Have you been wondering where to cut Pothos to propagate, and also achieve a full plant at the same time? In this post, I will show you step by step with pictures exactly how you can do this. I demonstrate using my own plant, and the before and after is quite dramatic!
You can easily do the same with your Pothos, so let's get propagating and I'll show you how you can do the same.
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You can use this simple process for any pothos plant. In this post, I'm demonstrating with golden pothos, sometimes known as devil's ivy, which is one of the best low maintenance and low light indoor plants that you can grow!
Pothos plants (Epipremnum aureum) are among the easiest plants to propagate.
Table of Contents
3 EASY STEPS FOR POTHOS PROPAGATION
1. WHERE TO CUT POTHOS TO PROPAGATE
If you really want to maximize your pothos cuttings, you'll want to take single node cuttings.
What does this mean? Take a look at the photo below.
Single node cutting of Pothos
Simply take a pair of sharp scissors and snip cuttings just like the one above. Find where the leaf and petiole attaches onto the main vine (this is the node) and snip on either end of the vine.
You may even already see little brown bumps (see where my finger is pointing in the photo). These are aerial roots and they will start to grow once you place them in water to root.
You can make longer cuttings with of vines with multiple leaves and nodes, and there is nothing wrong with this.
But by taking single node cuttings, you will maximize the number of resulting vines since each propagated node will produce a new vine.
2. WATER PROPAGATION
Next, I placed a bunch of these cuttings in water and allowed them to root.
I took all the pothos cuttings and placed them in containers with fresh tap water. Keep an eye on the water level and always make sure that the nodes are under water.
It's always a good idea to take multiple cuttings if you can, because not all the cuttings may make it (but you should have a very high success rate if you follow the tips in this post.)
As water evaporates, top off your jar of water with fresh water. If you notice anything that is rotting, go ahead and pull that material out and change the water.
I like to place my cuttings in a bright spot, with most bright indirect light.
Depending on your conditions, I've seen new roots occur in a matter of days, but sometimes it can take up to a couple of weeks or so.
In the picture below you can clearly see everything in action. As you can see, new pothos vines and new roots will start to grow from the node.
Here are several cuttings that have fully rooted. Each cutting also has a new vine growing already.
At this point, the next step is to plant the rooted cuttings in potting mix. Look at the photo above. I ideally would have not waited for the roots to get this long in order to plant in potting mix.
The cuttings will have an easier time transitioning with shorter roots once planted into potting mix, but everything still worked out beautifully in the end.
I would recommend planting in potting mix as soon as the new roots are about an inch long or so. At this point, you may not have any new vine growth visible yet, but they will come, so don't worry.
Next, go ahead and plant all the cuttings in fresh potting soil. Be sure to use a pot with drainage holes.
In my case below, planted in a coconut fiber lined hanging basket. Although there are no drainage holes per say in this case, the water goes straight through the liner when I water, so it's good to go!
Notice that I placed the cuttings pretty close together because I wanted to achieve a nice, fuller look. And remember that each of these cuttings will produce a new vine!
For my potting mix, I mixed in some perlite in with an all-purpose potting mix. I used about 2 or 3 parts of Miracle Gro potting mix with 1 part of perlite.
Or if you want to use an AMAZING potting mix straight out of the bag for Pothos, try out the Tropical Climber Soil Blend from Oh Happy Plants. And if you use my link, you will get 10% off automatically applied at checkout.
(Please note that you could have skipped placing the cuttings in water to root, and instead placed them straight into potting mix. Although this skips a step, I feel like it's easier and more gratifying for many people to root in water first and then plant into soil.)
As a general rule of thumb, maintain fairly moist soil, but allow the top inch of soil to dry out before watering again.
I made 2 baskets like this. Fast forward one year, and this is what the baskets look like. Look how full and beautiful they are! They are both hanging over a bathtub and right under a skylight.
Here is one of the baskets:
And here is the other basket. One long vine already reached the bathtub and will need to be trimmed or looped around the hanging basket so it's not in the way.
There is nothing wrong with planting only only a couple cuttings in a pot. But if you want a bushier look and not just one or two long vines, go ahead and plant several in the same pot if you have enough plant material.
For some more amazing options on potting mixes, check out my post on best soil for pothos.
IF I CUT MY POTHOS, WILL IT GROW BACK?
Many people have asked me what will happen to the mother plant that the pothos cuttings are taken from. Will the mother plant grow back?
The answer is yes! Take a look at the photo below.
You can clearly see the cut end of the vine on the mother plant, and also the new growth where the new vine is starting to grow back. It is the gift that keeps on giving!
ADDITIONAL TIPS TO HELP PROPAGATE POTHOS
The best time to propagate any plant is during the active growing season. Spring or Summer will give you the quickest results, but I've successfully propagated in all seasons.
Don't place your pothos cuttings in a dark area! Situate them close to a window where you would normally grow your plants.
Keep your cuttings in a warm location. Plant propagation can take a long time under cool conditions.
I have been doing this for years. It started with a plant I gave my mother in 2010. She has since passed away, but I have kept her memory alive by propagating her plant. I look for pots at thrift stores. I give them away to family and friends. I always tell them to take care of Bernice. I have propagated dozens of plants from her one, and propagated new ones from those. It Just goes on and on as will her memory. I do it just like you said. I cut them at the leaf bud. Bundle them with a rubber band and place in water. After a couple of weeks you have roots. I plant the whole thing in the middle of the pot. The start of another plant for Bernice. 😇.
Thank you for that information! It was very helpful. However I do have a question. Every time I water my pothos one leaf turns yellow and falls off. What's going on?
Sometimes if you let the plant get too dry and a leaf starts to yellow, even after you water it, that leaf will continue to yellow. Try and keep more even moisture levels by letting maybe just the top inch dry out and no more. This should help.
Hi Raffaele!
Thank you for the wonderful tutorial. I propagated single leaf cuttings in water, they grew long roots and just planted them in the mother plant like your picture! This may be a silly question, but since the mother vine is planted in soil and has calloused over, will my single leaves grow a new vine w/ new leaves? Where does it grow from?
Thanks so much!
Hi Colleen! Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Hopefully, I understood your question correctly. The vine that you cut will grow back usually from the node at the end of the vine wherever you cut it off. So just keep an eye out where the leaf meets the vine. You should start to see a new growth swelling there in the coming days/weeks. 🙂
I really need help! I adopted two 25 year old pothos plants and they each have yards of vine with no leaves, and then a foot or 2 with leaves on the very end. if I propagate as above, will the bare vines still root? I was excited to get the plants but am now disappointed after unwrapping the vines that were just wound around making the plant look full. I'm so glad I found this site, I'm new at this! thank you!
Hi Elena! You can definitely propagate the ends that have leaves as I describe in this post. I would honestly cut most of the vines off and just leave one or two nodes at the bottom of the original plant and see if it grows back. You can definitely try propagating the leafless vines, but not all of them will take...but since you have plenty of vines, you can certainly try! Hope this helps a bit.
This was exactly the type of article I was looking for. Thank you for making it easy to follow and providing photos of every step. My pothos thanks you.
Thanks for great tutorial! I have a Pothos I have been wanting to propagate but was afraid when I cut my long vines they’d quit growing or worse die. I’m getting all my things together this week to do some trimming of long vines. Do you recommend growth hormone? Thanks.
Hi Deb! Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Rooting hormone can help, but it's not necessary at all with Pothos. If you had previously tried to root really long cuttings of Pothos, this doesn't work well. Really long cuttings will have a much harder time rooting, so I would go with the single node cuttings that I show in this blog post and you will get the most number of new vines this way. If you make slightly longer cuttings, that's fine too, but I wouldn't have any cuttings that have more than 3 or 4 leaves at the most. Any longer, and your cuttings can struggle.
@Raffaele, I meant I was wanting to cut the nodes from my long vines. I have one that is close to 4ft long. I thought I could get 5 or 6 cuttings from it and probably the same off of the other long one. That way I would be able to trim back the longer vines. There is a node at each leaf (some have 2 & some have 3) on the longest vine. There are 8 vines in all that my sister started in water off of cuttings from an Pothos funeral arrangement from moms service in 2019. Once I planted them in soil they took off. Big time. Lol I can’t wait to get started on this.
@Deb Campbell, I've been propogating a pathos from my father's funeral since 2004! That one plant has become 5, and I too have long vines (some are 20 ft long!). I run my vines all over the living room, dining room, kitchen. And like you, I was worried about how and where to cut to trim the long vines, but this tutorial is great. I hope we both have great success trimming our memorial pothos!
@raffaele, thank you for clearly and easily explaining.
Thank you for the step by step instructions…. They are very clear and pictures make it simple. I am reading this article in the Spring of 2023 .
You're very welcome Ellen!
I have been doing this for years. It started with a plant I gave my mother in 2010. She has since passed away, but I have kept her memory alive by propagating her plant. I look for pots at thrift stores. I give them away to family and friends. I always tell them to take care of Bernice. I have propagated dozens of plants from her one, and propagated new ones from those. It Just goes on and on as will her memory. I do it just like you said. I cut them at the leaf bud. Bundle them with a rubber band and place in water. After a couple of weeks you have roots. I plant the whole thing in the middle of the pot. The start of another plant for Bernice. 😇.
It's so fun to make more and share with loved ones 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story.
WOW! Thank you so very much for sharing! This is so helpful!!! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it Marie!
What a revelation .. love my 2 pothos and intend to propagate many babies as gifts .. thankyou so very much ..
You're very welcome Helen!
Your instructions were very helpful and understandable. Thank You very much.
You're very welcome Andrea! Thanks for taking the time to comment, and good luck!
Can I live them in a water container instead of planted in soil?
Yes, they can grow in water for sure. Just make sure to change the water periodically and add some fertilizer.
Thank you for that information! It was very helpful. However I do have a question. Every time I water my pothos one leaf turns yellow and falls off. What's going on?
Sometimes if you let the plant get too dry and a leaf starts to yellow, even after you water it, that leaf will continue to yellow. Try and keep more even moisture levels by letting maybe just the top inch dry out and no more. This should help.
Hi Raffaele!
Thank you for the wonderful tutorial. I propagated single leaf cuttings in water, they grew long roots and just planted them in the mother plant like your picture! This may be a silly question, but since the mother vine is planted in soil and has calloused over, will my single leaves grow a new vine w/ new leaves? Where does it grow from?
Thanks so much!
Hi Colleen! Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Hopefully, I understood your question correctly. The vine that you cut will grow back usually from the node at the end of the vine wherever you cut it off. So just keep an eye out where the leaf meets the vine. You should start to see a new growth swelling there in the coming days/weeks. 🙂
You ROCK! Total newbie and didnt have a clue. Many a green life you may have saved. Many thanks
Aw, you're very welcome Don! Enjoy your plant babies.
I really need help! I adopted two 25 year old pothos plants and they each have yards of vine with no leaves, and then a foot or 2 with leaves on the very end. if I propagate as above, will the bare vines still root? I was excited to get the plants but am now disappointed after unwrapping the vines that were just wound around making the plant look full. I'm so glad I found this site, I'm new at this! thank you!
Hi Elena! You can definitely propagate the ends that have leaves as I describe in this post. I would honestly cut most of the vines off and just leave one or two nodes at the bottom of the original plant and see if it grows back. You can definitely try propagating the leafless vines, but not all of them will take...but since you have plenty of vines, you can certainly try! Hope this helps a bit.
@elena mount,
The plant is putting all its energy into growing that vine. Start some new plants from the vine.
This was exactly the type of article I was looking for. Thank you for making it easy to follow and providing photos of every step. My pothos thanks you.
You're very welcome Peg! Good luck! 🙂
Thanks for great tutorial! I have a Pothos I have been wanting to propagate but was afraid when I cut my long vines they’d quit growing or worse die. I’m getting all my things together this week to do some trimming of long vines. Do you recommend growth hormone? Thanks.
Hi Deb! Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Rooting hormone can help, but it's not necessary at all with Pothos. If you had previously tried to root really long cuttings of Pothos, this doesn't work well. Really long cuttings will have a much harder time rooting, so I would go with the single node cuttings that I show in this blog post and you will get the most number of new vines this way. If you make slightly longer cuttings, that's fine too, but I wouldn't have any cuttings that have more than 3 or 4 leaves at the most. Any longer, and your cuttings can struggle.
@Raffaele, I meant I was wanting to cut the nodes from my long vines. I have one that is close to 4ft long. I thought I could get 5 or 6 cuttings from it and probably the same off of the other long one. That way I would be able to trim back the longer vines. There is a node at each leaf (some have 2 & some have 3) on the longest vine. There are 8 vines in all that my sister started in water off of cuttings from an Pothos funeral arrangement from moms service in 2019. Once I planted them in soil they took off. Big time. Lol I can’t wait to get started on this.
@Deb Campbell, I've been propogating a pathos from my father's funeral since 2004! That one plant has become 5, and I too have long vines (some are 20 ft long!). I run my vines all over the living room, dining room, kitchen. And like you, I was worried about how and where to cut to trim the long vines, but this tutorial is great. I hope we both have great success trimming our memorial pothos!
@raffaele, thank you for clearly and easily explaining.
You're very welcome Kristine!
Thank you for your detailed information including photos. Very helpful to this beginner.
You're very welcome Agnes! I'm glad the post was helpful for you 🙂
Hallo,
tolle Tipps,sehr gut geschrieben!Ich liebe diese Pflanzen und habe auch nach oben Rankende!Danke für die Tipps!
Andrea Werner
Bitte schön 🙂
Fantastic instructional pictorial.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful information!
You're very welcome Stacy! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Great read....thanks for the simple explanation.
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂