Introduction: How to Propagate a Pothos Plant

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If you've got an overgrown pothos plant or are looking for an easy way to get more plants, propagation via cuttings if the best way to go! In this instructable I'll show you how to trim your pothos plant, take cuttings, root the cuttings in water, and how to plant the pothos cuttings and take care of them.

I love this method of pothos propagation because it is super easy - all you need is some time and glasses of water!

Step 1: Tools for Propagating a Pothos

Thankfully, you don't need much!

  • Sharp scissors or an x-acto knife
  • Glasses full of water to hold cuttings
  • Pot for planting
  • Indoor or all-purpose potting soil for planting

Step 2: Trim Your Pothos Plant

As you can see, my plant was getting a little out of control. I had to wind its vines into the other pothos nearby to keep them up and away from my cats. It was actually as long as I am tall!

First things first: time for a trim! Decide how long you'd like the vines to be and trim them directly below the lowest leaf node you want to leave. Untangle the vines and lay them out individually to get ready to make some cuttings!

Step 3: Cut the Pothos Stems Into Individual Nodes

Now it's time to dismantle the pothos stems into individual cuttings. Some folks like to root a whole stem, but I find that takes a very long time and often doesn't produce a plant that transfers easily back to soil after being in water so long.

Instead, I cut along the stem to create individual leaf cuttings. Cut to the left and right of every leaf stem, leaving a small piece of vine attached to the bottom of the leaf stem. See the little brown bumps on the vine? Those are called nodes, and that's where new roots will form.

Step 4: Place the Pothos Stems in Water and Wait

I use small juice glasses for this, but have a look around and see what fits your pothos cuttings best!

Fill your container(s) with water and place the cuttings into the water so the cut ends remain submerged.

Place the cuttings in a warm, bright spot and leave them to grow roots. Check on the cuttings every couple of days and dump out the old water and replace it with new. (Oxygen dissolves in standing water after a time, so it's important to refresh!)

Step 5: How to Know When Your Pothos Cuttings Are Ready to Plant

I always leave my pothos cuttings in water until they have at least one inch of roots. In this case, I ended up with much longer ones waiting for more of the cuttings to root, so the roots are between two and three inches.

Keep in mind that the longer the roots remain in water, the harder it will be for them to make the change to soil. It's better to plant some of the cuttings while waiting for the rest. :)

Sort your cuttings and remove the cuttings with roots from the water. Cuttings without roots can remain in water until they form roots - some can take quite a while!

Step 6: Planting and Growing the Pothos Cuttings

Fill a pot about 2/3 full with fresh potting soil and start placing the cuttings around the edges of the pot, adding soil as necessary to keep the cuttings in the right place. Then fill in the middle of the pot with cuttings and add more soil as needed.

Water slowly and thoroughly, until the water runs out the bottom of the pot. Once it stops dripping, place the pot where you want it to live and care for it like a normal pothos. Congrats! You just propagated a pothos. :D