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The species, Epipremnum aureum has bright green leaves with golden-yellow or cream colored blotching.
E. aureum 'Golden Queen' has bright green leaves with golden-yellow marbling.
E. aureum 'Neon' has solid colored, bright yellow-green leaves that darken with age.
E. aureum 'Silver Queen' has foliage that is almost entirely silvery-white.
E. aureum 'N'Joy' has smaller, more compact, dark green foliage, splashed with white flames.
E. aureum 'Marble Queen' has creamy white foliage, flecked or mottled with green.
Marble Queen requires more light than other Pothos or it may revert back to all green.
Growing Requirements for Pothos Plants
When grown in the ideal conditions in a greenhouse where there is very bright indirect light all day long, high humidity, and warm temperatures, Pothos are capable of producing giant, 20" leaves, but in typical house plant growing conditions, the leaves seldom grow larger that 4" or 5". |
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Golden Pothos should be grown in a draft free spot with bright, indirect light and good ventilation. An hour or two of morning sun is acceptable, but full sun in the afternoon will cause the marbling of the foliage fade. Insufficient light will also cause the variegation to fade. Pothos plants grow very well under fluorescent lighting, especially grow-lights.
They are happiest when room temperatures are in the 65°-80° range. Growing will stop if temperatures drop below 55°.
Pothos make excellent hanging plants, but they will never reach their full potential unless they are allowed to climb upright on a totem pole. Totems give the plant's air roots something to attach to for support. Totems cut from pressed osmunda fiber or bark are widely available in nurseries or plant shops, or you can build your own by are wrapping a piece of ½" mesh chicken wire around fresh, un-milled Sphagnum Moss.
Keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy during the growing period. Reduce water in the winter, allowing the soil to dry slightly before watering again. Over-watering can be fatal. Never allow your Pothos to sit in a tray of water!
Feed your Pothos once yearly, in early spring with a granular, slow-release fertilizer,
or feed every two weeks from spring through fall with a half strength dilution of house plant fertilizer.
Repotting Your Pothos Plant
If your Pothos plant has outgrown its planter, it should be re-potted in the spring, taking care to not disturb the totem if it is growing up one. Replant in a rich, well-drained, commercial potting mix.
If the totem needs extending, do not try to remove the old one, because that will damage the air roots that are attached to it.
Instead, attach the taller totem to the side or on top of the existing one.
Pothos plants can be cut back at any time, especially if they become leggy or the foliage size starts to decrease.
Make your cut just above a leaf node to encourage the vine to branch out.
Pothos are susceptible to attacks from scale insects and mites, and occasionally from mealy bugs.
Propagating New Pothos Plants
Pothos are very easy to propagate with cuttings.
A single stem can be used to produce several cuttings because each cutting only needs a single node to produce roots. Cut the stem into into individual segments, making each cut just above a leaf. Strike the cuttings into moistened perlite or vermiculite to a point where the node is just below the surface. You can also strike several cuttings into a pot and let them root where they are to grow.
Cuttings should be well rooted in 4-6 weeks.
Many people choose to root their Pothos cuttings in water. This method produces roots quickly, but roots formed in water tend to be brittle and are easily damaged during transplanting into soil.
Pothos plants can also be propagation by root division. Any time you repot your Pothos, you can cut the root ball in half or quarters and plant each division in new pots.
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Golden Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
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