5 Things To Love About Pothos
I was in the interior plantscaping trade for years. I maintained 100’s of Pothos and I put 100’s of them in offices and homes. Saying they’re the quintessential file cabinet plant or that I got tired of them is an understatement. I’ve been away from mass quantities of them for a while now and some new varieties have come on the market so my heart has softened towards them once again. Here are 5 things to love about Pothos.
This is the ultimate easy care, low light tolerant houseplant to come down the pike.
This is “Glacier” – one of the newer varieties. The leaves are a bit smaller than the other Pothos.
Some Of Our General Houseplant Guides For Your Reference:
- Guide To Watering Indoor Plants
- Beginner’s Guide To Repotting Plants
- 3 Ways To Successfully Fertilize Indoor Plants
- How to Clean Houseplants
- Winter Houseplant Care Guide
- Plant Humidity: How I Increase Humidity For Houseplants
#1: Easy Care. Pothos, whose name is Epipremum (or Scindapsus) aurem in the botanic world, do just fine in lower to medium light. The lower the light, the less variegation &/or color your plant will have.
If you’re heavy-handed with the watering can, then you’d better change your ways. This plant needs water every 7 to 10 days, less or more depending on the temperatures, & will rot out in no time if you overdo it.
As I say in our houseplant care book Keep Your Houseplants Alive, back off with the liquid love. As far as insects go, mealybugs seemed to be the public enemy #1 of Pothos in my experience. A good spraying off in the sink will knock off those white fuzzy critters & get them under control if the infestation is not too bad.
#2 Low Light Tolerant & Durable. As I said above, Pothos are 1 plant that can tolerate lower light conditions. They’ll revert to solid green & won’t grow too much but they will live. Medium light is their sweet spot.
These plants seemed to be oblivious to the recycled air & lack of circulation in offices. I remember 1000’s of them hanging down from floor after floor of rectangular planters in the atrium areas of the Hyatt Hotels. For a plant with a soft leaf, Pothos are tough.
A good-sized 6″ Golden Pothos – the old standby.
Other Guides on Pothos Care
Pothos Care: the Easiest Trailing Houseplant
11 Reasons Why Pothos Is The Plant For You
Neon Pothos Care: A Vibrant Chartreuse Houseplant
Answering Your Questions About Pothos Care
#3 Versatility. You can hang Pothos to enjoy their long stems trailing down or place them on a table, shelf or file cabinet. They are commonly found in dish gardens mixing & mingling with other plants.
If you’re near a nursery which offers houseplants a bit out of the ordinary, you can find them growing over hoops or climbing up a piece of bark.
#4 Easy To Propagate. Pothos are so easy to propagate that you’ll be giving plants to your friends in no time. Simply cut off a piece of the stem anywhere from 6″ to 12″ long, strip off the lower leaves & place it in water. Make sure you have node it the water & freshen the water every week. That’s it!
The chartreusey Pothos “Neon”. The 1 on the ground is growing on a double hoop. I’m crazy for this color!
#5 Air Purification. Pothos are 1 of the plants that are champions at cleaning the air. That’s right, while they’re sitting there looking pretty, Pothos are actually removing toxins from the air around them. They take in the bad & release the good. How kind Pothos are to us!
For the full scoop on how to successfully grow this beautiful trailing houseplant, check out these detailed Pothos care & growing tips.
You can see a Pothos growing in the front of this mixed garden. That basket was packed full & very heavy!
In their natural environments, Pothos climb up the tall trees and their stems can reach 60′ tall. Wow! The leaves get to be 2′ and are deeply divided. I’m sure you’ve seen one in someone’s home or in a restaurant where the 10′ stems are very leggy and all the foliage is at the very tips. Not a look I’m fond of!
The fact is that Pothos, aka Devil’s Ivy, will grow and trail much faster in medium light but you can buy them with lots of trails already on them if that’s what you want.
They’re so easy to care for and tolerant of lower to medium light situations making them one of the “go to” houseplants. One of my friends has had a Pothos for over 20 years now – now that’s longevity!
Pothos are rockstars – they’re included in this 4 posts:
10 Easy Care Houseplants for Low Light
15 Easy to Grow Houseplants in it for the Long Haul
15 Easy Care Office Plants For Your Desk
7 Easy Tabletop & Hanging Plants For Beginning Houseplant Gardeners
This post may contain affiliate links, you can read our policies here.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
12/10/17 – My gorgeous neon pothos was turning yellow when I discovered the drain hole in the pot had becomed plugged. I raced to repot it into dry soil and remove the rotting, yellowing leaves. It has been more than a month now and the plant seems to have lost the will to live. It is very wilted and I can’t get it to bounce back. I am very sad that my show-stopper plant is sick and reduced to a mere shadow of its former self but I am willing to hang in there with it to nurse it back to health. I give it small drinks of water only when the pot is lightweight, but never allow water to flow out the drain hole and it receives filtered light. Please advise as to how to save my sick friend.
I cry every day!!!
Hi Debra – I love chartreuse plants & flowers so I feel your pain! Once plants get overwatered & the roots become waterlogged, it can be hard to bring them back to life. My advice would be to repot it into a good quality potting soil but you’ve already done that. Give it as much light as you can (Neon takes more light than some of the other Pothos) without putting it in direct, hot sun. At this time of year, I water my Pothos every 3-4 weeks. Nell
Hello Nell. I am attempting leaf cuttings from Sanseveria Moonshine and Hahnii Jade. Will the new plants be the same varieties or will they be something else? I know Sanseveria Laurentii will revert to Trifasciata but I can’t find any info on the net about Moonshine or Hahnii. Thanks so much!
P.S. These are taking as long to sprout as leaf cuttings from my ZZ plant!
Debra – Too funny! I’m not sure about the Hahnii Jade but I can fill you in on Moonshine. As mine are growing & spreading, they’re reverting to a striped form with no color on the edges. Also, the leaves are getting skinnier & taller. Darn … I love the Moonshine so hopefully some will keep that silvery-green color. Nell
Hi I love your post! I am a pothos addict. Where in the world did you find that glacier?? Please say somewhere I can possibly order from. I have found a number of leaves on my Njoy which are glacier, so i have propagated them in the hopes of creating a full Glacier pothos. Thanks 🙂
Hi Jennifer – I took that pic in one of the greenhouses of a wholesale grower. He doesn’t sell online. I know Costa Farms grows them so you might want see where they sell them retail. Nell