Houseplant · Araceae
Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
Forgiving, fast, and thriving in a dim 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 is an arum from the South Pacific islands, where it powers up tree trunks as a thick-stemmed climber. Indoors it eases off and trails, perfect for spilling over a shelf or scaling a pole. Those heart-shaped leaves and its go-anywhere nature have rocketed it to the top of the houseplant charts worldwide.
Here's the kicker: it barely asks for anything. It powers through low light, laughs off a skipped watering, and keeps cranking out growth while needier plants stall. Hang it and the vines come tumbling down; pinch the stems and it bulks up into a full, bushy mound.
Two warnings ride along with all that. Every part runs toxic to cats and dogs, so it needs to live up high, away from curious pets. And in warm regions it goes invasive the second it breaks out of a pot, which pins it indoors across most of the country.
Care
The short version: chase bright indirect light, though it gets by on much less, and water only after the top half of the soil dries out. Set it in a well-drained mix, keep it warm and clear of cold drafts, and snip the vines back the moment they run leggy.
Light
Pothos really takes off in bright indirect light, yet it still powers through medium light, partial shade, and even a dim corner. The plain green types own the darkest spots. Just steer it clear of harsh direct sun, which scorches the leaves.
Water
Let the top half of the soil dry out before the next drink, which usually lands around every 7 to 14 days. Soggy soil is the quickest way to lose a pothos, so when you're unsure, hold off. Always pour off any water that gathers in the saucer.
Soil
A well-drained peaty potting mix is all it asks for, and any standard houseplant blend does the job. Drainage is the whole game, since roots stuck in wet soil rot fast. Pot it up in a container with holes in the bottom and the plant handles the rest.
Temperature
Hold it in the range of 70°F to 90°F (21°C to 32°C), which matches most warm homes. It has no patience for frost and sulks in the cold. Keep it clear of chilly drafts and unheated rooms through winter.
Humidity
Average indoor humidity suits it just fine, so there's no number to chase here. It fills out a touch more in damper air, which is part of why it shines in a bathroom or kitchen. Bone-dry winter air can brown the leaf tips and roll out the welcome mat for spider mites.
Feeding
Feed it once a month through the spring-to-fall growing season with a diluted balanced houseplant fertilizer. Half the strength on the label does plenty. Back off through winter, when the plant slows down and barely grows.
Pruning
Pinch or cut the stems back any time the vines run too long or go bare near the base. Snip just above a leaf node and you push out fresh side shoots that keep the plant full. Every trimmed piece doubles as a free cutting you can root.
Repotting
Shift it into a bigger pot every 1 to 2 years, or jump sooner once it outgrows the space. Roots spiraling the rootball, breaking out the drainage holes, or soil that dries in a day all shout repot. Climb just one pot size so the fresh soil never stays soggy.
Size & spacing
As a houseplant the vines stretch 3 to 10 feet (90 cm to 3 m) long, and they spread about 3 to 6 feet (90 to 180 cm) wide. Give a hanging plant room for the vines to tumble, or train them along a wall or up a moss pole.
Troubleshooting
Nearly every pothos problem kicks off at the roots and shows up in the leaves, with overwatering driving the lot. Jump on the early signs and you can flip things around before the plant nosedives. Pin down what you're seeing below, then move while the fix still lands.
Mushy, dark roots with a foul smell
Root rot takes hold when soil stays wet for too long, and it's the one pothos problem that can take the plant down quickly. The trigger is overwatering in mix that clings to moisture. Slip the plant out of its pot, snip away any roots that have gone black and slimy, then settle it into fresh, well-drained mix before you water again.
Fix:
- Unpot and trim rotten roots
- Repot in fresh well-drained mix
- Withhold water until recovery
Leaves turning yellow, starting low on the plant
Spot yellow leaves on a pothos and the trail almost always leads back to overwatering, not a dry root ball. Waterlogged soil chokes the roots, and the lowest leaves fade first. Wait for the soil surface to dry before the next round, and make sure the pot drains so water never sits at the bottom.
Fix:
- Reduce watering frequency
- Check pot drainage
- Let soil surface dry before watering
White cottony fluff in the leaf joints
Those white tufts wedged into the stems and leaf axils are mealybugs, a sap-sucking pest that loves indoor pothos. Touch each one with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol, then follow through with insecticidal soap. Keep the plant apart from your others until every last bug is gone.
Fix:
- Dab with alcohol-soaked swab
- Apply insecticidal soap
- Isolate plant
Small brown bumps stuck along the stems
Hard brown bumps clamped to the stems and leaves spell scale insects, locked under a waxy shell that shrugs off a wipe. Scrape them loose with a fingernail or an old toothbrush, then drench the plant in horticultural oil. One round seldom wins, so hit them again in a week or two.
Fix:
- Scrape off scale
- Apply horticultural oil
- Repeat treatment
Fine webbing and a speckled, dusty look
Faint webbing strung across the leaves and a stippled, washed-out surface signal spider mites, which boom in hot, dry air. Rinse the foliage well to drive them back, then raise the humidity around the plant. Insecticidal soap or a miticide mops up any stragglers that cling on.
Fix:
- Rinse foliage
- Raise humidity
- Apply insecticidal soap or miticide
Dark spots or gray fuzzy mold on the leaves
Dark blotches or a gray fuzzy film on the leaves spell fungal trouble, set off by wet foliage and stale air. Pluck off the marked leaves so it can't spread further. Open up some space and get air moving, and keep water off the leaves when you do reach for the can.
Fix:
- Remove affected leaves
- Improve air circulation
- Avoid wetting foliage
Brown, crispy tips and edges on the leaves
Brown edges usually flag a watering issue, and overwatering blackens the margins far more often than thirst does. Cold drafts and parched indoor air pile on too. Steady out your watering, shift the plant away from chilly windows and heat vents, and lift the humidity around it.
Fix:
- Correct watering
- Keep away from drafts and cold
- Raise ambient humidity
New leaves coming in solid green
When fresh leaves drop their cream and gold splashes, the plant is calling for more light. Too little light drives a variegated pothos back to plain green so it can grab every bit of energy on offer. Slide it to a brighter spot, still clear of direct sun, and the new growth comes in patterned again.
Fix:
- Move to brighter indirect light
Toxicity
Pothos is a breeze to live with, but a terrible thing to chew. Every part is loaded with needle-sharp calcium oxalate crystals that burn the mouth and throat. Stash the vines and any cuttings up high, away from pets and small children.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
Bite into a leaf and a cat gets a mouthful of sharp crystals. Watch for drooling, pawing at the mouth, vomiting, and trouble swallowing.
Dogs Moderate
Dogs hit the same wall as cats, with a burning mouth, heavy drooling, and vomiting after a chew. Most steer clear once they get a single taste.
Horses Moderate
Those same crystals irritate a horse's mouth and throat and set off drooling and trouble swallowing. Keep trailing vines well out of reach in any barn or stable.
Rabbits Toxic
The crystals scald a rabbit's mouth and gut every bit as hard. Keep pots and trailing vines far from where any rabbit can reach.
Livestock Moderate
Cattle, goats, and sheep pick up the same mouth and throat irritation from chewing the sap and leaves. Keep the plant well clear of grazing animals.
Birds Toxic
The sap burns a bird's mouth and crop on contact. Keep pots and trailing vines away from pet birds and poultry.
People Caution
This isn't a food plant, and the sap stings bare skin and the mouth. Wash your hands after pruning, and keep cuttings and leaves away from 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
Most pothos on the shelf today land in one of a handful of named forms, set apart by how their leaves are colored and marked. These are the ones worth knowing by name.
Golden Pothos
The classic carries heart-shaped green leaves shot through with splashes of golden yellow.
Marble Queen
So much white and cream marbling runs across its leaves that the plant grows slower than the rest.
Neon
This one drops the variegation altogether for solid leaves in a bright chartreuse green.
Jade
Jade keeps it simple with deep green leaves and little to no marbling at all.
Pearls and Jade
A sport of Marble Queen, it flashes green leaves rimmed in white and silvery gray.
How to propagate
Pothos ranks among the easiest plants to multiply, and one healthy vine can hand you several new plants for free.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Year-round, spring to summer best · Roots in 3-4 weeks
Grab cuttings first; they work any month, though spring and summer fire off the fastest roots. Clip a vine right under a node and drop it in a glass of water or moist vermiculite. Roots show up in about 3 to 4 weeks, and a brand-new plant launches from there.
Air layeringModerate
During active growth · Several weeks
Air-layering runs slower, but it shines on a long, mature vine you'd rather keep intact. Run it through the active growing season so the stem roots while still wired to the parent. Give it several weeks to push roots before you break off the new plant.
Myths
Set a pothos on the shelf and it scrubs your room's air clean.
Those headline chamber studies ran inside sealed boxes, nothing like a real room. A peer-reviewed review clocked the payoff in a normal home at almost nil, since open windows and the furnace blow through far more air. You'd need hundreds of plants per square yard to match a single cracked window.
Pothos keeps right on growing with no light at all.
It powers through dim corners, sure, but zero light still finishes it off. Bury it in deep shade and growth grinds down while the variegation bleeds away. Bright indirect light is what keeps it full and patterned.
Variegated pothos gets by on the same light as the plain green kinds.
Those cream and white patches run on zero chlorophyll, so a variegated plant scrambles harder to feed itself. Drop it in the dim corner a solid green one shrugs off and the next leaves push out plain. Strong indirect light is what locks in the variegation.
Pothos poses no risk to cats and dogs.
Sharp calcium oxalate crystals load every part of the plant and fire the instant a pet chomps down. That's the exact reason the ASPCA tags pothos toxic to both cats and dogs. Hang it sky-high if animals share the room.
Pothos is fine to plant outdoors just about anywhere.
Turn it loose in a warm climate and the vines storm up trees and bury native plants. UF/IFAS brands pothos a Category II invasive in Florida and steers homeowners away from planting it outside. Lock it in a pot, reined in by cold or by walls.
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