-6 weeks, and its much easier done in a small clear bottle so you can see when roots are forming and how long they've got so you know when to pot it up. I wouldn't worry about some leaves going yellow, so long as the 4 or 5 at the top are okay, but you should check regularly for roots if you do not have it in a transparent vessel.

Bamboo
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  • I do have it in a clear jar, and the only leaf that has gone yellow is the first one on the stem - ie near where it was cut. The rest seem to be doing ok, though the one after the yellow leaf looks like it's losing color around the stem. – jackwise Jul 08 '16 at 12:03
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    Losing one leaf at the base isn't a problem, but the discoloration on the stem might be (if you mean the main stem). If it gets worse over the next few days and still no roots, remove the cutting, cut higher up, strip off the leaves apart from 4 or 5, replace in a clean bottle with clean water. If you mean the stem of the next leaf, strip it off now. Its sacrificing leaves because it hasn't enough energy to struggle to produce roots and support all its topgrowth – Bamboo Jul 08 '16 at 12:10
  • The stem of the next leaf is getting discolored, the stem of the cutting itself seems fine. I'll strip off that leaf and the dead one and replace the water in the jar. Would trimming the main stem back further remove any progress the cutting has already made, or can I assume it hasn't made any progress at this point? – jackwise Jul 08 '16 at 13:38
  • Ah, that's the 64 dollar question! I wouldn't cut the end back now, it may be on its way to producing roots, just put it back in water after removing leaves and keep your fingers crossed. If its unsuccessful, you may need to ask your friend for another cutting or two, and this time, make them shorter... – Bamboo Jul 08 '16 at 13:55
  • I will be sure to do just that! Thank you for your help, hopefully soon I'll have a happy pothos plant. – jackwise Jul 08 '16 at 13:58
  • I did exactly what you;re doing a few months back but with two cuttings, and I now have a thriving Pothos - I just need to remember to water it more often! – Bamboo Jul 08 '16 at 13:59
  • Update on my cutting: still losing leaves (down to a couple small ones at the very end of the cutting), and the part where it was cut has begun to turn yellow. Is all hope lost? – jackwise Aug 12 '16 at 20:01
  • Sounds like it I'm afraid. I've had the same problem recently with Schefllera - two cuttings, same bottle, same water, one rooted, the other went black at the end. You need to take some more cuttings,but it always works best in spring – Bamboo Aug 12 '16 at 20:27
  • I'll give it another shot before the cold weather sets in. Thank you for all your help :) – jackwise Aug 14 '16 at 16:26