Pothos plants are gorgeous and they are a popular choice in many homes. Unfortunately, it is not a rare occurrence to get an overgrown Pothos plant that you don't know what to do with. In this situation, it might be for the best to propagate Pothos and create new plants.

This is also a good solution if you are looking for an easy way to get more plants from a single Pothos. You can plant them in your home or give them as presents for your family and friends.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to propagate Pothos via cuttings. It is a sturdy plant that takes propagation easily, so it is suitable even for beginners who have no experience with plant propagation.

The best and most effective way to propagate Pothos plants is through cuttings. It is relatively easy to trim your plant and take cuttings, and to root these cuttings before you plant them in their new containers. Those are the main steps you need to do for Pothos propagation.

The First Step in Pothos Propagation

Before you can propagate your Pothos plants through cuttings, it is important to do some preparation and have tools and materials ready. Keep in mind that this is generally a straightforward process, but you need to have some time and patience.

Make sure to prepare full glasses of water for your cuttings once you collect them.

You will also need to have sterile and sharp scissors or a knife to separate the cuttings from the mother plant. Before you start, make sure to prepare pots for your cuttings and to have some nice all-purpose potting soil for planting your cuttings once they are ready.

The first step in Pothos propagation is to trim your plant. This is a necessary preparation before you can take cuttings. Never skip this step, unless you are sure your Pothos is recently trimmed. Not doing the trimming can make the whole process unnecessary complex and more difficult than it needs to be.

Pothos plants are prone to overgrowing, so chances are that yours needs to be trimmed a little. Decide how long you want vines to be, and then use scissors or a knife to trim them right below the lowest leaf node you wish to leave.

Once you have trimmed, make sure to untangle the vines and carefully lay them out individually. This will make it much easier for taking cuttings.

Taking Pothos Cuttings

Once this preparation is done, you can move on to the propagation itself. Like noted above, Pothos plants are easily propagated with cuttings, so your goal is to take the strongest and healthiest cuttings you can get.

What you will be doing is basically dismantling the stems of your Pothos plants into individual cuttings. Keep in mind that it is possible to use an entire stem for propagation instead of a smaller cutting; if you choose to do this, you would root the entire stem. However, this approach doesn't give as effective results. This method of propagation takes a lot of time, and it produces plants that don't easily transfer from water into the soil.

Because of this, it is advisable to always use smaller cuttings instead of the whole stems to propagate Pothos plants. You can create these individual leaf cuttings easily, by simply cutting along the stem.

When cutting, make sure to do it to the left and to the right of every leaf stem. This will leave a small piece of vine attached to the bottom od the leaf stem. This is needed for effective root growth.

Once you have Pothos cuttings, they should have little brown bumps on the bottom of the vine. Those are nodes, and this is where the new roots will form. So the next step in Pothos propagation is to encourage root growth.

Rooting and Planting Pothos Cuttings

Once you have your Pothos cuttings, you should place them into water to root. You can use any small sort of a contained such as a glass or a disposable container. Simply fill the containers with water and gently put the cuttings into the water. Make sure that the cut end is always submerged.

Make sure to place the container in a warm and bright spot. Then wait. You should check your cuttings to see how roots are growing every few days. Use this time to also replace the old water with the new. After a while you should notice the roots growing.

For the best results, it is best to wait until the cuttings have developed about an inch of roots. The roots need to be at least this long so the plant is strong enough and will be able to grow when planted in the soil.

You may leave the cuttings for a longer time to develop even longer roots, but keep in mind that the longer they stay in the water, the more difficult it will be to transfer them into the soil. Also, keep in mind that individual cuttings might be developing roots at different pace, so it is not unusual for some to be ready to be planted while the others are still growing roots. If this happened, make sure to plant each cutting as soon as it's ready and has at least an inch of roots.

Once a cutting is ready, you can plant it into the soil. Make sure to fill a pot about two thirds with fresh potting soil. Place the cuttings around the edge of the pot, and make sure to keep adding soil if necessary to keep the new plants in the right place. Once the edges are filled with cuttings, start planting cuttings in the middle of the pot. Keep adding soil until all cuttings are properly planted.

Once they are all planted, water them thoroughly and slowly. Make sure to water until the water runs out the bottom of the container. When the water stops dripping, place the pot on the desired place where you want it to grow like an adult Pothos.

Photo credit: spurekar