Gadenin日本語Get the appTake cuttings in the growing season, from good vines
Pothos roots very readily, but only while it is warm and only from a piece that carries a node. Choosing the right piece of vine matters more than technique.
| The vine | Suitable? | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Short internodes, large leaves | The best | Cut into pieces of two or three nodes |
| Aerial roots already at the nodes | Good | Put the aerial root in the water and it roots faster |
| Thin, stretched tips | Not really | Use it to tidy the plant instead |
| Old vines with yellowing leaves | No | Cut off at the base and discard |
The cutting keeps the markings of the piece you took. A well variegated node gives a variegated plant, and a plain green node gives a plain green one.
Rooting in water
Cut a piece with two or three nodes just below the lowest node. Strip the lowest leaf so the node itself sits in water, and stand it in a glass in bright shade.
Change the water every two or three days. Stale water is the main reason a cutting rots rather than roots, and it costs nothing to avoid.
What to expect, and when
Moving the glass around is a real setback. Pick a bright spot out of direct sun and leave it there.
| Time | What you see | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| One to three days | No visible change | Change the water and leave it alone |
| Four to ten days | The node swells, white points appear | Do not move the glass |
| Ten to twenty days | Roots an inch or so long | Still leave it in water |
| Three to five weeks | Roots over two inches and branching | Pot it up, or keep it in water |
Moving it into compost
Pot up once the roots are two to three inches (5 to 8 cm) long. Use a free draining mix, wet it before you plant, and keep it on the damp side for the first fortnight.
Water roots and compost roots are built differently, so a few of the water roots die after the move. If the leaves droop for a few days that is normal, and once a new leaf opens the root system has changed over.
Rooting straight into compost
You can skip the water entirely: push the cutting into damp compost with the node buried and keep it warm and out of direct sun. It roots just as reliably and skips the transition.
The only disadvantage is that you cannot see what is happening, so you find out whether it worked when a new leaf appears rather than when roots do.
When nothing roots
Pothos roots so readily that a failure almost always has one of four specific causes. Work through them rather than assuming the plant is difficult.
| What is happening | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The cut end goes black and soft | Stale water, or too warm | Recut above the damage and change the water daily |
| Three weeks and no change | The room is below 68F (20C) | Move somewhere warmer, in bright shade |
| The leaves yellow but nothing else | The cutting was too thin to sustain itself | Take a new one from a thicker vine |
| Roots appeared but stopped | Not enough light | Move it to a curtained window |
Taking several cuttings at once is the real insurance. Three cuttings means one survives poor conditions, and the differences between them tell you what went wrong.