How to Propagate a Pothos

Pothos is one of the easiest houseplants to propagate. The stems of pothos readily produce root nodes, beginning the propagation process before you take any action at all. Propagation can be successful by placing stem cuttings in potting mix or, alternatively, in water.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Rooting hormone

1. Examine the plant for three or four potential cuttings. You want at least three so your new plant can bush. Pothos vines are unlikely to branch when grown as houseplants. It's best to attempt propagation in the spring, but other times of the year can produce good results.

2. Cut 4-inch stem sections with at least three healthy leaves away from the parent pothos. Make the cut just below a rood note. The root nodes are little brown bumps protruding from the stem of the pothos. Remove the bottom leaf.

3. Mix a potting mixture of one part peat moss and one part coarse sand or perlite. Fill a 3-inch pot with the mixture and water well before inserting the pothos propagations.

4. Dip the pothos propagations in rooting hormone, giving them a light coating and place them into the the potting mix. You can fit three or four cuttings in a 3-inch pot.

5. Place the pot in filtered light. Monitor the propagations for the next month and make sure the potting mix stays moist. After a month rooting should occur and new growth should begin. After several months, repot the new pothos using a standard potting mix and treat the plant as a mature pothos.

6. Arrange the cuttings in water instead of potting mixture as an alternative. Watch the cuttings and in about a month after roots have sprouted, place them directly into standard potting mix. Propagation in water is less likely to be successful, but can be quicker and easier.