How to care for pothos: Why should every home have a pothos?

Pothos aliases: golden pothos, devil's ivy, taro vine; family and genus: Araceae, Epipremnum; flowering period: summer, rarely flowers when grown indoors. Flower meaning: resilience and kindness, keeping watch over happiness.

Usage note: suitable for offices and homes, and as a gift for relatives and friends. So why must you keep a pothos at home or in the office? Because it is so easy to grow! It tolerates shade, is not afraid of heavy watering, purifies the air, absorbs formaldehyde, and has far too many other benefits to list!

Placement at home: potted plants can be placed on windowsills, desks or coffee tables, while trailing plants can be hung in bathrooms or in corners.

Basic care and management

1. Light: it prefers a warm, humid environment with scattered light; it is not tolerant of cold or drought, tolerates shade and moisture, and dislikes strong direct sunlight.

2. Temperature: the suitable growing temperature is 20-25°C. The best overwintering temperature is around 15°C, and the lowest temperature must not fall below 8°C.

3. Soil: it has low soil requirements, and a loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil is ideal. For potting soil, garden soil, leaf mold and river sand can be mixed in a 5:3:2 ratio as for creeping fig.

4. Watering: in summer, when temperatures are high, a sufficient water supply must be ensured, watering once a day to keep the potting soil constantly moist. In winter, when temperatures are lower, the potting soil should be kept moist but on the dry side, so that excessive watering does not cause root rot or even death.

5. Fertilizing: pothos likes fertilizer, mainly nitrogen fertilizer; when fertilizer is insufficient, the leaves are small and the stems thin and weak. During the seedling stage, apply dilute liquid fertilizer 2-3 times a month during the growing season to promote growth. Once the plant has taken shape, apply decomposed dilute liquid fertilizer once a month.

Points to note

What should you pay attention to when caring for pothos while the air conditioner is on

In a room with an air conditioner, be careful not to let the air conditioner vent blow directly onto the pothos leaves, and also mist the leaf surfaces and the area around the plant frequently to increase air humidity.

How does pothos overwinter

Pothos is not cold-tolerant, so in winter it should be moved indoors; it can overwinter safely once the room temperature reaches 10°C. Winter light benefits the growth and overwintering of pothos, so it can be placed in a spot with ample light and watered by the "water when dry" principle, and at midday when the temperature is higher, slightly warm clean water can be used to mist the leaf surfaces and the surrounding area several times. If the room temperature can be kept above 15°C in winter, pothos can still grow normally; at this time the potting soil should be kept moist, and indoor air humidity should also be increased, with no fertilizing. The lowest temperature must not fall below 8°C, otherwise yellowing and leaf drop are likely to occur.

What should you do if pothos leaves droop and scorch

There may be two reasons for this condition in pothos: first, during winter the indoor temperature where the pot is kept is too low and does not meet the warmth requirement; second, the plant is moved outdoors too early in spring, when the temperature is too low, so the plant is frostbitten and the leaves droop and scorch.

To keep pothos from suffering cold damage, two things need attention: first, during the winter indoor warming period, keep the room temperature at around 15°C as much as possible; second, in early spring do not rush to move the pot outdoors; generally wait until the temperature rises to 15-20°C in mid-to-late April before moving it out.

How can you make the pothos plant shape more perfect

When potting, in order to maintain a good plant shape, overly long stems and messy branches should be cut back, so that the stems vary in length and the top of the pot is properly dense or sparse. For plants grown as climbers, pay attention to tying and adjusting the stems so that the plant shape becomes more perfect.