How to Grow Pothos in Water: Growing Methods and Precautions
Water-grown pothos is one of the very best water-grown plants for indoor decoration, a climbing vine with ornamental foliage. Its stems are slender and soft, and its leaves are delicate and elegant. Place a nested pot high on top of a cabinet and let its trailing stems hang down gracefully, or once the trailing stems grow too long, loop and hang them into a ring, just like an emerald relief. Water-grown pothos likes warm, humid environments and requires loose, fertile soil with good drainage. Water-grown pothos is extremely shade-tolerant and can be kept indoors in a sunny spot in all four seasons; in dimly lit rooms, it should be moved every half month to a brighter environment to recover for a period, otherwise the internodes tend to elongate and the leaves become smaller. Below, let's look at the growing methods and precautions for water-grown pothos.
Growing Methods for Water-Grown Pothos
1. Choosing the water-growing container: you can use a vase, a beaker, or any other transparent container (such as a glass bottle).
2. Choosing the water: water is the key element for water-grown pothos. Tap water, well water, clean drinking water and so on can be used, but it should be left to stand for one or two days before use.
3. Cutting method: it is best to choose healthy, strong pothos stems with aerial roots as the water-growing material. The stems should be 15cm~30cm long; remove the leaves from roughly the 1st~2nd nodes before placing them in water. Alternatively, you can choose a potted plant with a good shape, wash the soil off the roots, cut away excess old roots, and then place it in clean water, where it will also root easily.
4. Water-changing cycle: in the early stage of water growing, change the water frequently, once every 2~3 days; after rooting, change it once every 7~10 days. You can buy water-growing acclimation solution to disinfect and sterilize and promote root growth.
5. Root pruning: if the roots grow too long, cut them short in time to prevent nutrient loss. If the roots rot and become slimy, also clean them in time, cut off the rotten roots, soak them in potassium permanganate solution for disinfection, and then resume care. Change the water as in the early stage of water growing.
6. Temperature and light: in northern winters, a room temperature above 10°C allows it to overwinter safely, and only above 20°C can it grow normally. At the same time, avoid excessive temperature differences and keep it away from heating equipment. Water-grown pothos needs sufficient scattered light for its leaves to spread out and stay emerald green, so it should be placed somewhere with plenty of scattered light, such as a sealed balcony with light or a well-lit spot indoors.
7. Humidity: there are several ways to increase humidity: place it near a humidifier, spray the leaves, stems and aerial roots with a sprayer, gently wipe the leaf surface with a cold wet towel or toilet paper, and spray water at the place where the aerial roots grow.
Precautions for Water-Grown Pothos
1. Change the water frequently. For water-grown pothos, frequent water changes are very necessary, generally once every two to three days. The reason is that pothos has extremely high requirements for water quality, and adding nutrient solution is also essential to make the pothos shine.
2. Suitable temperature. The temperature for pothos to overwinter safely is above 10°C. At a room temperature above 20°C, pothos can grow normally. Excessive temperature differences will affect the growth of pothos. At the same time, be careful that the leaves do not get close to heating equipment.
3. Choosing water quality. Use clean tap water or purified water to grow pothos; the correct choice of water quality matters, because it contains a large amount of minerals.
In fact, there are two kinds of water-grown pothos: one is purely water-grown, and the other is to fill a pot or perhaps a teacup with vermiculite and then fill it with water. Of the two, the vermiculite one is relatively simpler. To grow pothos well, you still need a certain amount of patience.
Care Methods for Water-Grown Pothos
1. First, choose good pothos stems. Healthy, strong stems with aerial roots are the good material for water growing. After such stems with aerial roots are cut and placed in clean water, they can quickly adapt to the water-growing environment, and water roots will grow in about ten days. Note that the part of the stem placed in water must not have leaves, otherwise the leaves soaking in the water can easily affect water quality. In addition, you can also choose a potted plant with a good shape, wash the soil off the roots, cut away excess old roots, and place it in clean water, where it will also root very easily.
2. In the first few days of water growing, pay attention to changing the water: change it once every two or three days with water at the same temperature as the room, and after water roots grow, change it once a week. After new leaves grow, you can add nutrient solution about once every ten days, and you can also spray some diluted nutrient solution water on the leaves, which can make the leaves emerald green and glossy.
3. The roots of water-grown pothos should be cleaned and trimmed regularly. If the roots grow too long, cut them short in time to avoid nutrient loss. If the roots rot and become slimy, also clean them in time, cut off the rotten roots, soak them in potassium permanganate solution for disinfection, and then resume care. In the first few days of resuming care, do as at the beginning of water growing: change the water once every two or three days, and after growth has fully recovered, change it once every ten days.
4. Water-grown pothos needs sufficient scattered light for its leaves to spread out and stay emerald green. Usually it is best to place it somewhere with enough scattered light. If the environment is too dark, you can move it about every ten days to a place with enough scattered light to receive a few hours of light, which can also maintain the glossiness of the leaf color.
5. Pothos itself likes a warm, humid environment. In dry seasons, spray water on the leaves frequently, which increases the humidity of the environment and also helps clean the leaves. In winter, the place where it is kept should be away from heating, and attention should be paid to preventing frost damage. Water-grown leaves are delicate and very sensitive to temperature changes, so try to keep the room temperature normal and avoid large temperature differences.
6. Like potted pothos, water-grown pothos also needs frequent pruning. Cut away overly long and messy stems to maintain a well-spaced, orderly appearance.
Tip: the water for water-grown pothos is a very key part. Tap water, well water, clean river water and so on can be used, but the water should be left to stand for one or two days before use.
Water-grown plants are a new type of soilless cultivation. Water-grown plants like water-grown pothos, which previously existed only in laboratories or enterprises, have gradually entered thousands of households. Here we introduce how households can grow water-grown plants and the growing methods for water-grown pothos, offering a little modest guidance for those who dare to try or like to DIY water-grown pothos and other water-grown plants.
can also maintain the glossiness of the leaf color.5. Pothos itself likes a warm, humid environment. In dry seasons, spray water on the leaves frequently, which increases the humidity of the environment and also helps clean the leaves. In winter, the place where it is kept should be away from heating, and attention should be paid to preventing frost damage. Water-grown leaves are delicate and very sensitive to temperature changes, so try to keep the room temperature normal and avoid large temperature differences.
6. Like potted pothos, water-grown pothos also needs frequent pruning. Cut away overly long and messy stems to maintain a well-spaced, orderly appearance.
Tip: the water for water-grown pothos is a very key part. Tap water, well water, clean river water and so on can be used, but the water should be left to stand for one or two days before use.
Water-grown plants are a new type of soilless cultivation. Water-grown plants like water-grown pothos, which previously existed only in laboratories or enterprises, have gradually entered thousands of households. Here we introduce how households can grow water-grown plants and the growing methods for water-grown pothos, offering a little modest guidance for those who dare to try or like to DIY water-grown pothos and other water-grown plants.