How to Care for Golden Pothos

Golden pothos are easy to care for, and they can be found at most garden centers, making them the perfect house plants for beginners! The golden pothos, whose scientific name is epipremnum aureum, is native to the tropics of southeast Asia. Don’t worry though, there is no need for tropical conditions to properly care for your golden pothos. Keep reading for all the care tips you need to help your golden pothos thrive!

 

Lighting Requirements

The golden pothos is able to adapt to a wide variety of lighting. They prefer, bright indirect light, but they aren’t too picky about lighting. They are often marketed as low light plants because they will survive in low light conditions, making them ideal candidates for rooms with north facing windows. However, new growth will likely lose variegation if you keep them in low light settings for too long.

 

Watering

Pothos are so resilient when it comes to watering! You are way more likely to overwater than you are to underwater. You can water when the top 3-4 inches are dry, which you can check by sticking a finger in the soil, or using a moister meter. However, I typically wait to water mine until the leaves start to curl, which is a sign that pothos need water, and mine always bounces back just fine.

 

Potting and Soil

I prefer to keep my pothos in terracotta pots, but they should by fine in any pot so long as it has a drainage hole. Regular potting soil from big box stores will suffice for pothos but, those potting mixes tend to retain a lot of excess moisture.

 

To reduce the likelihood of overwatering, try using a more airy, chunky potting mix. I make my own by mixing 2 parts regular potting mix, 1 part perlite, and 1 part orchid bark. Perlite, and orchid bark are great amendments to add to any potting mix, and they can be found at most garden centers!

 

Temperature and Humidity

Standard house temperature, and humidity should be sufficient for your golden pothos. So long as your pothos isn’t in conditions under 60 degrees Fahrenheit for any extended period, it should be fine. Raising humidity with a humidifier can encourage larger leaf growth, but I’ve personally never seen any notable difference with an increased humidity with my golden pothos.

Propagation

At some point your pothos will probably grow too long, and you’ll want to trim the vine back a bit. Instead of throwing those cuttings away, try propagating them! One of my favorite things about pothos is that they’re extremely easy to propagate!

To get started, taking a cutting from your pothos. You might have noticed little brown bumps on your pothos just opposite the leaves, those are aerial roots. This is where the new roots are going to grow from.

When you take a cutting from your pothos, you are going to want to clip off the bottom 1-2 leaves of the cutting, then stick the cutting in a jar of water. New roots should start growing out of the aerial roots, in a few weeks.

Once the roots are about 2 inches long, and have started to branch, the pothos propagation is ready to be potted up in soil. Give the soil a good soak, and you’ve got your own new plant! I typically pot up a few cuttings together to make fuller looking pots.

Common Problems

yellowing leaves

Sometimes plants let their oldest foliage die as they puts energy into newer growth. If you notice one or two leaves yellowing, and its only at the base of the plant, it could be the oldest growth starting to die, which is perfectly normal.

If you notice a lot of leaves yellowing, and they aren’t only at the base, it could be a sign of overwatering. Ease up on the watering, and if the problem persists, I’d recommend repotting your pothos, and removing any roots that may have rotted.

If the root damage is too extensive, you can always take cuttings and propagate your pothos as insurance.

Curling or Drooping Leaves

This is typically a sign of underwatering. Just give your pothos a good watering, and it should perk back up!

Balding Plants

Sometimes golden pothos can lose all their leaves at the base of the plant, leaving the top of your pot looking bald. Luckily, this is pretty easy to fix! You can take propagated cuttings and pot them up back in the same pot and they will help cover up the balding at the base of the plant. You could also take a vine and wrap it back over the soil, pinning the aerial roots down into the soil, and it will start to root and vine again.