Just remove the leaf stalk close to the stem of the plant or go down the stem above any node (if that is what you want to do). As for pot color/type that is a personal choice. The plant should be the star but a pretty pot doesn't hurt either.

Do I cut above or below the air root at the node? What angle do I cut on?

I don't really see any "air roots" but I would cut above it. The angle of the cut doesn't matter. I prefer to cut mine straight across and close to a node (not right on top of a node though). I don't have a Rhaphidophora tetrasperma but I have monstera and philodendrons that are probably treated the same way.

Here is a video on cutting on YouTube that may help you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9Or-jDzIM

if you cut between the two air roots. you might be able to propagate the upper part ...

im not sure the angle of the cut is relevant ...

watch a few of these.. see how they do cuttings

the plant you want.. is on the extreme left ... all the rest could be propagation material ... dont you think???

also.. if you bare root it.. you can probably see where the grower did it.. always a good clue ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Rhaphidophora+tetrasperma+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

Are these not air roots?

I guess I've mostly pruned outside plants, where it matters how you cut not just where. Does it not matter because it won't be rained on or anything like that? Or is it because this is a liana rather than a shrub?

No propogation happening ... no space for additional plants (heck, it's questionable whether I have space for existing plants ...). Upper part will soon have 0 leaves, as the top leaf was severely damaged by the cold ...

The other leaves are hiding their brown tips for the most part in these pictures (yes, this matter has already been settled with the vendor). I know it will survive, but I honestly don't think this plant will be a spotlight plant or obvious what's desirable for a little while.

Yes, just keeping the two little leaves would be an option, but will the plant not be made unhappy if I remove that much?

Repotting is in its future ... I do have to figure out what pot its going in (the reason its relavent that this isn't likely to be its pot). Does one prune and repot at the same time? or is that too much stress for the plant. Repotting is probably somewhat more urgent, if I just pull off the dying leaf. It's on my to do list ... along with several other plants that would like bigger pots and some that need a dirt refresh ... (yeah, yeah ... medium, soil, dirt, I don't care ... it gets my hands dirty: it's dirt.)

I would not bother to cut the leaf. That would leave a stub of petiole. Just leave it until it is dead enough to just snap it off. This is hardly more than a cutting at the moment so I’d leave it in peace until it gets some more growth on it. Unless the plastic bag is chock full of roots I see no reason to repot yet, and certainly not in mid winter.

I didn't consider the nubs as "air roots" but they are potential roots as you noted. Keep it happy and in a few years you should have lots of roots. I took a couple photos of my "tree philodendrons" in the basement last night just to show you the potential of air roots.

I cut off old yellow leaves or leaves that are tattered every year.

and my broken top of a monstera living in this trug for 2 or 3 years now. This summer we had so much rain I had to empty the trug a few times.

After emptying it on another day. I have a philodendron in there too.

Okay, so repotting this one may be less urgent, then ... what season does it want to be repotted? I didn't realize it cared if it lives in the house all year ...

I was going to cut because after i pull off the dead leaf, it'll have a rather long stem sticking out with no leaves, and six inches or so of stump just isn't the look I'm going for ...

I do have a small Monstera deliciosa in the other room, though it has been well behaved and doesn't have any damage to it, and the Monstera adansonii (one of the plants waiting for repot, actually ... so recommendations on timing for that would be great, too) has only had one ugly leaf, but it was midstem, so I could just pull it off without leaving a stem leading to nowhere ...

By the way, hc mcdole, what's the pretty plant with the varigated leaves?

The top leaf has died because the vasculature serving the leaf was destroyed when the stem broke. Since no water/ nutrients can make its way into the leaf, no photosynthate (photosynthate is the product of photosynthesis - glucose/ sugar/ the plant's real food) can be produced, so it doesn't matter where you cut the leaf off as it provides no advantage for the plant.

As far as where to terminate the stem, I would make a pruning cut immediately above the top viable leaf if you want 2 trunks/ stems, or, cut back to immediately above the bottom branch (has 2 leaves on it) which would then become the vine's new leader. I know you don't want to propagate a cutting, but cutting there would free up a node to go into the soil and another from which you could expect a new leader to form.

With the stem's apex (growing tip of the stem or branch) removed, the growth regulator/ hormone (auxin) which inhibits lateral growth (new branches) and is synthesized in the branch tip will no longer be produced there, which means latent (dormant) buds located in leaf axils (crotch formed by the leaf stem and the branch) or just above the scars where leaves were formerly attached will be stimulated to grow by another growth regulator (cytokinin).

When you cut through an internode, the stub of the branch/ stem will die back to the first node proximal to (toward the trunk from) the cut. Sometimes it's better to cut through the petiole and wait until there is a clear delineation between the living tissue at the node proximal to the cut before making a final pruning cut, but in the end the pruning cut should be angular as seen below.

Pruning immediately above the node allows callus tissue to roll over the wound quicker and leaves a less noticeable scar with little deformity as seen below on a larger scale in this tree (one with the big white scar in the middle of the image) "healing" after a trunk chop.

Before:

After 3 years of additional growth and healing:

I know it will survive, but I honestly don't think this plant will be a spotlight plant or obvious what's desirable for a little while. Your plant has lost none of its potential to become a perfect specimen completely free of any evidence of recent setbacks.

Yes, just keeping the two little leaves would be an option, but will the plant not be made unhappy if I remove that much? The "two little leaves are actually part of a new branch which would serve admirably as your vine's new leader. It's fine to cut it back as described above (immediately distal to the node), but it would be better to wait until mid-Jun if you live in the N hemisphere. Each leaf is a food factory where the plant's true food (sugar/glucose) is created. Winter, with it's low light and short days (if it's winter where you live) isn't a good time to prune. Getting in the habit of pruning in June to remove all the lanky winter growth the plant puts on will leave you with a much fuller, compact, and more attractive plant.

Does one prune and repot at the same time? or is that too much stress for the plant. Many growers are fond of repeating the conventional 'wisdom' that pruning foliage back to balance the root to shoot ratio is always a bad idea, but those would be the growers with very little or no experience when it comes to repotting vs potting up, or transplanting trees while they are growing strong. Plants in nursery cans, pots, or balled and burlapped have already self balanced their root to shoot ratio, so there is no need to do any 'balancing'. If, however, you remove a large volume of roots from a plant in active growth when transplanting or when doing a full repot, it is often essential to prune the top back and sometimes even defoliate the tree entirely to prevent the organisms systems from shutting down from the stress. Taking a tree from this:

to this:

during a repotting session requires taking the tree that looked like this:

to this:

Repotting is probably somewhat more urgent ..... I can't see where there is an urgent need to repot. Getting into the habit of repotting in the 2-3 weeks immediately before the summer solstice (21 June) will allow your plant to recover from repotting faster than at any other point in the growth cycle; and because the plant's energy reserves and current ability to make food (photosynthesize) should be peaking, the response to repotting and pruning will be much more enthusiastic.

Does that leave you with questions?

Al

Do you think it broke? It came that way, so I was assuming someone cut it ... It's also losing one of the little leaves now, though I'm not sure why ...

You can see the rest of the cold damage in this picture, too ... the top leaf (the dead and gone one) had the most severe spots ...