If you are looking for one of the easiest houseplants to grow indoors – one that is almost impossible to kill even if you don’t have the slightest bit of a green thumb – then Pothos (often known as Devil’s Ivy) is the plant for you. And can it ever add big life and greenery to your home!
Houseplants are wonderful for brightening up the indoors. Especially through the long, dark and dreary winter months. But unfortunately, indoor plants all too often get a bad reputation when it comes to their ease of care. So much so that many shy away from ever attempting to grow anything indoors at all.
It’s true that many indoor plants require a bit more work to keep alive. Take for instance African violets and Orchids. African violets need careful monitoring of their moisture and humidity levels to stay healthy. Meanwhile, orchids need just the right soil, light, humidity and water or they can perish quickly as well.
But just because some plants can be a bit difficult – it doesn’t mean they all have to be that way. In fact, some houseplants are quite easy to take care of. So much so that they can turn even those with the brownest thumbs of all into a green-thumb houseplant growing guru.
There is no better example of that than Pothos, the feature of today’s article. In fact, it might just be the easiest care house plant of all. And as you will see below, not only is it beautiful, it can handle just about anything you throw (or don’t throw) at it!
Pothos – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever!
Pothos goes by many names. In fact, so many, you might think the plant had to be in some type of plant witness protection program. But whether you call it Pothos, Devils Ivy, Marble Queen, Taro Vine or any of the other five or so names it can go by, one thing is for sure, it’s easy to grow!
Native to the South Pacific, Pothos is a vining plant that produces large amounts of tear-dropped shaped foliage on sturdy vines. Its trailing growth is perfect for spilling over traditional pots or for dangling down from hanging baskets and planters.
Pothos will rarely if ever bloom, especially when growing indoors. Fortunately, it’s not the blooms but the rich foliage that is really the focus of this beautiful plant. Pothos foliage can be found in a wide array of leaf pattern and variegation styles, ranging from dark and pale green, to hues of white and yellow.
Best of all, this plant grows fast! Many varieties of Pothos can grow a foot or more in just a month. And as it does, it can really bring life to any room where it grows.
How To Grow Pothos – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever
When it comes to growing a houseplant successfully, having just the right amount of light, heat and moisture usually plays a key role in the plant’s success. But as you will see below, what makes Pothos so unique is that it can adapt to almost anything you throw at it.
Because of the houseplant’s easy care and low maintenance style, it is a popular choice – and it can often be found at local greenhouses and nurseries or on line (see links below). Now let’s take a look at how to best care for a Pothos plant indoors!
- Affiliate Product Link: Pothos ‘N Joy – 4″ Live Plant – Variegated White and Green Leaves
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Finding The Right Space For Pothos Plants – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever
One of the best traits of the Pothos plant is that it will grow in almost any lighting condition. Although it prefers full sun, it can survive and thrive in partial to almost full shade. The plant simply adapts to wherever you place it.
In fact, it can even thrive when growing in rooms with zero natural light from windows. Pothos is more than comfortable with artificial light, and not just from grow lights, but from ordinary incandescent or fluorescent bulbs as its only source of brightness.
As long as the plant can get a few hours of some type of light each day, it will continue to grow. One thing to keep in mind when growing in ultra low light conditions is that the plant will often lose any variegation of its leaves.
It is a not permanent condition, and as soon as it starts to receive more light, variegated varieties will gain their “stripes” back. This can sometimes occur in the winter months as natural daylight becomes scarce.
Watering Your Pothos – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever
If you are often forgetful when it comes to watering plants, once again, Pothos is a great choice as a houseplant. Even when the plant goes long stretches without water, it can usually survive quite easily.
Pothos actually suffers more from over-watering than from not getting enough hydration. In a typical house setting, plants only need to be watered every few weeks. It’s better with Pothos to allow the soil to dry out almost completely between waterings.
With its tropical roots, the plant performs well in high humidity locations. For best results, locate in a room where it can be far away from vents and or heating / cooling sources. These can dry out the soil a bit too quickly, making more frequent watering necessary.
Fertilizing Pothos – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever
The Pothos plant will survive with the most basic of nutrients. Without prolific flowering, its trailing vines grow well in basic potting soil, although boosting the soil’s nutrient levels every few months will help to power additional foliage growth in the plant.
Fertilizing can be as simple as providing your plant with a few tablespoons of spent coffee grounds every other month. Coffee grounds can actually benefit quite a few houseplants and are an inexpensive way to fertilize. See: How To Use Coffee Grounds On Houseplants
As an alternative, any basic all-purpose houseplant fertilizer can be used. As with many houseplants, less is more when it comes to fertilizing. Over-fertilizing can lead to excessive root growth, causing plants to prematurely outgrow their container and make repotting necessary.
Replanting / Propagating Pothos – The Easiest Houseplant To Grow Ever
In general, the roots of Pothos grow at a fairly slow pace and will rarely need to be repotted. If water is running through the plant as you water, or if roots are beginning to expand out of the bottom drainage holes, repotting is most likely needed.
The good news – it couldn’t be easier! All it takes to replant Pothos is a larger container and a basic potting soil mix. Select containers that allow for 25% to 50% more room. Slightly break apart the edge of the roots and place into the new pot, adding the soil around the old root ball.
Once you have a Pothos plant, it’s also extremely easy to create new plants from cuttings. Start by cutting a stem from an existing plant. Select a healthy stem that has at least three to four leaves.
Remove the bottom two leaves and place down into a glass of water so that the upper leaves do not touch the water. It is best to use either distilled or purified water as treated water can contain chemicals that keep new roots from growing.
Within a few weeks, the stem should have new new roots beginning to appear. When the roots grow to a few inches in length, you can repot them into basic potting soil, and just like that, you have a new Pothos plant!
Additional Uses For Pothos Plants
Pothos plants also make great hanging basket plants for porches and decks. They grow fast and fill in with their long trailing vines, and by creating your own from existing house plants, it can be the perfect way to green up your outdoors in the summer without breaking the bank!
Here is to growing Pothos – the easiest houseplant ever to grow! Happy Gardening, Jim & Mary.
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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