Was it possible to have saved my Impatiens

Question

I have had an Impatiens plant in a pot indoors for the past 8 years. It has survived all that time just fine. But this past year it has started to flower a lot and appears to have been dying. Its leaves were lighter than usual and had holes in them despite there being no insects near the plant. The stems of the plant became a lot lighter than usual. The flowers were also dying sooner. It has been alive for 8 years straight. So I think it lived for quite a while considering it has never been pruned. At this point all that is left is yellow green vine like stems with no leaves or flowers anymore. I am sad that it is dead now, or at least I think it’s dead. Anyway, I just want to know if there is anything that I could have done that would have made it live longer? Was there something wrong with the plant that I didn’t know about and could have prevented? I’m not exactly a plant expert and I got it in the 3rd grade. They told me to plant it outside back then. It was in a tiny pot for 4 of the 8 years of its life with me. It probably could have lived longer had I actually done more for it. Should I have switched its pot sooner?

Answer 1

It is possible that the plant could have benefited from being moved to a larger pot, or being pruned to keep it smaller. However, 8 years is a long lifespan for most types of Impatiens, so it may not have been able to live any longer anyway.

If you get a new one, you could also extend its life by taking cuttings:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/impatiens/impatiens-rooting.htm
And here is more information about caring for Impatiens:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/impatiens/growing-impatiens-flowers.htm