Cheese Plant Advice Please

I have been given a Cheese Plant. Its approximately 2 - 2/12 feet in height and has 4 leaves, which look a bit tatty. It has several long brown roots ( think they are roots ) growing off the main stems. Cannot see any sign of new growth on the plant. Should I just re- pot it or should I do something drastic like cutting the whole plant off down to the soil level? I did this with an umbrella plant that I have been given and its grown back amazingly well. Your advice would be appreciated.

 

A picture would help.
How tatty is it?

I tend to train the Aerial roots back down into the pot, but as the plant grows it will not become possible to do this, so some form of support will be needed.

New growth will probably take place in the spring, when the light levels increase, they grow quite fast once they get moving.

 

I'll try and post a pic later on. The leaves are brown and damaged around the edges. Also looks a bit pot bound. Do these Aerial roots serve a purpose?

 

Yes the Aerial roots do in my opinion.
They are used in nature to help the plant climb, but also, when they reach the soil they add to the plants feeding capacity, so the leaves get bigger.

 

As you may have noticed, they have a tendency to lean at an angle, that is because in their native Cenrtral American habitat they climb around trees so getting them to grow upright isn't natural.
If you need to repot leave it until mid March, when it should have started growing. They don't take kindly to being cut down to the ground either.
Browning of the leaves are often caused through dry atmosphere and sometimes excessively dry roots.

 

Hi Luciusmaximus,

I'd also say that brown leaves are the result if dry atmosphere. I've always understood it's best to grow them up a moss pole which is kept damp. By doing this not only are you providing humidity but also something for the plant ( and the aerial roots ) to cling to and grow up.

 

Thanks for the advice Would it really hurt to re-pot it now as plant is top heavy in its current pot and tending to fall over? Would it like to be sprayed with a water mister?

 

Yes the leaning is an issue, I stake my discreetly from young and use sturdy vine wire to keep it upright. In my experience once they lean so far it is impossible to get them straight again without damaging them.
I would think a careful transplanting right now would be a good idea and leave it as it is (may be a bit ugly for a while) and let it establish itself, should take off quickly once happy.
Not sure about the browning (could be many things done by its previous owner), but mine hates to have dry soil, so it is best to keep it at least slightly moist. Keep in a warmish room, in good light but not direct sunlight. I rotate it regularly which helps with keeping it upright-ish.
As others have said with the roots, train them either into the soil if you can as this will provide a bit more stability.
It will get big very quickly.
@strongylodon I didn't realise the sideways growth was a natural phenomenon, interesting.

Good luck
GG

 

I had one of those years ago. They are like goldfish. The bigger the bowl, the bigger they grow. Had this thing staked to a 10' pipe that I had painted "branch" coloured and the darn thing grew all the way up, then all the way down and was on it's way back up again before the accident. Those aerial roots really helped stabilize it and as the others here say, gave her the ability to have a feeding frenzy. I named her Florida....