I keep a glass jar of water on my north-facing windowsill, holding a cutting I snipped from the Neon on its moss pole. Pale white roots thread down through the clear water, and they have stayed there for over a year. The leaves still glow that bright lime green, and the jar sits in plain water with nothing else added most weeks.
Yes, you can grow a neon pothos in water, and a cutting will live there for the long haul. The plant roots fast, and it keeps going as long as you refresh the water and feed it a little. You do not need soil to keep one alive and trailing on a shelf.
The reason it works comes down to how the vine roots. NC State Extension notes that pothos vines root in water with no fuss at all. Roots push out from the node, the small bump on the stem where a leaf joins it. So your cutting has to include at least one node, or it will sit in the jar and rot. No node means no roots, and a leaf on its own cannot start a new plant. Look for those little bumps along the stem before you make any cuts.
Take stem cuttings that are four to six inches long with a couple of leaves on each. Make your cut just below a node, then strip the lowest leaf so the bare nodes sit under the water line. Drop the cuttings into a clear jar and set it where it gets bright, indirect light. A clear glass jar lets you watch the roots form, which is half the fun of growing this way.
I took my own cutting straight from the moss-pole plant, and you can do the same with any healthy vine you already own. Pick a stem that looks firm and green, not soft or yellow. The fresher and healthier your cutting, the faster you will see roots. Use room-temperature water to fill the jar, since cold water from the tap can shock the stem.
New roots usually show up within two to three weeks. Once you see white threads reaching for the bottom of the jar, the cutting is settled in. You can leave it right there and treat the jar as its permanent home if you like the clean, no-soil look. Keep the jar somewhere bright but out of direct sun, since hot rays can heat the water and stress the young roots. Bright shade near a window suits it best.
Water growing does come with a tradeoff. A neon pothos in water grows a bit slower than the same plant in a pot of soil. The roots pull oxygen and food from the water alone, and there is less of both than in a good potting mix. Research on pothos also found the pot-and-soil setup beats water for cleaning the air. The soil and the tiny microbes around the roots do part of that work, and a plain jar of water cannot match it.
Swap the water every few days to keep it clear and full of oxygen. Stale water turns cloudy, and that is when roots start to slime and fail.
For a plant you plan to keep in water for months, plain water runs short on nutrients. Add a diluted nutrient solution, about a quarter of the strength on the bottle, once every few weeks. This gives the roots the food they would normally pull from soil, and it keeps your leaves their bright lime color. Skip this step and you will see the new leaves come in smaller and paler over time. A light feed is all you need to keep your jar plant looking full.
Want faster, fuller growth instead? Pot the rooted cutting into soil once the roots reach two to three inches long. The plant will speed up, push out more leaves, and fill a pot far quicker than it ever would in a jar. Either path works, so pick the one that fits the look you want.
Read the full article: Neon Pothos Care: Bright Color Guide
