What to Do When Your Pothos Grows Too Tall? The Correct Way to Handle It
Pothos, also known as devil's ivy, golden pothos, and golden vine, is a large evergreen climbing plant of the genus Epipremnum. In fact, a pothos growing tall is not a disease but a natural growth pattern, because pothos is inherently a large climbing plant. After you buy it, it will not keep the shape the seller maintained forever. Let's take a look below at what to do when your pothos grows too tall!
What to Do When Your Pothos Grows Too Tall?
1. Vigorous growth of pothos is usually caused by the growing point heading upward. Point the growing points of the pothos (the growth nodes on each branch and leaf) downward and keep them directed downward for a week, and it will soon return to its former shape.
2. Directly cut the overly long parts of the pothos shorter, that is, about 15 to 20 cm from the potting soil, so that the pothos grows new branches and leaves. However, this method takes a relatively long cycle, though the newly grown plant will be more robust.
3. When the pothos grows too tall, to avoid waste, you can trim it appropriately and then cut off the tender top shoots as cuttings material. By the time the old plant grows old, the new plant will already have grown, so you can continuously replenish with new pothos.
How to Prune and Shape Pothos?
1. Column style: Fill a small dragon jar, large flower tray, or oil basin with soil, and stand a wooden stick or bamboo pole about 1 m tall and 5 to 6 cm in diameter in the middle, with palm fiber or palm bark tied around the pole. Plant 4 to 5 pothos plants of similar size and sturdy stems and leaves around the pole, preferably plants that have already been propagated by cuttings, rooted, and are ready to be transplanted into pots, so that they take shape more quickly.
2. Trailing style: Fill pots of various sizes with soil and plant 1 to 3 pothos plants in each pot, then hang them or place them in high spots indoors. As they grow and develop, the stems and leaves trail down along the pot rim, swaying in the breeze and brightening the whole room. If grown in small pots, they can be placed in decorative ceramic outer pots and hung indoors or in a doorway. If grown in wall-mounted pots, they can be hung on walls or windows and doors.
3. Waterfall style: Plant one pothos every 15 cm in a flower trough 80 to 100 cm long, then hang it on a wall or place it on a wall top, balcony, or other location. Depending on the conditions of the hanging or placement site, you can hang or place one to several flower troughs. You can also place the flower trough under a wall and let the pothos vines climb up along ropes stretched on the wall.
How to Grow Pothos Well?
1. Light: Pothos is not strongly phototropic. However, in northern autumn and winter, to compensate for the lack of temperature and photosynthesis, light intensity should be increased. At the same time, when temperatures are low, open windows as little as possible, because the leaves may be frostbitten in a very short time.
2. Humidity: Pothos grows faster in environments with higher air humidity. It is recommended to maintain indoor humidity. You can use a humidifier to increase air humidity, or cover the plant with a transparent plastic bag to create a mini greenhouse effect, but this should not exceed two hours.
3. Temperature: Pothos is very sensitive to temperature. If the temperature is too low, it is easily frostbitten. A room temperature of around 20 degrees is sufficient. If heating equipment is running, the pothos leaves should not be too close to it. Keeping the indoor temperature above 10 degrees is enough for it to pass through winter safely.
4. Fertilizing: Because pothos grown indoors absorbs nutrients less abundantly than outdoors, it is recommended to apply fertilizer once every half month. You can buy fertilizer specially made for pothos on the market. Or ask the florist to help choose fertilizer.
5. Watering: When watering pothos, do not pour water directly into the pot. Instead, first slowly pour in water, wait for it to seep down, then spray evenly and wait for the water to penetrate. In addition, you should also spray water on the places where aerial roots grow, to reduce insufficient root water uptake caused by overly rapid evaporation.
6. Shaping: Pothos shaping and pruning should be done in spring. When the stems and vines have covered the moss pole and the shoot tips exceed the pole by about 20 cm, cut off 40 cm of the stem tips of 2 to 3 of the plants. After the cut shoots sprout new buds and leaves, cut off the stem tips of the remaining plants.
7. Pests and diseases: Pothos plants are very prone to problems with pests and pathogens. Typical pests affecting pothos include mealybugs, red spider mites, and scale insects. Mealybugs are usually the most common, and can be controlled with alcohol, removed with cotton swabs, or picked off by hand.