Roots are coming out of the drainage holes and circling on top of the soil, and the pot dries out in about two days when it used to take a week. It is in a north window with no grow light, so light is at its worst for the next few months. Everything I read says only repot in spring. Everything I can see says this plant is out of room. Which do I listen to?
The wait until spring advice is really a proxy for wait until the plant is growing. If your pothos has pushed a new leaf in the last month, it is growing and the calendar is irrelevant. If it has done nothing since September and is also dropping leaves, then wait, because a plant with no root growth cannot colonise new soil and the soil just sits wet.
A twenty dollar clip on grow light on a timer would change this decision entirely, and would also fix the leggy growth you almost certainly have from a north window. Cheaper than most pots and it makes winter repotting a non question.
Middle option nobody has mentioned: leave it in the pot and water more often instead. A rootbound pothos in a dim window is not in danger, it is just thirsty. If your life is busy, waiting until March costs you almost nothing except a couple of extra trips to the tap each week.
True, with one warning. Once it is that rootbound, water runs straight down the sides and out without wetting the middle. Bottom water it in a bowl for twenty minutes if you go this route.
@capsule_curious · 11mo ago · 3 replies
Repot it now. Drying in two days is the plant telling you it has more root than soil, and the spring rule exists mostly for plants that genuinely go dormant and for people who repot on a calendar instead of on evidence.
Two conditions though. Go up one size only, six inch to eight for example, because a big jump leaves a ring of wet unused soil that becomes a problem in a dim north window. And do not prune the top at the same time. One intervention, then leave it alone.
Pothos are about as forgiving as houseplants get. I have repotted them in December with no grow light and had no sulking at all.
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@kombucha_kai · 11mo ago
The one size rule is the bit people skip and then wonder why the new pot stays wet for a fortnight. Two inches of extra diameter is plenty.
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@sashiko_sam · 11mo ago
If you cannot find a pot two inches bigger, root pruning back into the same pot with fresh mix is completely valid. Take the outer inch off the rootball with a serrated knife, tease the circling roots loose, refill.
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