Houseplant · Araceae
Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
Forgiving, fast, and content in a shadowy corner, pothos is the hardest houseplant to kill.
Bright indirect
Every 7–14 days
70–90°F · 21–32°C
USDA 10–12
Overview
Pothos belongs to the arum family and hails from the islands of the South Pacific, where it hauls itself up tree trunks as a thick-stemmed vine. Indoors it softens and trails, the reason it drapes so well over a shelf or climbs a pole with a little coaxing. Heart-shaped leaves and an easygoing temperament have made it one of the most familiar houseplants anywhere.
Its charm lies in how little it demands. It accepts low light without complaint, forgives the watering you forgot, and keeps growing while fussier plants sulk. Set it in a hanging pot and the vines pour down in a green curtain, or pinch the stems back and it gathers into a full, rounded mound.
Two caveats come with all that ease. Every part of the plant is toxic to cats and dogs, so it belongs above the reach of a curious pet. And in warm regions it turns invasive the moment it escapes a pot, which keeps it an indoor companion across most of the country.
Care
The short version: bright indirect light, though it makes do with far less, and water only once the top half of the soil has dried. Plant it in a well-drained mix, keep it warm and clear of cold drafts, and pinch the vines back when they turn leggy.
Light
Pothos looks its best in bright indirect light, yet it earns its name by tolerating medium light, partial shade, and even a low-light corner. The plain green forms handle the dimmest spots most gracefully. Just shield it from harsh direct sun, which scorches the leaves.
Water
Let the top half of the soil dry before watering again, which tends to land around every 7 to 14 days. Soggy soil is the surest way to lose a pothos, so when you hesitate, wait. Always pour off any water that gathers in the saucer.
Soil
A well-drained peaty potting mix is all it asks, and any standard houseplant blend serves nicely. Drainage is everything, since roots left sitting in wet soil rot fast. Choose a pot with holes at the base and the plant manages the rest.
Temperature
Keep it between 70°F to 90°F (21°C to 32°C), a range that suits most warm homes. It has no patience for frost and sulks in the cold. Set it apart from chilly drafts and unheated rooms through winter.
Humidity
Average indoor humidity sits well with it, so there's no figure to chase. It fills out a touch more in damper air, part of why it thrives in a bathroom or kitchen. Bone-dry winter air can brown the leaf tips and tempt spider mites.
Feeding
Feed it once a month across the spring-to-fall growing season with a diluted balanced houseplant fertilizer. Half the strength on the label is ample. Ease off in winter, when the plant slows and barely puts on growth.
Pruning
Pinch or cut the stems back whenever the vines stretch too long or thin out near the base. A cut just above a leaf node draws out fresh side shoots and keeps the plant full. Each trimmed length doubles as a free cutting to root.
Repotting
Move it up a pot size every 1 to 2 years, or sooner once it outgrows its home. Roots circling the rootball, slipping through the drainage holes, or soil that dries within a day all say it's time. Step up just one size so the new soil doesn't stay wet.
Size & spacing
As a houseplant the vines run 3 to 10 feet (90 cm to 3 m) long and spread roughly 3 to 6 feet (90 to 180 cm) across. Leave a hanging plant room to cascade, or guide the vines along a wall or up a moss pole.
Troubleshooting
Most pothos trouble begins at the roots and surfaces in the leaves, and overwatering lies behind more of it than any other cause. Read the early signals and you can right the plant before it slides. Find what matches below, then act while the window is still open.
Mushy, dark roots with a foul smell
Of every pothos ailment, root rot is the one that can take the plant quickly, and it takes hold when soil stays wet far too long. The trigger is overwatering in a mix that refuses to drain. Ease the plant from its pot, trim away anything black and slimy, and settle it into fresh, well-drained mix before you water once more.
Fix:
- Unpot and trim rotten roots
- Repot in fresh well-drained mix
- Withhold water until recovery
A yellow cast overtaking the lowest leaves first
When pothos foliage yellows, the culprit is rarely thirst and almost always overwatering. Waterlogged soil starves the roots of air, and the oldest leaves near the base are the first to fade. Let the surface of the soil dry between drinks, and confirm the pot drains cleanly so no water lingers at the base.
Fix:
- Reduce watering frequency
- Check pot drainage
- Let soil surface dry before watering
White cottony fluff in the leaf joints
Those small white tufts settled into the stem joints and leaf axils are mealybugs, a sap-feeding pest that finds indoor pothos often. Touch each one with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, then follow through with insecticidal soap. Set the plant apart from your others until the last of them is gone.
Fix:
- Dab with alcohol-soaked swab
- Apply insecticidal soap
- Isolate plant
Small brown bumps stuck along the stems
Firm brown bumps fixed to the stems and leaves are scale insects, and they resist a casual wipe because a waxy shell shields them. Lift them off with a fingernail or a worn toothbrush, then dress the plant in horticultural oil. A single pass seldom settles it, so return with a second treatment a week or two on.
Fix:
- Scrape off scale
- Apply horticultural oil
- Repeat treatment
Fine webbing and a speckled, dusty look
Delicate webbing strung across the leaves and a stippled, faded surface betray spider mites, which flourish in warm, dry air. Rinse the foliage thoroughly to set them back, then lift the humidity around the plant. Insecticidal soap or a miticide takes care of any that linger.
Fix:
- Rinse foliage
- Raise humidity
- Apply insecticidal soap or miticide
Dusky blotches or a soft gray mold settling across the foliage
Dark blotches or a soft gray coating across the leaves are fungal in origin, set off by wet foliage and stale air. Remove the marked leaves so the trouble has nowhere to travel. Open up some space around the plant for better airflow, and keep water off the leaves whenever you water.
Fix:
- Remove affected leaves
- Improve air circulation
- Avoid wetting foliage
Browned, brittle leaf edges dulling the display
Scorched edges generally signal a watering imbalance, and overwatering darkens the margins more readily than drought does. Chilly drafts and parched indoor air only deepen the damage. Steady your watering rhythm, set the plant clear of cold windows and heat vents, and lift the humidity that surrounds it.
Fix:
- Correct watering
- Keep away from drafts and cold
- Raise ambient humidity
New leaves coming in solid green
Fresh leaves arriving without their cream and gold marbling are a quiet request for more light. Too little light nudges a variegated pothos back toward plain green, the better to capture the little it receives. Shift it to a brighter spot, still shielded from direct sun, and the new growth holds its pattern.
Fix:
- Move to brighter indirect light
Toxicity
Pothos is an easy plant to live alongside, but a dangerous one to chew. Every part of it holds fine, needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate that sting the mouth and throat. Keep the vines and any cuttings clear of pets and small children.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
One bite of a leaf leaves a cat with a mouthful of sharp crystals. Watch for drooling, pawing at the mouth, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing.
Dogs Moderate
A dog responds much as a cat does, with a stinging mouth, heavy drool, and vomiting after a chew. Most learn to steer clear after the first taste.
Horses Moderate
Those same crystals irritate a horse's mouth and throat, drawing out drooling and trouble swallowing. Keep trailing vines beyond reach in any barn or stable.
Rabbits Toxic
The crystals scald a rabbit's mouth and gut just as harshly. Set pots and trailing vines well clear of any rabbit's reach.
Livestock Moderate
Cattle, goats, and sheep meet the same mouth and throat irritation from the sap and leaves. Keep the plant away from grazing animals.
Birds Toxic
The sap stings a bird's mouth and crop. Position pots and trailing vines away from pet birds and poultry alike.
People Caution
This is no food plant, and the sap nips at bare skin and the mouth. Wash your hands once you finish pruning, and keep cuttings and leaves clear of small children.
Sap may irritate skin; wash hands after pruning
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Nearly all pothos sold today belong to a small handful of named forms, told apart by the color and markings of their leaves. These are the ones worth recognizing on sight.
Golden Pothos
The original and most familiar form wears heart-shaped green leaves brushed with splashes of golden yellow.
Marble Queen
So richly marbled in white and cream are its leaves that this one grows more slowly than any other.
Neon
Forgoing variegation entirely, this form shows off solid leaves in a luminous chartreuse green.
Jade
Jade stays understated, with deep green leaves carrying little to no marbling.
Pearls and Jade
A sport of Marble Queen, it pairs green leaves with edges traced in white and silvery gray.
How to propagate
Pothos is among the simplest of plants to multiply, and one healthy vine can hand you several new plants at no cost.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Year-round, spring to summer best · Roots in 3-4 weeks
This is the effortless route, open any time of year, though spring and summer reward you fastest. Cut a length of vine just below a node, then stand it in a glass of water or a pot of moist vermiculite. Roots appear in about 3 to 4 weeks, and a new plant unfolds from there.
Air layeringModerate
During active growth · Several weeks
Air-layering asks for more patience and rewards it on a long, mature vine you'd rather not cut back. Work through the active growing season so the stem roots while still joined to the parent. Allow it several weeks to form roots before you part the new plant from the old.
Myths
A trailing pothos doubles as an air purifier for the living room.
The celebrated chamber studies relied on sealed boxes rather than lived-in rooms. A peer-reviewed review found that potted plants do next to nothing for the air in an ordinary home, where open windows and the furnace shift far more of it. You'd need hundreds of plants per square yard to rival a single cracked window.
Pothos grows fine with no light at all.
Its hardy name comes from holding on in dim corners, yet it still needs some light to live. Sink it in deep shade and the growth slows to a crawl while the variegation drains away. A spot with bright indirect light keeps it full and patterned.
One lighting arrangement flatters variegated and plain pothos equally.
Those white and cream patches hold no chlorophyll, so a variegated plant has to reach further for its food. Park it in the same dim corner as a solid green pothos and the new leaves arrive plain. Bright indirect light is what keeps the variegation.
Pothos makes a worry-free companion for cats and dogs.
Every part of the plant carries sharp calcium oxalate crystals that sting the instant a pet bites down. For that reason the ASPCA lists pothos as toxic to cats and dogs alike. Hang it well out of reach when animals share the room.
Pothos suits any outdoor planting scheme, whatever the climate.
In warm climates the vines scale trees and smother native plants the moment they slip past a garden. UF/IFAS lists pothos as a Category II invasive in Florida and urges homeowners against planting it in the landscape. Keep it in a pot where cold or walls hold it in check.
Sources
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
- Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
- UF/IFAS Extension Charlotte County
- UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants
- Drexel University (Cummings & Waring, J. Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology)
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online