Golden pothos (with the scientific name Epipremnum aureum) is one of those houseplants that require little care and are easy to grow and propagate. This creeping plant is a native of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean and has sharp, heart-shaped green leaves. In some subspecies of this plant, the green color of the leaves is combined with white, yellow or pale green colors and gives a beautiful effect to the plant. Golden pothos is very suitable for closed environments because it purifies toxic gases such as formaldehyde from the air. Continue reading this article in TooPlant in order to learn more about how to grow and care for golden pothos.
Introduction of Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum ‘Neon’)
Before addressing how to care for golden pothos, please allow us to give you a brief introduction about this houseplant.
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Introduction of Golden Pothos |
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| Name | Golden Pothos |
| Botanical Name | Epipremnum aureum ‘Neon’ |
| Common Name(s) | Golden pothos, Neon pothos |
| Plant Type | Perennial, vine |
| Family | Araceae |
| Mature Size | Height: 10 feet, Spread: 3 feet |
| Sun Exposure | Partial |
| Soil Conditions | Loamy, moist but well-drained |
| Bloom Time | Spring, summer |
| Toxicity | Toxic to pets and people |
| Native | South Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Islands and the West Indies |
| Hardiness Zones | 11a, 11b, 12a, 12b (USDA) |
This plant is native to Australia, Indonesia, China, Japan and India. Despite its wide scope, it is still imported and exported from different parts of the world. Although this plant is wonderful as a houseplant, in some places it is illegal to grow it outdoors because it has been declared an invasive species.
It is interesting to know that this plant can grow up to 20 meters in the wild. The beauty of golden pothos can be seen in its leaves, which will often be replaced in the shape of an arrow with small leaves around it. These leaves together will usually grow up to 100 cm long and up to 45 cm wide. Even in young plants, the leaves are exactly like the leaves of mature plants, just smaller versions. This feature makes pothos beautiful at any age.
Note that the flowering of golden pothos occurs in nature and you will rarely see it flowering in the home environment. It can be clearly said that every part of this plant is poisonous for pets as well as humans, and if you have pets or young children, avoid growing golden pothos in your home environment.
Golden pothos is both attractive and very hardy and has a reputation for being easy to grow. The beautiful state of the stem and leaves, very high resistance and the ability to adapt to different conditions, make this plant suitable for banks, companies and low light conditions and cool weather, and you can enjoy having it on the table by purchasing it.
By buying useful and beautiful indoor plants like golden pothos instead of short-lived bouquets, you can not only give a stylish and lasting gift but also help your loved ones’ physical and mental health and give them the feeling of the joy of growing a plant.
How To Care For Golden Pothos?
In short, about the maintenance and care of golden pothos, we must say that as we said, taking care of this plant is very easy and even beginners can take care of it.
In this part, we will focus on the most important aspects which you need to take into consideration while treating this houseplant. The best methods of how to care for golden pothos include as follows:
Golden Pothos Light Requirements: What light is best for golden pothos?
Light is among the first important issues to care for golden pothos. Golden pothos prefers full to partial shade outdoors and bright but indirect light indoors. Usually, not receiving enough light can affect the leaf pattern of multi-colored plants and change their leaves to a uniform green color, although moving them to a brighter place can return their color diversity.
On the other hand, the sudden paleness of the leaves is a sign that your plant has received too much sun. Note that you should never expose the plant to direct sunlight because it will burn the leaves. The low light requirement of the golden pothos plant makes it suitable for offices, companies and low-light houses.
So, as shown above, light plays a significant role to care for golden pothos.
Golden Pothos Watering: How often should you water a golden pothos?
In the rest, concerning the tips of caring for a golden pothos, it is better to know that usually, golden pothos prefers to let the soil in its pot dry completely between two waterings, because the permanent wetness of the soil will cause the roots to rot and ultimately kill the plant. Therefore, watering is another important aspect in order to care for golden pothos.
Be careful that the appearance of black spots on the leaves and sudden leaf fall of golden pothos is a sign of excessive soil moisture. For this reason, it is recommended to let the plant tell itself when it is appropriate to water the soil instead of successive waterings. For example, when the golden pothos looks wilted, it definitely needs watering, but you should not wait until the leaves dry and the leaves fall off. On the other hand, the dry and brown edges of the leaves are a sign that the plant has been dry for a long time.
In this way, to care for golden pothos, watering is considered to be of great significance.
Intending to care for golden pothos, the other crucial matter is soil. It can be clearly said that golden pothos can grow well in normal potting soil with ideal drainage. In general, golden pothos are not sensitive to soil as long as the soil is loamy, moist and has good drainage.
Standard potting soil works well for these easy-care plants. If you like, you can mix one part potting soil, one part perlite, and one part orchid bark to create an organic potting mix that your golden pothos will love.
Thus, it can be said that, soil is another basic and important issue so as to care for golden pothos.
Golden Pothos Temperature Tolerance
Now, we come to temperature which is assumed to be principal to care for golden pothos in addition to light, watering and soil that are mentioned above.
Regarding the temperature required for maintaining Golden Petos, it can be said that you must keep your plant at a temperature higher than 10 degrees Celsius. The best temperature range for golden pothos will be between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius, which you should not ignore.
Moisture is another thing which we need to inevitably pay attention to when talking about how to care for golden pothos.
This plant prefers the balanced humidity of the house in the summer season. If the humidity in your house is low in winter, you should spray water on its leaves every other day. Providing additional moisture (with a humidifier or pebble tray) encourages golden pothos to grow more vigorously.
Therefore, please do not forget to take humidity into consideration in order to care for golden pothos in the best way.
When you want to care for golden pothos, one of the important questions that may come to your mind is “what is the best fertilizer?” In what follows, we will address how to fertilize this plant:
Golden pothos does not need much fertilizer, but since there are no nutrients in most potting soil, you can use any type of balanced houseplant fertilizer you have available every month or every two months.
As a result, we could say that fertilizer is regarded as one of the fundamental issues when someone wants to care for golden pothos.
In order to care for golden pothos, toxicity is considered to be a major issue because it directly relates to your health especially children and pets.
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals considers golden pothos toxic to cats and dogs. Every part of this plant is poisonous to pets as well as humans. Avoid growing this plant in your home if you have pets or small children. Rarely fatal, eating golden pothos can cause vomiting and irritation in pets and children because it contains calcium oxalates.
In general, when growing golden pothos, when the roots of your plant grow enough, you can transfer it to a bigger pot. Also, to make sure whether the plant needs a bigger pot or not, you should take a look at the sides of the soil surface and the bottom pores of the pot. Usually, the enlarged roots protrude from the bottom holes of the pot and the edges of the soil surface, and in this case, your plant will need a bigger pot.
- To repot golden pothos, you should prepare a pot one degree bigger than the previous one.
- Then water your plant, turn it upside down and hit the bottom of the pot so that the plant comes out of the pot with its roots and soil around it.
- Now you have to remove some of the poor quality soil and weak roots and add some soil to the new pot and carry out the transfer process.
- At the end, fill the area around your plant with good quality soil, water it and place it in a suitable place.
When you want to care for golden pothos, another important question that may come to your mind is “how to propagate it.”
It is better to know that the propagation of golden pothos will be very easy and successful. Like other types of pothos, golden pothos is easily propagated by stem cuttings. and in the following we will try to explain the stages of golden pothos propagation through stem cuttings:
For golden pothos cuttings, it is better to plant the cuttings from the beginning in a potted space where it will grow enough in the future. Although the best time to take cuttings is in the spring, you can do this at any time in the apartment.
It is recommended to feed the cuttings with liquid fertilizer after rooting. To do golden pothos cuttings, first, you have to cut off a cutting at the end of the stem with a length of 8 to 10 cm using a sharp knife and then dip the end of the cutting into rooting hormone powder. Then plant every 3 to 5 cuttings in a pot with an opening diameter of 9 cm containing seed and cutting compost.
After planting, it is better to moisten the surface of the soil and place the pot containing the cuttings in a space with proper light and a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. You can cover the pot with transparent plastic in order to maintain humidity. The rooting of the plant will be done after a month.
Although golden pothos is a very resistant plant against various diseases and pests, sometimes you may see mealybugs on its leaves. If this pest has attacked your plant, you can dip the golden pothos leaves in some alcohol. It is also necessary to look closely at the leaves and stems of golden pothos every week so that you can immediately notice any disease or pest and prevent it from spreading.
Caring for Golden Pothos: Common Problems With Golden Pothos
After a description of taking care of a golden pothos, we will explain the problems and their solutions:
Why Are Golden Pothos Leaves Turning Yellow?
As “golden pothos leaves turning yellow” is one of the common problems that you may face when you want to care for golden pothos, we tried to describe the reasons and the ways to solve it in details.
The main reason for this problem is overwatering or underwatering. One of the main reasons for golden pothos leaves turning yellow can be fungal contamination, root rot, or bacterial contamination of the leaves, which of course is in a spot form.
One of the main causes of golden pothos root rot is water remaining in the soil for a long time. The solution to this problem is proper drainage (of course, not too much drainage) for the soil, which causes excess water to drain into the soil. Among the signs of plant root rot, in addition to golden pothos leaves turning yellow, we can mention the blackness and softening of the root and its unpleasant smell.
Of course, golden pothos leaves turning yellow due to lack of light should not be confused with yellowing due to root rot. Pay close attention to fungal contamination. Because it will spread quickly in the plant and cause the plant to die quickly. In case of golden pothos leaves turn yellow, remove the yellow leaves from the plant and disinfect the main stem and sub-stems of the plant with a small amount of alcohol.
Be sure to be very careful to stop the fungal infection quickly because if it reaches the root of the plant, it will almost be over and the possibility of saving the plant will be zero.
High-temperature fluctuations (sudden warming and cooling of the temperature) cause a severe thermal shock to the plant and cause damage to golden pothos. So, make sure that the golden pothos storage environment has a suitable temperature and does not suffer from severe fluctuations. It is better not to place golden pothos near doors and windows that open and close a lot. The best place for this plant is the corners of the room and near the wall.
If golden pothos suffers from water shortage, it will burn some of its leaves to prevent the loss of water and moisture, so that the number of leaves will decrease and the plant will not suffer from water shortage shock. The roots of the plant should be white, which is a sign that the root is healthy. If the roots of the plant are brown and black, it is a sign of root rot. If you see that the root of the plant is too dense in the pot, you should change the pot and replace it with a bigger pot. Make sure to remove the leaves that have turned too yellow from the plant.
The main reason for this problem is excessive drying of the plant as a result of losing its moisture.
The lack of green color of the golden pothos leaves
The main reason for this problem is the lack of suitable light for the plant, and the golden pothos should be moved to a place with more light.
The pale color of golden pothos leaves
The reason for this problem is exactly the opposite of the above problem. In this case, the plant is exposed to too much light and should be moved to a place with less and milder light.
Creating white sores on the plant
The cause of this problem is the pest infestation of the plant, and to solve it, you must use the appropriate amount of pesticides, of course, according to the instructions on the box.
Brown spots on the leaves
Underwatering or over-dry conditions can cause brown tips on golden pothos leaves. Try to increase the frequency of watering your plant and avoid placing your golden pothos near vents or windows.
Wrinkles on the leaves
The main reason for this problem is the proximity of golden pothos with excessively cold weather. Too much cold will cause the leaves to shrivel. As a result, immediately move the plant to a warmer place, and of course, be very careful that the said place is not too hot, because a sudden temperature fluctuation will cause thermal shock and damage to the plant.
In this article, we tried to explain to you in an infographic the essential tips in the care of golden pothos, so that you can briefly and usefully learn the methods of caring for this plant.
In this article, we tried to provide you with the necessary information about the methods of caring for a golden pothos.
However, if you have any questions regarding this indoor plant or you need to get advice from our houseplant experts, please share your questions with us through the comments section below.