Scindapsus pictus

by Sam
(Manchester, England)

Hi! a couple of months ago I got this scindapsus pictus (satin pothos) and I was obsessed with it. So beautiful and lush.

But a couple of weeks (2 or 3) ago I started noticing that the vines were rather loose and to my unfortunate surprise, I saw that the entire root system had decayed to root rot.

So, with now only hair-like roots I decided to cut those parts of the stems that were somehow white, I dipped them in root hormone and put them back into the soil. Maybe the rooting hormone was a mistake but would you have any recommendations to bring him back to life? Should I sacrifice him into cuttings instead?

On a different note, the soil that this plant had was soooooooooooooo humid. Like, if you go to tesco, or sainsbury's, and buy one of their plants, you'll see that the soil they have retains a lot of water. When I took this plant off, I simply squished the soil and it released a disproportionate amount of water. I don't know if this is meant to happen or not, but my alocasia montfortanensis died on the very same type of soil. It seems to be some kind of moss (?) but that's the only composition of the medium apparently.

After realising about this soil type, I proceeded to bake it, mix it with perlite, bark, activated charcoal and sand, and potted the vines again, "flushing" the soil down afterwards to eliminate any salts.


Anyway, what would you suggest to recover this plant? He was my favourite plant!!!! :(

Comments for Scindapsus pictus

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Mar 05, 2021
 It May Be Too Late
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

It may be too late if the plant is already wilted so badly. For now, don't water it, leave it alone, and see what happens. It might revive, somewhat, enough for you to take some cuttings.

In the future, I would recommend, first thing, checking the soil. If it's the same kind of peat based soil, repot the plant immediately. This type of soil, if kept moist, doesn't require a lot of care in the greenhouse, which is why they use it.

In a home, it's not so great, for the exact same properties that it's used for while growing the plant.

I find that taking a few cuttings right away helps minimize the risk of losing the entire plant.

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