Houseplant · Araceae
Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
Forgiving, fast, and happy 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 belongs to the arum family and comes from the islands of the South Pacific, where it scrambles up tree trunks as a thick-stemmed vine. Indoors it stays softer and trails, which is why people drape it over shelves or train it up a pole. The heart-shaped leaves and the easy nature have made it one of the most common houseplants in the world.
What sets it apart is how little it asks. It takes low light in stride, forgives a missed watering, and keeps growing when fussier plants sulk. Grow it in a hanging pot and the vines spill down, or pinch the stems back and it fills out into a bushy mound instead.
The plant does come with two catches worth knowing. Every part of it is toxic to cats and dogs, so it belongs out of reach of curious pets. And in warm regions it turns invasive once it escapes a pot, so it stays an indoor plant in most of the country.
Care
The short version: bright indirect light, though it copes with far less, and a drink only once the top half of the soil has dried. Plant it in a well-drained potting mix, keep it warm and away from cold drafts, and pinch the vines back when they get leggy.
Light
Pothos does best in bright indirect light, but it earns its reputation by coping with medium light, partial shade, and even a low-light corner. The plain green types take the dimmest spots best. Just keep it out of harsh direct sun, which scorches the leaves.
Water
Let the top half of the soil dry out before you water again, which usually works out to every 7 to 14 days. Soggy soil is the fastest way to kill a pothos, so when in doubt, wait. Always tip out any water that collects in the saucer.
Soil
A well-drained peaty potting mix is all it needs, and any standard houseplant blend works fine. The key is drainage, since roots sitting in wet soil rot fast. Use a pot with holes in the bottom and the plant takes care of the rest.
Temperature
Keep it in the range of 70°F to 90°F (21°C to 32°C), which lines up with most warm homes. It has no tolerance for frost and sulks in the cold. Keep it clear of chilly drafts and unheated rooms in winter.
Humidity
Average indoor humidity suits it fine, so there's no number to chase. It grows a little fuller in damper air, which is part of why it does so well in a bathroom or kitchen. Bone-dry winter air can brown the leaf tips and invite spider mites.
Feeding
Feed once a month through the spring-to-fall growing season with a diluted balanced houseplant fertilizer. Half the strength on the label is plenty. Ease off through winter, when the plant slows down and barely grows.
Pruning
Pinch or cut the stems back whenever the vines run too long or go bare near the base. Cutting just above a leaf node pushes out fresh side shoots and keeps the plant full. Every trimmed piece is also a free cutting you can root.
Repotting
Move it into a slightly larger pot every 1 to 2 years, or sooner once it outgrows its home. Roots circling the rootball, poking out the drainage holes, or soil that dries out in a day all mean it's time. Go up just one pot size so the fresh soil doesn't stay wet.
Size & spacing
As a houseplant the vines reach 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 fall, or train them along a wall or up a moss pole.
Troubleshooting
Most pothos trouble starts at the roots and shows up in the leaves, and overwatering is behind more of it than anything else. Read the early signs and you can fix things before a plant slides downhill. Match what you see below, then act while it still helps.
Mushy, dark roots with a foul smell
Root rot sets in when the soil stays wet too long, and it's the one pothos problem that can kill the plant fast. The cause is overwatering in soil that holds water. Slide the plant out of its pot, cut away any roots that are black and slimy, and move it into fresh, well-drained mix before watering 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
Yellow leaves on pothos almost always trace back to overwatering rather than thirst. Soggy soil suffocates the roots, and the lower leaves go pale first. Let the soil surface dry out before the next drink, and check that the pot drains so water never pools at the bottom.
Fix:
- Reduce watering frequency
- Check pot drainage
- Let soil surface dry before watering
White cottony fluff in the leaf joints
Those little white tufts tucked into the stems and leaf axils are mealybugs, a common sap-sucking pest on indoor pothos. Touch each one with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, then follow up with insecticidal soap. Keep the plant away from your others until the bugs are gone.
Fix:
- Dab with alcohol-soaked swab
- Apply insecticidal soap
- Isolate plant
Small brown bumps stuck along the stems
Hard little brown bumps clinging to the stems and leaves are scale insects, and they don't brush off because they hide under a waxy shell. Scrape them off with a fingernail or an old toothbrush, then coat the plant with horticultural oil. One round rarely finishes them, so treat again a week or two later.
Fix:
- Scrape off scale
- Apply horticultural oil
- Repeat treatment
Fine webbing and a speckled, dusty look
Faint webbing across the leaves and a stippled, washed-out surface point to spider mites, which thrive in hot, dry air. Rinse the foliage well to knock them back, then raise the humidity around the plant. Insecticidal soap or a miticide clears any that hang 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 coating on the leaves are fungal trouble, brought on by wet foliage and stale air. Pick off the affected leaves so the problem can't spread. Give the plant more room and better airflow, and keep water off the leaves when you do water.
Fix:
- Remove affected leaves
- Improve air circulation
- Avoid wetting foliage
Brown, crispy tips and edges on the leaves
Brown edges usually point to a watering problem, with overwatering blackening the margins more often than dryness. Cold drafts and dry indoor air can add to it. Even out the watering, keep the plant away from chilly windows and heat vents, and bump up 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 lose their cream and gold splashes, the plant is telling you it wants more light. Too little light pushes a variegated pothos to revert to plain green so it can gather what little it gets. Move it somewhere brighter, though still out of direct sun, and the new growth keeps its pattern.
Fix:
- Move to brighter indirect light
Toxicity
Pothos is an easy plant to live with, but it is not a safe one to chew. Every part holds tiny needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate that sting the mouth and throat. Keep the vines and any cuttings away from pets and small children.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
A cat that bites a leaf gets a mouthful of sharp crystals. Look for drooling, pawing at the mouth, vomiting, and trouble swallowing.
Dogs Moderate
Dogs react the same way as cats, with a burning mouth, heavy drooling, and vomiting after a chew. Most keep clear once they get one taste.
Horses Moderate
The same crystals irritate a horse's mouth and throat, bringing on drooling and trouble swallowing. Keep trailing vines out of reach in any barn or stable.
Rabbits Toxic
The crystals burn a rabbit's mouth and gut just as badly. Keep pots and trailing vines well out of any rabbit's reach.
Livestock Moderate
Cattle, goats, and sheep get the same mouth and throat irritation from the sap and leaves. Keep the plant clear of grazing animals.
Birds Toxic
The sap stings a bird's mouth and crop. Keep pots and trailing vines away from pet birds and poultry.
People Caution
This is not 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 sold today are 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 form carries heart-shaped green leaves streaked with splashes of golden yellow.
Marble Queen
Its leaves are so heavily marbled with white and cream that the plant grows slower than the rest.
Neon
This one trades all the variegation for solid leaves in a bright chartreuse green.
Jade
Jade keeps things plain with deep green leaves and little to no marbling at all.
Pearls and Jade
A sport of Marble Queen, it shows green leaves edged in white and silvery gray.
How to propagate
Pothos is one of the simplest plants to multiply, and a single healthy vine can give you several new plants for free.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Year-round, spring to summer best · Roots in 3-4 weeks
This is the easy way, and you can do it any time of year, though spring and summer give the fastest results. Snip a length of vine just below a node, then stand it in a glass of water or a pot of moist vermiculite. Roots show up in about 3 to 4 weeks, and a new plant grows from there.
Air layeringModerate
During active growth · Several weeks
Air-layering takes more patience but pays off on a long, mature vine you don't want to cut back. Work during the active growing season so the stem roots while it's still attached to the parent. Give it several weeks to form roots before you separate the new plant.
Myths
A pothos on the shelf cleans the air in your room.
The famous chamber studies used sealed boxes, not real rooms. A peer-reviewed review found that potted plants do almost nothing for the air in a normal home, where open windows and the furnace move far more air. You'd need hundreds of plants per square yard to match a single cracked window.
Pothos grows fine with no light at all.
It earns its tough reputation by hanging on in dim corners, but it still needs some light to live. In deep shade the growth slows to a crawl and the variegation fades away. A spot with bright indirect light keeps it full and patterned.
Variegated pothos wants the same light as the plain green kinds.
The white and cream patches hold no chlorophyll, so a variegated plant has to work harder for its food. Give it the same dim corner as a solid green pothos and the new leaves come in plain. Bright indirect light is what holds the variegation.
Pothos is harmless around cats and dogs.
Every part of the plant carries sharp calcium oxalate crystals that sting the moment a pet bites down. The ASPCA lists pothos as toxic to both cats and dogs for that reason. Hang it well out of reach if animals share the room.
Pothos is safe to plant outdoors anywhere.
In warm climates the vines climb trees and smother native plants once they escape a garden. UF/IFAS lists pothos as a Category II invasive in Florida and tells homeowners not to plant it in the landscape. Keep it in a pot where the cold or the 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