Pothos or scindapsus, ornamental leafage

Shiny, abundant leaves, often veined with contrasting colours, either climb a lattice or dangle from a tall shelf with equal ease: that is pothos (Scindapsus), a tropical vine grown indoors for ornamental foliage and counted among the air-purifying houseplants. Give it a luminous spot out of direct sun and it needs very little care.

Pothos at a glance

Name	Pothos or Scindapsus
Family	Araceae
Type	indoor plant
Height	6 ½ feet (2 meters)
Exposure	light but not direct sunlight
Soil	indoor plant soil mix
Foliage	evergreen
Flowering	rare as an indoor plant

Often veined with different colors, shiny and abundant, its foliage appeals to us and spiffs up our homes. Adopt a pothos and you’ll be more than satisfied!

Planting and re-potting of pothos

Pothos or Scindapsus is mostly grown in pots under our latitudes, but can be grown in the ground if it is protected in a heated greenhouse in winter.

Planting pothos in pots

• Scindapsus likes a tight fit and thus doesn’t need a large pot.
• What suits pothos best is to plant it in repotting soil mix or even better, indoor plant soil mix.
• Select a luminous spot but without direct sun and stay away from heat sources such as radiators.
• Repotting can be performed from late winter to mid-autumn.

Outdoor pothos

• Mix your garden soil to soil mix and choose a spot that is in part sun, but not hot.

Take note that growing pothos outdoors is only possible wherever the climate is relatively warm in winter.

Outdoor growing of pothos is only possible in tropical environments

Multiplying pothos

Preparing cuttings from pothos is the easiest and fastest method to propagate the plant. Also, it ensure that any properties of that variety are preserved: variegation, leaf color, vigor…

Pothos soil cuttings

Cutting preparation is best performed in spring.

• Collect about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) cuttings.
• Eliminate lower leaves to keep only the topmost pair of leaves.
• Dip the base of the stem in powdered rooting agents (this is optional but recommended).
• Plant the cutting(s) in special cutting soil mix.
• Install a transparent garden cloche or plastic pouch around it in order to retain moisture.
• Put the cuttings in a rather warm location, luminous but not in direct sunlight.
• Keep the soil mix moist.

Pothos water cuttings

A funner solution is to simply cut a 6-inch (15 cm) stem and plunk it in a glass of water.

• Make sure several leaf nodes are included
• Remember to change the water every few days
• Roots will emerge. When they’re an inch (2-3cm) long, transplant to a pot.

This works all year round.

You can also divide the pothos by collecting the offshoots that grow at its base and replant them in light and moist substrate.

Three ways to propagate pothos, compared

Pothos can be multiplied in soil, in water, or simply by splitting off the shoots at its base. The table below sums up when to start each method and what it involves.

Cuttings are the fastest route and also keep the variety’s variegation, leaf colour and vigour.

Which pothos to choose?

Behind the single name pothos sit several species and cultivars whose variegation, light tolerance and vigour differ noticeably. The table below compares those most widely sold as houseplants.

Pruning pothos

It isn’t necessary to prune it.

Aerial roots are very important for the plant, so it is recommended not to touch them.

In order to reduce the branches or reshape your pothos, you can shorten the stems by half in spring.

It’s a plant that loves crawling along a lattice, just as it also likes dangling down from a tall shelf.

• Cut each stem just above a leaf node, since new shoots break from the node closest to the cut and a stub left between nodes simply dries back.
• Pinching out a pothos tip releases apical dominance and usually prompts new shoots from the node or two just below the cut, so filling in a long bare stem requires harder pruning or tucking rooted cuttings back into the pot.
• Save the trimmings rather than discarding them: in many common houseplants, such as pothos, philodendron and tradescantia, a cutting with several leaf nodes will root in water or soil, though plants like most palms will not.

Watering pothos

Water the plant only when the surface of the soil is dry, and avoid excess water so as to not suffocate the roots.

Space your watering rounds as much as you can during the winter rest phase, because the plant only has very limited water needs.

However, the plant absolutely craves air moisture. That’s what makes it an excellent bathroom plant.

• Here are tips on how to increase air moisture around plants

• Water pothos thoroughly until liquid runs from the drainage holes, then tip away whatever collects in the saucer, since roots left standing in water quickly rot.
• Push a finger into the compost to about the depth of the first knuckle before watering, because the surface can look dry while the root zone is still wet.
• Yellowing lower leaves with a soft, blackening stem base often signal overwatering or the root and stem rots it encourages, while plants wilting in dry compost usually perk up within a day of thorough watering.

Caring for pothos

Pothos is very easy to grow. It requires very little care and resists quite well to the various diseases.

Pothos is actually a vine, either climbing or hanging depending on the lattice provided.

Although organic fertilizer can rekindle the plant’s vigor, it isn’t a requirement, either.

This plant grows indoor very well all year round, and can be brought outside from late spring to early autumn as soon at the temperature permits.

A temperature of 65 to 75°F (18 to 25°C) is recommended for proper growth.

• Read also: Plants that purify the air inside our homes
• Photo at right shared by Severin Candrian of Feey.ch

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