Pothos goes by many names, including Devil’s Vine, Devil’s Ivy, and Money Plant. It features heart-shaped leaves and trailing vines that accentuate any indoor living space and require simple care and minimal attention to thrive. With a long lifespan and fast growth, pothos is also a fantastic plant for propagation, so you can expand your garden or give them away to anyone you like. In this article, we’ll look at how to propagate pothos and how you use this technique to easily expand your garden.
How To Propagate Pothos
When propagating pothos, you can do so using water or soil, depending on your preference. We’ll cover both methods here. They each work perfectly well, so feel free to pick whichever one you prefer.
Water Propagation
To propagate pothos in water, you’ll need a pair of sharp, sanitized pruning shears or scissors and a glass or jar. You’ll also need a pot with drainage holes and potting soil for transplanting later. Optionally, you can also utilize a rooting hormone to help
Step 1 – Prepare the cuttings
On your pothos plant, find a tall, healthy stem with multiple leaves growing along its length. Remove about four inches off the top, ensuring at least three leaf nodes are on the cut piece. Cut the stem half an inch below a leaf node at a 45-degree angle for more surface area. When the cutting is free of the plant, remove the bottom leaves, retaining one or two on the top. Repeat this process with as many cuttings as needed.
Step 2 – Root the cuttings
Take a clean jar or glass and fill it with room-temperature filtered water. If using tap water, leave it uncovered overnight to help remove some minerals/chemicals that may be harmful to the plant. This is also the time to use rooting hormone if you chose to do so.
Place the cuttings in the water so the lowest node is submerged and the top leaves above the water. Move the jar to a warm area receiving bright, indirect sunlight. Change the water every few days to keep it fresh, oxygenated, and bacteria-free.
Step 3 – Monitor the cuttings
Keep an eye on the cuttings over the next few weeks. During this time, you should see roots growing from the submerged nodes. During this time change out the water every 2-3 days to prevent mold and bacteria growth. When they are about an inch long, it’s time to transplant the cutting.
Step 4 – Transplanting pothos cuttings
Fill the pot with equal parts of quality potting soil, perlite, and coconut coir. The combination ensures decent drainage, preventing soggy, rotten roots. Make a hole in the soil and place the cutting in, burying the bottom half of the stem. You can plant several cuttings in one pot, leaving some space between each one to give them room to grow. Water the plant thoroughly and place it where it will receive bright, indirect sunlight.
Soil Propagation
Propagation in soil is somewhat easier since you plant your pothos right into a pot without the water step, though you can’t monitor the roots as easily. You’ll need sharp, sterilized pruning shears, a pot with drainage holes, and quality potting soil for this method.
Step 1 – Prepare the cuttings
Cutting removal from the original plant is done the same way for soil transplants as it is for water rooting. Choose a healthy plant with at least three leaf pairs in the top four inches. Cut it at a 45-degree angle half an inch below the third or fourth leaf node. Remove the bottom leaves.
Step 2 – Prepare the pot
Use the same combination of potting soil, perlite, and coconut coir mentioned above to fill the pot. You may also want to dip the end of the stem in rooting hormone, which encourages root growth, though this is optional for a fast-growing plant like pothos.
Step 3 – Plant the cutting
Bury the bottom half of the cutting’s stem in the middle of the pot or a few around the edges for a fuller plant. Press the soil around each cutting to hold them in place. Add water until it leaks from the drainage holes in the pot’s base. Then place the plant in a warm area with plenty of indirect sunlight.
Step 4 – Monitor the cutting
Every few days, mist the soil to keep it moist. Keep an eye out for new leaves since this will determine whether the plant has taken root.
Caring For Pothos After Propagation
After propagation, you’ll need to treat the new plant delicately until it’s established in its new home. Keep the soil damp but not soggy to avoid the risk of root rot. Give the plant plenty of light and warmth. Keep it away from drafts from vents, fans, or air conditioners.
Watch for slow or no growth in your propagated pothos plants. If you don’t see any new leaves sprouting after a month, it may not have taken root. You can test it by gently tugging on the stem. If it stays firmly in the soil, the roots have worked their way into the soil, but if the plant comes free easily, you may need to start over with a new cutting. It’s inevitable that some cuttings will fail, so don’t get discouraged if it takes a couple of tries to get a successful plant.
Transplant shock is possible, especially for cuttings you’ve started with water propagation. Leaving them in the jar too long could prevent proper rooting when they are transferred to soil. Yellow leaves after transplanting from jar to soil are a sign of transplant shock. Be sure to minimize the time the stems are in the water to less than three months before soil planting.
Final Thoughts
Pothos plants are unique tropical beauties that grow fast, giving you plenty of stems to use for propagating new plants. Using the methods we’ve described, and a bit of love, your cuttings will grow into gorgeous plants that are as healthy as the original. Propagation is a fun and cheap way to expand your garden, so give it a try and let us know how it goes!
Frequently Asked Questions
When is The Best Time to Propagate Pothos?
The best time to propagate pothos is during its active growing season in spring and summer. These seasons are also warm and sunny, so the plant will have the right temperature and light it requires for healthy root development. Doing so outside this time range makes it more likely to have a failed transplant.
Does Pothos Root Quicker in Soil or Water?
Pothos roots develop quicker in water, though it takes them longer to adapt after transferring them to the soil. In the long run, planting directly into a pot of soil establishes a new pothos plant is the faster process.
How Fast Does Pothos Grow?
Pothos vines grow about a foot each month. Once it’s rooted in the soil and growing new leaves, it won’t take long for new vines to sprout, giving you plenty to drape over shelves or windows as a natural decoration.
