If you have houseplants – even if you’re just starting out – there’s a good chance you have at least one pothos in your collection. Pothos has that perfect combination of beauty, interest, versatility, and forgiving nature that make it one of the most popular plants for the home or workplace. Here we take a closer look at this well-known beauty and explore why it’s such a favorite for new plant parents and seasoned collectors alike.
Lush + Vining
Epipremnum aureum – commonly called pothos – is a vining plant with heart-shaped leaves that grows naturally in tropical areas of Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands. In the wild, pothos grows as an evergreen groundcover or up tall trees as a climbing vine.
In our colder climate, it thrives as a houseplant. And if you’re going for that indoor jungle look – with green foliage taking up multiple visual levels in your space – pothos can make that happen. Its wandering habit means it naturally sends long, leaf-covered vines out to tumble casually over the side of the pot, off the ends of bookshelves, or up and down any trellis you train it to climb.
Perfect for Beginners
For new plant parents, pothos is the perfect houseplant to nurture while learning the nuances of plant care. Pothos is adept at converting common newbie mistakes like too much or too little water, cold drafts, and insufficient humidity into teaching moments houseplant collectors can then use on pickier plants. When it needs water, pothos asks for a drink by drooping a little. When it’s been given too much, it might turn a leaf yellow and drop it to let you know. And whatever the situation, once you fix the problem, pothos can usually bounce right back like nothing ever happened. No harm, no foul.
But even if you’re a seasoned plant collector, pothos forgives busy schedules, week-long vacations, and just plain forgetfulness too. It’s one of our most forgiving houseplants.
Happy Wherever
Finding the perfect spot for a plant to live in the house can be a compromise between where the plant feels the happiest and where you’d like to see it go. A choosier plant might object to living on a bookshelf opposite the nearest window – or on your desk with just florescent light to draw from. Pothos does enjoy the same bright, indirect natural light that most houseplants look for, but low light isn’t a deal-breaker either. Lower light might cause pothos to have less dense foliage and turn a little darker green, but it’ll still be happy and beautiful.
Easy to Propagate
Pothos is a fun plant to play with too. Stem cuttings are easy to propagate in water or soil. In a glass vase, you can watch new roots grow from the cuttings for an interesting botany lesson too. You can use the new little rooted clones to fill in the center of a leggy plant, start new plants for yourself, or give the babies as gifts to a friend looking to expand their collection.
Full of Personality
The image that comes to mind when we think of pothos might be the glossy green ‘Jade’ cultivar or the popular, yellow-variegated ‘Golden.’ In addition to these two classic beauties, when you visit the Greenhouse, you’ll discover even more cultivars with different colors and patterns to choose from too. There’s ‘Njoy’ with its smaller leaves and large alternating blotches of white and green. ‘Marble Queen’ is highly variable and produces leaves that are mostly green with white spots plus some that are mostly white with green spots – all on the same plant. Or if you’re not into a high-gloss texture, the foliage on ‘Silver Splash’ has a satiny surface with a dark green background and an irregular pattern of soft, silvery variegation.
More Beautiful with Age
After a few years of loving care – or even lack thereof – you may start to notice something different about your pothos. With maturity, the leaves on pothos grow larger, adding even more complexity and interest to your indoor space. And like a monstera, a really large, mature pothos may surprise you with new indentations or even holes – called fenestrations – along the edges of its leaves. If you’d like to see this transformation in action, be sure to visit the pothos in our Atrium at the store.
Find Your New Favorite
Whether you’re brand new to plant-parenting, a certified expert, or have tried your best and feel like plants just don’t like you, pothos is the plant for everyone. It thrives just about everywhere under just about every set of circumstances – and if you mess up, there’s a good chance, it’ll bounce right back. Pothos is the kind of plant everyone can appreciate. If you’d like to meet one or find a new favorite for your collection, just stop by the Greenhouse – we’ll be happy to introduce you.
