Pothos plants are great, and you’ll love having them in your home. There’s a good chance that you’ll love them so much that you’ll want to propagate them.
It’s common for people to take cuttings of plants and try to grow them in soil. People also do the same thing by growing cuttings in water.
Can pothos plants grow in water, though? Or do they need soil to be able to thrive?
Keep reading to learn about whether pothos plants can be grown in water. It’ll help you to know exactly how to approach things to get the best results.
Pothos Can Be Grown in Water
You’ll be happy to hear that pothos plants are easy to grow in water. These houseplants are among the easiest to grow without soil.
Keeping a pothos plant alive in water won’t be too hard. You can keep the plant in water, and it’ll thrive so long as you look after it properly.
For many, this might be even more appealing than keeping pothos in traditional pots with soil. If you’ve never done this before, you still might not be sure how it’s done.
Below, you’ll get information about how to grow pothos plants in water. Once you know what to do, you’ll see that it isn’t too hard to pull off.
It’s just important to have the right information before proceeding. When you know what to expect, it’s a lot simpler to get things right.
How to Grow Pothos in Water
To grow a pothos plant in water, you’re just going to need a glass container of some sort, clean water, and a little bit of liquid plant fertilizer.
It’s common for people to place pothos cuttings in water to propagate the plant. You can do this very easily and get the plant to thrive.
Put distilled water in a glass container for the plant. Add a small amount of fertilizer to the water to help the new plant thrive.
Once you’re ready, place the cutting in the glass container. You want to remove any of the leaves from the bottom of the cutting before placing it in the water.
The cutting should contain at least two nodes, and it should have around four leaves on the top. This is the ideal situation, but people have propagated pothos plants with no leaves.
After putting the plant in the water, you’re supposed to change the water weekly. Keep an eye on things, and you should see that roots will grow after several weeks have passed.
Eventually, the roots will grow to be two to three inches long. At this point, you can transfer the cutting to the soil if you’d like to.
It’s possible to just keep the plant in water, though. Just make sure that the roots remain below the water line.
It’s advised to add fertilizer to the container every four to six weeks. The fertilizer should be diluted to protect the plant.
You’ll also need to clean algae from the glass container every so often. If you don’t do this periodically, it could be bad for the plant.
Most people just put the pothos plant into a different vase while they clean the original one. Fill a second vase with water and use it as a temporary home for the pothos while you clean the original vase.
Can Pothos Live in Water Forever?
It is indeed possible for a pothos plant to live in water forever. You just need to change the water in the container often enough, and everything will be fine.
Many experts say to change the water weekly. Some people say that it’s okay to change the water once every two to three weeks.
Either way, you need to know that changing the water is an important factor. If you don’t change the water, things will get murky, and that won’t be good for the plant.
Provide the plant with the right care, and it can thrive in water. It might not grow in the same way if you keep it in water instead of soil, but this hardy plant can thrive in water nicely.
It makes the plant rather versatile. You can enjoy pothos plants in so many different ways.
How Long Can They Live in Water?
A pothos plant has the potential to live forever in water. It all depends on if you’re providing the plant with the right care.
As mentioned above, you need to change the water every so often. You must change the water at least every two or three weeks to keep things safe.
The pothos plant needs bright indirect sunlight to grow and stay healthy. Also, you’ll have to clean the container that it’s in sometimes.
Algae is going to grow on the container, and you’ll need to clean it out sometimes. You can transfer the pothos to a different container with water while you clean the original container.
There’s no reason why pothos plants cannot survive in water indefinitely. It’s just about putting in the effort to keep the plants healthy.
What Fertilizer to Use for Pothos in Water
You can use quite a few types of liquid houseplant fertilizer for pothos plants. When caring for pothos plants in water, it’s best to use an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer.
Liquid fertilizers work best for pothos plants being kept in water. It’s easier to dilute the fertilizer and deliver it to the plant.
A pothos plant should have an easy time absorbing the liquid fertilizer. Just be sure not to use too much fertilizer since that would be detrimental to the plant.
Remember that you can add fertilizer to the water once every four to six weeks. Don’t fertilize the plant more often than this.
Can Pothos Be Submerged in Water?
Surprisingly, pothos plants are known to be capable of growing underwater. You might not have expected these plants to be able to grow in such conditions.
Pothos plants do grow differently when submerged in water. The growth of the plant will be far slower than usual.
This is because there will be significantly less oxygen and carbon dioxide in the water. So these plants wind up growing to be smaller and rounder while underwater.
It’s interesting to see that the plants can do fine underwater, though. It’s not unusual for people to put pothos plants in aquariums.
How Long Do They Take to Root in Water?
It doesn’t take too long for pothos plants to root in water. You just need to exercise a bit of patience.
Generally, it takes around two weeks for you to start noticing roots. You’ll see roots growing out of the nodes at around two to three weeks.
It might take several weeks longer for those roots to grow to be two to three inches long. This all depends on various factors, and it can be difficult to predict the exact time the roots will reach this length.
When the roots are long enough, you can transfer the plant to soil if you wish to. Some choose to do this, while others choose to keep the plant in the water.
Why Are My Pothos Cuttings Not Rooting?
If pothos cuttings aren’t rooting, it’s likely that something is amiss. Generally, the cuttings are easy to root in water, but they don’t do well if you try to root them during the fall or winter.
It’s best to take pothos cuttings in the spring and summer months. The success rate for propagating pothos plants is not nearly as high during the autumn and winter.
You might not find success if you don’t take a good cutting either. A good pothos cutting should be between four and six inches long.
The cut should be taken right by a node, and you want to have at least two nodes on the cutting. Ideally, there should be four leaves near the top of the cutting as well.
If you do all of this, the cuttings should be easy to root. Failing to do things as instructed might lead to worse results.
Propagating Pothos Plants Is Very Easy
Don’t feel intimidated about propagating pothos plants. If you have some pothos plants that you keep in soil, it’ll be easy to take cuttings.
Just be sure to take the cuttings during the growing season. Doing so in the spring and summer will help you to get the best results.
It doesn’t take much effort to propagate these plants. They’re so easy to propagate in water that you can grow them this way, even if you have virtually no experience with plant propagation.
It’s also worth knowing that these plants can be propagated in soil. This is also easy to do, and the process isn’t that much different.
You just put the plant cutting in soil after dipping it in rooting hormone. No matter what, it’s simple to propagate these plants.
Final Thoughts
Knowing that pothos plants can thrive in water should give you more options. You can care for pothos plant cuttings in water and then just continue to keep them in water.
You don’t have to transfer the cuttings to soil if you don’t want to. The plant is capable of surviving forever in water so long as you care for it well.
Change the water often enough, and be sure to give the plant enough sunlight. Make sure to give the pothos fertilizer every so often as well.
These plants can be fertilized every four to six weeks, and it’s easiest to use a liquid houseplant fertilizer. You know everything that you need to know to find success now.
You can enjoy pothos plants to the fullest, and propagating them will be a simple endeavor. It’ll even be easy to teach friends how to grow these plants in water when they don’t have any experience.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.