In March a fellow employee asked if I could help rehabilitate a plant her husband brought home from work when the lockdowns first happened in 2020. He had this pothos for a very long time and didn’t want it to die from being lonely in an empty office and brought it home. Good intentions, poor planning. Offices are climate controlled, low traffic, good lighting. Homes have limited lighting, and more importantly have pets; cats specifically. Cats are cute companions to humans, but arch nemesis to plants. This plant suffered greatly with low lighting and predators ripping leaves one by one off the vine. When she brought this plant into the library I didn’t have much hope for it. I wish I had a picture. This plant was in a tiny pot with one leaf trying to grow and a long vine that had been picked clean of leaves and had one small leaf trying to grow at the end. This plant was very sad.
When it was brought here I left it alone to be acclimated to its new environment. After a couple weeks the plant looked just as sad. It was time to face facts and make some hard choices. It was time to cut this plant up and try to salvage what is left. I took the plant out of the tiny pot I chopped the plant up into 5 sections. One piece had the roots and a small leaf growing, so I put that into a small cup with dirt. Another piece had a healthy node to cut at so that small piece went into dirt. Two pieces were cut and put into water to start rooting. The last piece was just the vine that was picked clean of leaves and honestly looked dead. I put that vine into some dirt with no thoughts of that actually growing anything.
It is now June, three months have gone by since this plant moved here. This plant is so much happier now that it has been chopped up and made into new plants. The plant that was put into the cup is growing new leaves and starting to vine. The leaves are beautiful and variegated.
The smaller piece that was put into dirt is starting to grow. There are 2 new sprouts of leaves. This plant needs some more time, but I have no doubt will flourish.
The two pieces that were cut and put into water are starting to produce roots. The first time I grew a Pothos in water like this we named the plant Rat Tail because that is what the root looked like as it grew. This small plant is starting to grow a mouse tail.
The most surprising growth of this chopped up plant is the piece of vine that I just put in dirt with no hope of growing anything. That dead looking vine somehow breathed life back into itself when I laid it in dirt. After months it has sucked up enough nutrients from the soil and water and started growing very tiny leaves.
It is a miracle! Pothos are really the unkillable plant! These new plants are a wonderful addition to the jungle in the Horseheads Library. They will continue to flourish until their rightful owner comes back to take care of them again. Until then it is my honor to keep them safe.
Purple Haired Plant Lady
Amanda Zell