My $40 neon pothos from a roadside stand nearly died within a week

Bought this gorgeous variegated pothos off some guy near the highway for $40 and it turned out the roots were all rotted and mushy inside. I ended up cutting off half the leaves and propagating the rest in water - has anyone else gotten burned buying plants from random roadside sellers?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee8471mo ago

Did you check the roots before you bought it or just go by how the leaves looked?

ray3561mo ago

Three years back I bought a marble queen from a guy set up outside Lowe's for thirty bucks and it was basically dead in a week too. Soak the roots in hydrogen peroxide and water mix before you do anything else to kill off the rot. I chop any dead roots off first then let the cuttings sit in a glass jar with a few drops of liquid fertilizer for a month before moving them back to soil. Those roadside sellers pull the plants out of the dirt and wrap them in wet paper towels to make them look healthy for a day or two. Once you get the props going strong you'll have a full plant again faster than youd think.

betty_wells1mo ago

Those roadside sellers pull the plants out of the dirt and wrap them in wet paper towels" - yeah that's the scam, idk how they get away with it.