The pothos plant (Epipremnum aureum) is one of the easiest plants to propagate, especially in water.  And there’s something satisfying in seeing your little pothos cutting grow roots each day.  So let’s dive in (no pun intended) and go over the pros and cons of propagating a pothos in water, the steps to take, and how to be successful at it.

Pros

  • You can easily see the roots and track the progress of how well the propagation is going
  • You can keep your pothos in water indefinitely if you desire (pothos plants do great growing hydroponically)
  • There’s no risk of over-watering when it’s growing water

Cons 

  • If you’re wanting to transfer your pothos into soil, propagating in water just creates another step of having to transfer your pothos into soil
  • Fungi can easily live in the moist environment that the water creates
  • Can be more high maintenance by having to change out the water every few weeks or more

 

How to Propagate A Pothos  

    To propagate a pothos in water you’ll need to:

    1. Make sure your pothos is healthy
    2. Get clean scissors or pruning shears
    3. Cut at the stem and include 1-3 leaves and nodes
    4. Place your cutting in water
    5. Change out the water when it starts to look dirty
    6. Let it grow
    7. Decide if you want it in soil or not

pothos propagation

 

Make Sure Your Pothos Is Healthy

    This should probably go unsaid, but you need a healthy pothos plant to get a cutting from.  If you take cuttings from one that is struggling or is infected with a bacterial or fungal disease, your cuttings are very unlikely to survive.  In fact, they’ll probably quickly turn black and rot away.  So just take a few minutes to check in with your pothos plant and make sure that it’s healthy and ready to go. 

 

 

Get Clean Scissors or Pruning Shears

    This is another step that just seems like common sense, but again, if not followed it can cause your cutting to die and leave you frustrated.  Diseases can easily spread by using dirty scissors or shears.  Before you make the cut, it’s best to give them a good wash with some hot water and soap.

 

Cut At the Stem and Include 1-3 Leaves and Nodes

    Once you’ve got a healthy plant and a clean pair of scissors you’re ready to make the cut.  Cut the stem and include as little as one leaf or up to three leaves.  The most important part is to include nodes in your cutting.  Nodes are simply those little brown bumps along the stem of your pothos.  They are there to help this vining plant root itself into the ground or to climb in its natural habitat.  Those nodes are what are going to give you new roots to create a new pothos plant for you. 

 

Place Cutting in Water

    Once you have your cutting go ahead and place it upright in some sort of container so that the leaves are up and out of the water.  However, you want the nodes to be in water because, like I mentioned before, those nodes are where the roots will be growing from and creating a new separate plant for you.  

    I’ve propagated my pothos cuttings multiple times with tap water and it has made no difference to me, although my water does not go through a water softener.  If you have a water softener or know that your city adds extra minerals to your water, go ahead and play it safe by using distilled, filtered, or rain water.

 

 

propagated pothos in water

 

Change Out Water

    Those new roots are going to be sucking up water and so you’ll need to change out the water often to keep it filled but also to keep it clean.  The water can sometimes turn a different color, grow a bit of mold on top, or start growing algae.  If this happens you can wash out your container and replace it with fresh water.  They are all very common problems to run into.  

    If algae is a persisting problem, you can switch to a container that isn’t clear to get rid of the problem.  Algae needs sunlight to survive and switching to a dark container keeps out the sun and therefore keeps the algae from growing. 

 

Let It Grow

    A large part of any propagation venture is being patient.  A pothos cutting can get roots in as little as a few days or up to five weeks or more.  My rule of thumb is that if the cutting isn’t black and rotted, I’ll be patient and let it do its thing.  It depends on many environmental conditions on how fast it can grow so just be patient.

 

Decide If You Want It In Soil

    Lastly, you have the opportunity to let your plant keep growing water or switch it to soil.  Pothos plants do really well growing hydroponically so you can keep it growing in water for as long as you wish.  Just make sure it’s in a container that will give it room for it’s growing roots, give it a hydroponic fertilizer, and change out it’s water every so often. 

    If you decide you want to put your pothos cutting in soil, let the roots get two inches or longer before you do so.  Once you’ve placed it into soil, give the pothos a good drink and saturate the soil thoroughly and let the excess drain out the drainage holes.  Read this article here to learn more about how to water your pothos plant. 

 

   If you’d like more information on propagating a pothos in water, watch this short video I created going through each step. 

 

 

Categories: Indoor Plant Care, Propagating