How to Care for Epipremnum

Epipremnum is the plant most people know as pothos or devil's ivy, and it has earned its reputation as the hardest houseplant to kill. It trails long stems of glossy heart shaped leaves, marbled with gold, white or lime depending on the variety, and it grows fast enough that you can see progress from one month to the next. Hang it from a shelf, train it along a wall or let it climb a pole and it will oblige either way.

The genus comes from Southeast Asia and the western Pacific islands. The golden pothos most commonly sold is originally native to Mo'orea in French Polynesia, and it has since naturalised across tropical regions around the world. In the wild these plants scramble along the forest floor and then climb tree trunks, and the higher they climb the larger their leaves become. In its natural habitat a mature plant can produce leaves well over half a metre across, which is worth knowing when you see one indoors at the size of your palm.

How Much Light Does Epipremnum Need?

Epipremnum grows best in bright, indirect light, but it will genuinely tolerate low light, which is a large part of why it is so popular.

A few metres from a window, or beside a north-facing one, works well. Keep it out of direct sun, which scorches the leaves and fades the variegation. In darker spots the plant will keep growing but more slowly, and the gold or white markings will gradually give way to plain green as the plant compensates by making more chlorophyll. If your variegated pothos is losing its pattern, move it somewhere brighter and the new growth will return to form.

How Often Should You Water Epipremnum?

Water when the top half of the compost has dried out. In spring and summer, that is often once a week, dropping to every two or three weeks in autumn and winter.

Pothos is quite happy to dry out a little between drinks, and it tells you clearly when it is thirsty by letting the leaves droop slightly. A thorough soak perks it back up within hours. Water until it runs from the drainage holes, then drain the pot fully. Persistent wet compost is the one thing that will kill it, so if you are unsure, wait another few days.

What Humidity Does Epipremnum Need?

Epipremnum is comfortable anywhere from 40% to 60% humidity, which covers almost every home.

Coming from humid tropical forests, it responds to higher humidity with faster growth and larger, glossier leaves, and it is one of the plants that really thrives in a bright bathroom or kitchen. It is not dependent on it though. Ordinary dry household air in winter will not do it any harm beyond the occasional brown leaf tip, and grouping plants or using a tray of damp pebbles is enough to prevent that.

What Temperature Do Pothos Need?

Epipremnum grows best between 18°C and 27°C and is happy at normal room temperature all year round.

The lowest temperature it can withstand is around 10°C. Below that growth stops and the leaves can develop dark, water soaked patches that do not recover, particularly if the compost is wet at the same time. Keep it away from cold draughts and unheated rooms in winter, and do not leave trailing stems pressed against freezing window glass.

How Do You Propagate Pothos?

Pothos is the plant to start with if you have never taken a cutting before, because it roots almost without fail.

Find a node on the stem, which is the small brown bump where a leaf joins and where a stubby aerial root often sticks out. Cut about 1cm below the node with clean scissors, taking a piece with one or two leaves. Remove the bottom leaf so that the node is exposed.

Put the cutting in a glass of water with the node covered and the leaves above the waterline, and keep it somewhere warm and bright. Change the water weekly. Roots usually appear within one to two weeks. Once they reach around 5 cm, pot the cutting into free draining compost and keep it slightly moist for the first few weeks. Planting five or six cuttings together in one pot gives you a full, bushy plant straight away. You can also push cuttings directly into damp compost and skip the water stage entirely.

Why Are My Epipremnum Leaves Turning Yellow?

Overwatering is the usual answer. Yellow leaves that feel soft, starting low down on the stems, with compost that stays damp for days, mean the roots are waterlogged. Let the pot dry out until the top half is dry, then water less frequently. If several leaves yellow at once and the stems go mushy at the base, check the roots for rot, trim away anything brown and soft, and repot into fresh compost. Any healthy stems can be saved as cuttings.

Other causes are easy to recognise. Yellowing with dry compost and limp, drooping leaves means it has been left too long, so soak it thoroughly. Yellow or bleached leaves with dry patches indicate too much direct sun. Slow, general yellowing on a plant that has been in the same compost for years is a sign it needs feeding, so give it a balanced liquid houseplant feed once a month in spring and summer. And one yellow leaf at the oldest end of a long trailing stem is normal ageing rather than a problem.

To get the best from a pothos, trim the stems back from time to time to keep the plant bushy rather than bare and straggly, and pop the trimmings straight back into the pot as cuttings. Repot every couple of years, give it a brighter spot if you want strong variegation, and wipe the leaves occasionally so they stay glossy.

Shop Epipremnum at House of Kojo

Want a plant that grows fast and asks for almost nothing? Take a look at our Epipremnums at House of Kojo, from golden pothos to the marbled and neon varieties.