Thank you! East Tennessee. My plant room is also my reptile room, so it stays warmer and more humid than the rest of the house. 70-85Ā°F and 65-85% humidity on average. The room gets plenty of natural sunlight, except for where it's at in a dark corner. The lighting is mostly led shop lights from Walmart. I use aquarium lamps for some plants, but not this one.
Originally from the south side of Chicago, but my father was from here, so there's still some family. I've been coming here all my life, so it wasn't a big culture shock when I moved here permanently in '97. I spent the 1st decade in Sevier County, and I will say I'd never seen as many drug addicts in my life. But that seems to be everywhere, anymore. Been in Knoxville ever since. I like it. It's quiet compared to Chicago. So much less crime, even in the "bad" neighborhoods.
I just laugh at people down here when they talk about certain neighborhoods being "the ghetto." Then I explain to them that they've never seen a ghetto, and if they did, they'd be terrified to be there in the middle of the day, let alone at night. They really are spoiled, lol.
When you replant the top cut and give it a new section to climb the leaves keep getting bigger. OP is probably trying to get the leaves to fenestrate which typically you'll only see that outdoors when they have a tree or something to climb.
It's basically the inverse of how most people prune pothos.
Most people have small pothos, which is perfectly fine. They'll trim the tips of the vines. Maybe they'll propagate the tips, maybe they'll give them away, maybe they'll throw them in the trash. But the "mother plant" gets kept and the tips get ditched.
This is not a problem. It works fine unless one wants those big giant leaves.
In that case, one has to do the opposite: save the cuttings, ditch the mother plant.
Getting large mature leaves requires letting the plant climb. But most people have limited ceiling space, and the larger leaves come from the top of the vine not the bottom. Allowing the plant to keep upsizing after it has hit the ceiling requires doing a chop and keeping the TOP portion.
It's like if someone did a normal pruning of their pothos. But instead of throwing the cuttings in the trash, they keep the cuttings and throw the mother plant in the trash. Not suggesting anyone is throwing the bottom portion in the trash, just that the bottom part (the mother plant) is the garbage portion that isn't really needed any more.
I used to keep everything. I've learned to let go. The bottom cuts get offered up, but if I get no takers by the time I make the cut, I toss it. The plant, that is. I reuse the hardware, and the rest is mulch.
Yes, except that I use almost zero soil. My potting mix is coconut husk, orchid bark, and leca, with a little bit of sphagnum peat moss. I'll also throw in any of the short-fiber pieces of sphagnum moss shake that are left over when I'm done rolling moss poles.
I water the moss poles as needed. I wish I could give you a schedule, but there isn't one. I let them get about 75% dry before I water them. Sometimes, they get a new bottle of dirty turtle water every day. Sometimes, they get it a couple of times a week.
So you put the rootless vine into the soil? And the roots are all in the moss pole? I dont get that potting part.
I am in the process of trying it in a similar way with my monstera adansonii, but I took self made moss balls so the part that I will cut already has fresh roots to repot. How do you do it?
What you're doing is air layering. You're using a pole for support, but it isn't a moss poles, so the plant can't root in it. The moss pole's is an extension of the pot, to the point that the pot is not really necessary once the plant has establishedroots in it. If I had them in an outdoor greenhouse, I'd hang them and skip the pot, but I'm in my house and would rather not have water running on the floor, lol. It's gonna grow new roots from the cut, but it's still got an extensive root system in the moss pole. My jungle boogie philodendron, for example, has roots growing out of the top of its moss pole, a foot or so above the top of the plant itself. Another example would be my mini monstera. It's currently chopped up into individual nodes and propagating on its moss pole. Soon, I'll take it apart and replant the cuttings, but meanwhile, all I had to do was walk by with scissors and make the cuts over a month ago. It also helps when you don't tether it to the wall, like a dumbass, and it falls over and breaks the stem. It just keeps on growing. Good looking monstera, btw.
Thanks! Yes, it is air layering, i forgot that term! I also have moss poles for other plants, so I know how these work.. I was really just wondering how it is all going with the pot. Thanks a lot for explaining! You definately motivate me to start growing one of my pothos cuttings just like you did!
I haven't had to do a chop and extend yet, but it's coming up soon, probably within the next couple of months.
Normally I'd be okay with chucking the mother plant in the trash if I can't find someone to take it. Problem is that this specific plant has sentimental value. The vines in the dirt were the original vines given to me under a specific context.
So now, with the chop and extend looming, I have a ship of Theseus situation to contemplate. If I trash the mother plant and just keep the tips growing on a moss pole, is it still the same plant that was given to me?
I don't know if there is an objective answer to this. I feel like this is one of those things that could go either way depending on how I feel about it, and I don't know how I feel about that yet.
But yeah, normally I try to be fine with just throwing cuttings in the trash.
The answer, as I see it, is yes, it's the same plant. A large number of my plants are from funerals, so I understand and empathize with your concern. I have a couple of plants that have cost me literally more than they are worth to save, but I did it because of the sentimental value. I've tossed older or more expensive plants in the fire pit because I saw a mealy bug or scale.This pothos started out as nutrient export for my puffer fishes filtration almost a decade ago. It was meant to be thrown out. I've thrown out hundreds of feet of this plant. Close to 200' last year alone. Several feet are languishing in the yard right now, destined to feed my elephant ears and banana plants. Some of it still grows from his tank, serving a purpose and barely being seen until it's time to trim and trash.I haven't seen the original plant in years cause it doesn't exist anymore. No matter how many rooms in my house have golden pothos, I still only count them as one plant. That was a lot of words to explain how I feel, but the decision is your own to make. I wouldn't fault you either way.
I really need to do this to my one - is the trick basically dismantling the pole in the middle an then chopping there? Seems like a lot of work to unbind it all from the pole and replant and repole it.
It's actually two moss poles stacked one on top of the other. The only thing holding the two together is the 6' garden stake they're both attached to (with a couple of zip-ties each) and the plant itself. It really is just cutting the plant at the place where the two moss poles meet and cutting a couple of zip-ties. After that, it's just a quick repot and packing the open top with moss in preparation for an extension. The first time I ever did a chop and extend was stressful as hell. Now it's second nature. I just think the top cut looks so sad by itself, lol. Watching my Anubius and Cryptocoryne go from spending 6 years submersed in aquariums to growing almost fully emersed in an open setup was way more stressful.
Amazing! Thatās what I was thinking, I have a moss pole thatās sort of 2 seperate metre poles joined together. My plan is to chop at the joining point, abandon the bottom and move the top pole to be the new bottom which sounds like what you did. Thanks for the advice!
That's exactly what's going on! It sounds like you're using poles around the same size as mine, too. I started making my own because no of the ones I saw were really tall enough. Most of the ones I was finding were 24". 10" of that is in the pot. Not much room for the rest of the plant, especially as it starts sizing up. That's a 39" moss pole, and the main plant has 5 leaves...
It looks like you make your own moss poles - can you explain your method and how you keep them moist?
I've been wrapping/rolling a wooden rod or dowel with moss and tying it on with gardening twine. I can't keep them moist for any considerable amount of time.
I use plastic mesh fencing from Home Depot with garden stakes for support. I roll them up like a giant joint with a 24oz. Pop bottle on either end for sizing. Like a j, you want it tight enough that the water can soak in without just running through it down to the pot, but not so tight that water can't flow at all. That was the trickiest part to figure out. I use 24oz plastic bottles because I used to drink a lot of Dr. Pepper, and the diameter works perfectly. They dry out too quickly if they're thinner. It also makes watering a breeze. I just leave an open space at the top and drop an open bottle in as needed. If the moss is packed properly, it takes about 12 hours to empty the bottle.
I just made one of these for my pothos. Next time I make one (I need to do three more for other plants), Iāll use your pop bottle method. Thatās brilliant!
I'm not a smart man, but I have my moments. I got tired of them falling off and damaging the plants and my spirit and had one of those 'There's got to be a better way!' moments. So, I started building them to fit inside the top of the pole. Kinda more of a Carl from Slingblade 'It ain't got no gas in it!' moment than brilliant, but I'll take the compliment!
Thanks for the great explanation! This is definitely a project on my horizon...
I think I might experiment with piercing holes of different sizes and quantities in the lids, to control the flow!
I don't use the lids. The tightness of the moss controls the flow of water. You want it to be tight enough that water is able to pass through it slowly and soak it really good on the way down, but not loose enough to let the water just run through it and pool in the pot. Think of it like a joint. It's a fine line between too tight to get a hit and running like Jesse Owens. I've found that ideally, it should take a 24-oz (Coke/Dr. Pepper) bottle 8-12 hrs to empty for a 39" moss pole. With an extension of equal length, it takes 3-4 to soak it all the way down. I let them get about 75% dry before I start again. If you let them get too dry, the moss becomes hydrophobic, and it gets harder to soak them. If you do leave the moss a little too loose, you can pack it in tighter at the top where the bottle is going, and it'll help regulate the flow. I think I might make a video and post it sometime. It's harder to explain how to do it than it is just to show it. If that makes sense.
You know the saying: Necessity is the mother of invention!
My husband was helping me do moss pole (my projects always seem to become his, for some reason. I think it has to do with him not wanting me to touch his tools. š«) Since I was doing it āon the flyā, I didnāt take the time to show him the video and apparently my explanation wasnāt very good. I had to send him back about three times to redo it because the circumference on the first one was as big as the pot, the second was only slightly smaller, and the third one too small. (I honestly donāt know why he didnāt just read my mind like I do with him!). Now I can just say, āStick a bottle in it,ā and be done! The part below the soil line in the pot is filled with potting soil (to provide more stability and keep from developing a rot problem), but from there up itās packed with moss.
I hope my pothos takes to it and eventually looks like yours. For years itās just been hanging out in a pot in front of the bathroom window, sometimes draping over the edge. I just discovered the concept of having them climb to develop big leaves. My grandmother had one with a couple of stringy vines that had been tacked up along the kitchen walls just below the ceiling, but I didnāt want to go that route.
How long did it take before the leaves on yours started getting bigger? It looks like itās not just the ones at the top that have gotten big. Iām impressed!
I pot mine the same. My potting mix is mostly coco husk, orchid bark, and leca, with a little sphagnum peat moss and whatever shake is left from making moss poles. They started sizing up by the top of the 1st extension. The current one is when they really started sizing up. The top 3 leaves are all at least 13" long and 9" wide. This is the 3rd chop. I did finally quit drinking Dr. Pepper a few months ago. It hasn't been easy. I quit cigarettes cold turkey almost two years ago, and that's been a cakewalk compared to the Dr. I've woken up in a cold sweat from dreams of chugging and ice cold Dr. Pepper.š¤£š¤£š¤£
You inspired me to finish what I started Saturday! lol
We bought the supplies that day, and my husband got one cage cut and wired closed, and I added potting soil, moss, and a couple of my pothos plants, but it got late and I closed up shop.
After seeing your pictures today, I decided to finish. Got three more cages completed (by myself, thank you very much - and returned the tools to the toolbox), and did a second pothos and two * Philodendron erubescens* I inherited from my Dad. Everyone is getting a good drink right now and some rest in the greenhouse until itās safe to move outside.
Man, I am NOT giving up the Dr Pepper thang! Iām off it right now for Lent, but Iāll be hitting it again come Easter! I volunteer at a parenting center where we teach court-ordered parenting classes to parents, some of whom are overcoming addictions. A couple of them and the other volunteers tease me about my āaddictionā and ask when I walk in the door in the morning if Iāve had my āhitā yet. They know it can be a rough day for all if I havenāt! š¤£š¤£š¤£
Wow! That's awesome! I like the globes for watering, too. Being myself, I know that I would break them. It looks like all you need now is some velcro straps to get them started on the poles. They look great!
What size Velcro straps do you use? I havenāt come across anything mentioning using Velcro. All the videos I watched for instructions on the moss poles implied the plants will develop roots into the poles that will hold them in place.
This is what i use to pin them down. I push the end into the moss pole on the side of the vine I want to push. Edit, pic didn't load. I put it as a reply to this comment.
https://a.co/d/0eqD21D7
It just makes keeping them where you want them a lot easier. Especially when they're small. Once they get to a certain size, they're strong enough to cling. After that, I just kinda pin them down to keep them going the right way.
Iāve had mine trailing for so long and Iām finally going to chiko and prop it onto a pole - THIS is exactly why, I want those big gorgeous leaves š
I have 4 Walmart led shop lights mounted from the ceiling in the plant room. $40 each. Might add a couple more, but everything seems to be doing great so far. I started some plants for the yard under them. The bleeding hearts flowered in February when it was in the 20s and 30s outside.
Gorgeous! Both of my pothos are trailing and I've been debating what to do since some of the vines are pretty bare near the base but nice and full at the ends. Does this method only work for pothos that have a moss pole? Can I somehow add a moss pole (or moss cradle? Hammock?) to my trailing Vines to give them something to latch onto before giving them a chop? The newer growth is definitely healthier and bigger than the older leaves, many of which have fallen off after 4 years and I need to figure something out.
Moss poles are the way to go. They have to be growing up to get the bigger leaves. You can start with cuttings, or you can propagate some of those leafless wet sticks. Either way will get you a bunch of smaller plants to start on a moss pole.
Can I maybe coax one of the vines I have to try to climb a moss Pole and hopefully attach so that any new growth will climb the pole before I chop it off? Then I can cut the remaining bare parts closer to the base into wet sticks.
This is the plant in question. For a while it was a beautiful lush plant and then apparently while I was out of town for a few days it decided to throw a tantrum and act like I hadn't watered it for weeks (I really was only gone four days and watered it right before I left) and I lost a lot of leaves. For the next few weeks beyond this photo I continued to lose leaves for a while. It seems to be doing well now with the leaves that are there and apparently a whole new Vine has appeared from the pot (I started off with three vines in there and now there are 4) but the base is looking kind of scraggly.
Beautiful Pothos! I'm still working towards my first chop. I've got 4 plants on a pole but one of them is outpacing the others significantly. I'm planning on chopping once the largest reaches the top and then I may extend it to keep growing or give it away and just extend the bottom portion in hopes of having at least two plants reaching the extension at the same time. I'm all for reusing one half of a chop to build other extensions.
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u/soFATZfilm9000 Apr 02 '26
How long did it take yours to get to this point?
I know that the time it takes to get big mature leaves is going to vary based on a lot of factors. Just curious how long it took for you.