How to Grow Pothos? Detailed Guide to Cultivation Methods and Precautions
Pothos is an evergreen climbing plant, with yellow patches on its green leaves, very shiny. It can be placed in a study or on a high windowsill, letting its vines hang down gracefully, like an emerald relief. This not only makes full use of space but also adds a lively, colorful green decoration full of charm to the room. Today, the editor will share with you what the cultivation methods and precautions for pothos are.
Environment Selection
1. Potted pothos should use fertile, loose, well-draining leaf mold soil, preferably slightly acidic. Pothos is extremely shade-tolerant and can be kept in a sunny spot indoors year-round. In dimly lit rooms, it should be moved to a brighter environment every half month to recover for a period, otherwise the internodes tend to elongate and the leaves become smaller.
2. Pothos prefers a hot and humid environment. The overwintering temperature should not be lower than 15°C. The potting soil should be kept moist, and water should be sprayed on the leaves frequently to increase air humidity, which helps the growth of aerial roots. During the vigorous growth period, liquid fertilizer can be applied once a month. For plants kept indoors for a long time, the leaves at the base of the stems tend to fall off, reducing their ornamental value. In May and June when the temperature warms up, pruning and renewal can be carried out along with cuttings to encourage new buds to sprout from the base of the stems.
3. Hydroponic pothos grows relatively fast and is easy to cultivate and manage. During cultivation and management, water should be sprayed on the plants more often in summer, and nutrient solution should be added once every 10 days to keep the leaves green. For potted seedlings, when the seedlings grow 30cm up the support pole, they should be cut off; when the bottom leaves have fallen off by 30%-50%, they should be discarded and replanted. The green-pole potted form is an ideal plant for courtyard gateposts and wall greening, and its leaves are also an excellent choice for flower arrangement foliage. Plant or directly insert 4-5 plants per pot, and set up a brown pole in the middle of the pot to facilitate the hydroponic pothos winding upward. Shaping and pruning are carried out in spring. When the stems have covered the brown pole and the tips exceed the brown pole by about 20cm, cut off 40cm of the stem tips of 2-3 of the plants. After the new buds and new leaves sprout following the cutback, then cut off the stem tips of the remaining plants.
4. Pothos develops best when cultivated in loose, organic-rich, slightly acidic to neutral sandy loam soil. Repot once every three years. Pothos is a shade-loving plant, avoiding direct sunlight, preferring scattered light, and is relatively shade-tolerant. Generally, receiving four hours of scattered light is optimal.
Propagation Methods
Pothos is usually propagated by cuttings and stem layering. In late spring and early summer, select healthy pothos vines, cut 15cm to 30cm sections, remove the leaves from the basal 1 to 2 nodes, being careful not to damage the aerial roots, then insert them into plain sand or coal cinders to a depth of 1/3 of the cutting. Water thoroughly and place in a shaded area, spraying water on the leaves daily or covering with plastic film to retain moisture. As long as the environment is kept at no less than 20°C, the survival rate is above 90%.
Pothos can also be water-propagated using terminal buds. The method is: cut a tender, vigorous stem segment 20-30cm long, insert it directly into a bottle filled with clean water, change the water once every 2-3 days, and roots can form and it can survive in just over 10 days.
Cultivation Methods
1. Light: The original growing condition of pothos is in forests shaded by towering trees, so its heliotropism is not strong. But in the northern autumn and winter, to compensate for the lack of temperature and photosynthesis, its light exposure should be increased. The method is to place the pothos in the spot with the best indoor light, or move it to a sealed balcony to bask in the sun at noon. At the same time, when the temperature is low, windows should be opened as little as possible, because the leaves may be frostbitten in a very short time.
2. Temperature: In the north, pothos can overwinter safely at a room temperature above 10°C, and can grow normally at a room temperature above 20°C. Generally, households can reach this temperature without much problem, but care should be taken to avoid excessive temperature differences, and also to keep the leaves away from heating equipment.
3. Humidity: This refers to the moisture content of the air in the plant's growing environment. Under the condition of ensuring normal temperature, increasing humidity is extremely beneficial to plant growth. Humidity can be increased by the following methods. Place the plant near a humidifier, with the humidifier running for more than 5 hours a day, so the plant can enjoy the mist sprayed by the humidifier; use a sprayer adjusted to the mist setting to spray water on the leaves, stems and aerial roots of the plant several times a day; keep an appropriate amount of water in the saucer to increase local humidity through evaporation; gently wipe the leaf surface with a cold wet towel or toilet paper, or lightly apply it to the leaf surface for a short time (1-2 hours per day); cover the plant with transparent plastic film to create a mini-greenhouse effect, supplementing the plant's moisture through the evaporation of water vapor from the soil, for no more than 2 hours a day, as too long will affect the plant's ventilation and photosynthesis.
4. Water: Water daily to keep the soil moist, but do not let water accumulate and breed mosquitoes. The amount of watering in autumn and winter should be strictly controlled according to room temperature. Before heating, when the temperature is lower and the soil of the plant evaporates more slowly, watering should be reduced, and the amount should be controlled between 1/4 and 1/2 of the original. Even after heating, watering should not be too frequent. When watering, pour less into the pot; water should seep through the coir. In addition, water should also be sprayed where the aerial roots grow on the brown pole, to reduce insufficient root water absorption caused by excessive evaporation. In winter, water that has been left to stand for a day is better for watering, as water that is too cold can easily damage the roots.
5. Fertilizing: In the autumn and winter in the north, plants mostly grow slowly or even stop growing, so fertilizing should be reduced. Before winter begins, mainly apply liquid inorganic fertilizer by watering or spraying, about once every 15 days. After winter begins, fertilizing should mainly be foliar spraying, applied mainly through the stomata on the leaf surface, so that the fertilizer is absorbed through the stomata on the leaf surface, and the fertilizer effect can act directly on the leaf surface. Special fertilizer should be used for foliar fertilizer; ordinary inorganic fertilizer is not easily absorbed by the leaf surface. Beida Huhuashen series and Japan's Hana Ichiban, etc. can all be used as foliar fertilizer.
6. Pothos pole: Pothos does not produce seeds. Buying from a flower shop or cutting some tender, vigorous tip seedlings from relatives and friends is enough for it to survive. After the tip seedlings sprout, a pothos pole can be added. The pothos pole has the function of fixing and supporting the growth of pothos, and can also provide necessary moisture. Usually used as a pothos pole, place it in the pot, bury it with a little soil, use wooden sticks to form a triangle to fix it, then bury it in the soil. Because plants will still grow, the soil should not be too much. Insert the already sprouted pothos seedlings into the soil. Generally speaking, the denser the pothos seedlings in the pot, the better it looks after growing. About 4-5 plants should be planted in one pot. Use string to tie the seedlings on one side and fix them to the brown pole on the other, watering toward the brown pole to keep it moist. After some days, the aerial roots of the pothos will take root and grow in the brown pole. The best time to add the pothos pole is at the turn of spring and summer. In winter, the temperature is low, and the seedlings are easily injured. When adding the pole, care should be taken to control the temperature.
7. Shaping: Plant or directly insert 4-5 plants per pot, and set up a brown pole in the middle of the pot to facilitate the pothos winding upward. Shaping and pruning are carried out in spring. When the stems have covered the brown pole and the tips exceed the brown pole by about 20cm, cut off 40cm of the stem tips of 2-3 of the plants. After the new buds and new leaves sprout following the cutback, then cut off the stem tips of the remaining plants. For potted plants that have lost leaves on the whole plant or the lower half due to winter freezing or other reasons, half of the stems can be cut back by 1/2, and the other half by 2/3 or 3/4, so that the cut points are staggered in height. In this way, the new leaves growing below the cut points can quickly cover the brown pole.