Golden Pothos

Golden Pothos |

Epipremnum aureum

Golden Pothos, Epipremnum aureum, is a tropical aroid native to the South Pacific and recognized by its heart-shaped green leaves splashed and streaked with yellow to golden variegation. It is often grown as a small trailing houseplant, but that juvenile form doesn’t show what this plant is actually capable of becoming. Golden Pothos is a powerful tropical climber, and mature plants can look dramatically different from the pothos we commonly see growing in nursery pots.

Golden Pothos naturally climbs using aerial roots that attach to trees and other surfaces. Indoors, you can let it trail, but giving it a pole, plank or other vertical support allows it to grow more like it naturally would. With adequate light and support, successive leaves can become significantly larger and eventually develop splits and fenestrations. A trailing plant can remain attractive and healthy, but its foliage generally stays much smaller and more juvenile than foliage on an established climbing plant.

For natural light, start Golden Pothos approximately 1–3 feet from an east-facing window or 2–4 feet from a west-facing window. Golden Pothos prefers approximately 500–1,000 foot-candles at the leaves. Foot-candles simply tell you how much light is actually reaching your plant. Golden Pothos can survive in considerably lower light, which is part of its reputation as an easy houseplant, but surviving and actively growing are not the same thing. Useful light supports stronger growth, closer spacing between leaves, larger foliage and better expression of its golden variegation. Window direction and distance are starting points because season, trees, overhangs, screens, glass and window size all change the amount of light reaching the plant.

Under grow lights, choose a 5000–6500K fixture and aim for the same approximately 500–1,000 foot-candles at the foliage. Kelvin tells you the color of the light, not its strength. Foot-candles tell you how much light is actually reaching the plant. There is no universal number of inches between Golden Pothos and a grow light because fixtures vary tremendously in output and coverage. Measure at the leaves, and remember that a long vine or climbing plant may receive very different amounts of light at different points along its growth.

Water when your plant needs watered. Golden Pothos can tolerate some dryback between waterings, but repeatedly taking the plant to an extreme wilt isn’t necessary. Let the root zone use a good portion of its available moisture before watering thoroughly again. How quickly that happens depends heavily on light, temperature, plant size, root development and the amount of foliage the plant is supporting. An airy, well-draining mix allows you to water thoroughly while still maintaining oxygen around the roots.

Read the vine as it grows. Increasingly long spaces between leaves, smaller new foliage or vines stretching strongly toward a light source are reasons to check how much useful light the plant is receiving. If you’re trying to mature a climbing Golden Pothos, pay particular attention to the size of each new leaf and whether the aerial roots are beginning to attach to the support. Loss of some golden patterning can also be a reason to evaluate light, although the amount of variegation naturally varies from leaf to leaf.

Success looks different depending on how you choose to grow it. A trailing Golden Pothos should produce steady vines with firm, well-spaced leaves and active branching. A climbing plant should begin attaching to its support and producing progressively larger foliage as it matures. Given enough time, support and useful light, Golden Pothos can transform from the familiar small-leaved hanging plant into a substantial tropical climber with dramatically larger, mature leaves.