How To Care For and Propagate Indoor Pothos Plants
I am so excited to have teamed up with some of my gal pals over on Instagram to share all about plants! Yes, you read that right…PLANTS!! I know this is something that I haven’t shared about since my flourishing container garden in 2012 {whoa, I’m a dinosaur in the blogging world!} and that I usually prefer artificial plants for household decor…but hey, who says someone can’t change?
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Let me take you on a little journey of my lovin’ on plant days…one cold, November, wintry day in Wisconsin, during the middle of Covid, we ventured to Home Depot and I stumbled upon the saddest looking clearance household plant there ever was. This green leafy plant hung there on the shelf in its plastic hanging basket with the bright yellow clearance sticker. It literally pulled at my heart strings and whispered “buy me, take me home, I promise I won’t die like all of the other houseplants you’ve bought”.
So…like the good Samaritan I am, I bought that dang $3 clearance pothos plant and we’ve been BFFs ever since!
I have to admit, I am a sucker for dying, tossed aside, no one else wants things! I love a good revival story and turning something completely around!
I hate the saying “if I can do it, so can you”….ugh! That’s always so pathetic sounding! Haha …. However, if you are like me or not, I promise you that raising a Pothos plant in your home is actually not that hard! It literally just sits there, and gets watered when you remember…and somehow, keeps growing! It’s like a magic plant!
Now, six months later, the saddest little Pothos plant has babies, that have also flourished and moved far far away to Illinois! 😂 So I guess, congratulations are in order for me…I’m a plant grandma!
Alright, let’s get a little more serious! Let’s dive into how to care for a Pothos plant and how to propagate one (and what propagate means for that matter!)
What is a Pothos Plant?
A Pothos plant is an evergreen plant that is commonly grown indoors, although it can survive outdoors. The Pothos has large, waxy-green leaves that are heart shaped. Most often, Pothos are grown in hanging baskets, as their leaves grow into beautiful, long vines.
How To Care For A Pothos Plant
The great thing is, pothos plants don’t need a whole lot of care or attention. They are loner plants and are totally fine just sitting there by themselves soaking up minimal sunlight and water…and thriving! Literally, these plants are so low maintenance and pretty hard to kill! Yay for all of us who don’t have green thumbs!!
Where To Put Pothos Plants in Your Home
Pothos plants thrive in lower, non-direct sunlight areas indoors! They make great additions to bathrooms, basements, and other areas of your home or building that don’t get a ton of sunlight! Pothos plants, however, do not thrive very well in direct sunlight.
What is Propagation?
Propagation is starting/breeding a plant from another plant.
Water or Soil?
Pothos are very interesting plants as they can be grown fully immersed in water or potted in soil! Clippings can be taken from the mother plant and be put into water or soil. However, it is harder to grow a baby plant in an environment in which it was not “birthed” in. Therefore, if you have Pothos plant in soil, it’s best to put the baby clippings into soil to root. Alternatively, if you have a Pothos plant in water, it’s best to put those baby clippings into a container with water!
Water Propagation
If you are planning to grow a baby Pothos clipping in water, tall skinny necked bottles work best. Be sure to change out the water every couple of days as the oxygen in the water dissipates … and plants need oxygen to grow!
Where To Cut Pothos Plants
Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the Pothos clipping right before and after the stem of a new leaf, like shown in this picture. This is called a “node”.
Happy, Healthy & Thriving Pothos Plants
When Pothos plants are happy and healthy they have large, beautiful leaves. Some with variegation (different colored leaves/sections) and some with none. On my particular rescue Pothos plant, I have a lot of variegation at on the newer growth leaves – which leads me to believe it is a Golden Pothos or Devil’s Ivy. The leaves that are longer down the vine tend to be solid green.
Pothos plants can grow very long vines. Clipping them back and rooting the clippings in the same pot can help create beautiful and bushy Pothos plants!
p.s. Pothos plants thrive even more when they are placed next to pictures with people who love them! …true story! 😂
Now that you are a Pothos expert, go out and rescue the poor clearance Pothos plant and give it a second chance at life! It will thank you in the long run!
Signing off for now…
xoxo, the happy plant grandma!
· In: Crafts/Projects, Featured Article, Gardening
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i have pathos in my yard along the side of the shed (Florida) I recently clipped some strands and have them in water as we speak! Little rootlets are growing!
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where did you get the great brackets holding shelf in front of window!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
I used to have Pothos vines going all the way around my small living room, up near the ceiling. I discovered something: if you loosely coil a vine and lay it on the soil of it's pot, open up a paper clip and pin the nodes tight to the soil, new roots will form. Growth from this un-cut continuous vine will be bigger and stronger than that from where the vine first grows out of the beginning of the plant because it is now being nourished from 2 places. I never tried to make roots further down the vine for a 3rd rooting, but I wonder, would the leaves get even bigger?
Is this plant safe to have in a home with pets? I know some houseplants are poisonous to cats. I’m looking for one safe for them and easy to grow for me.
I don’t know for sure, we call it a money plant. It will grow even if it is kept in water.