How to Propagate Pothos from Cuttings in Water or Soil
Step by step instructions for propagating pothos from cuttings in water or straight into soil, plus when to pot rooted cuttings up.
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Pothos is one of the easiest houseplants to propagate, and the good news is you barely need any equipment. If you want to know how to plant pothos cuttings successfully, the key is in two things: cutting at the right spot, and not rushing the cutting into its final home. Get those right and a single trailing vine can become several new plants.
Why the node is the only part that matters
Look closely at a pothos vine and you will see small bumps where each leaf meets the stem. These are nodes, and they are where new roots emerge. A cutting without a node will never root, no matter how long you wait, because the leaf and stem alone have no growth point.
Choose a healthy section of vine and cut so that each piece has at least one node, ideally two. A short cutting with one node and one leaf will root fine. Longer cuttings with three or four nodes also work, and tend to fill out into a fuller plant faster. Cut about a centimetre below the lowest node with clean scissors or secateurs, then remove any leaf that would otherwise sit underwater or buried in soil. A submerged leaf rots and fouls the water.
Rooting pothos cuttings in water
Water is the most popular method because you can watch the whole process. Place your cuttings in a glass or jar so the nodes are submerged and the leaves stay above the surface. Keep it somewhere bright but out of direct sun, which can overheat a small volume of water.
Change the water every three to five days, or whenever it looks cloudy. Fresh water carries more oxygen, and oxygen at the node is what drives rooting. You should see white root nubs within one to two weeks, and a usable root system in three to six weeks.
The honest catch is that water roots are not the same as soil roots. They are thinner and more brittle, built for life in water rather than soil. The longer a cutting stays in water, the harder its eventual move becomes.
Move a water-rooted cutting into soil when its roots are about five centimetres long, not when they are as long as they will go.
Rooting pothos cuttings straight in soil
You can also skip the glass entirely and plant cuttings directly into moist potting mix. Push the nodes just below the surface, firm the soil gently, and keep it lightly damp but never soggy. A free-draining houseplant mix gives the new roots air as well as moisture.
The drawback is that you cannot see what is happening. You simply wait, keep the soil damp, and after three or four weeks give a cutting a very gentle tug. Slight resistance means roots have formed.
The payoff is a cutting that never has to adjust. Roots grown in soil are already adapted to soil, so there is no transplant shock later. If you are propagating several cuttings and want the least fuss, soil-started is the more reliable route, even though water is more satisfying to watch.
Timing the move to a permanent pot
For water-rooted cuttings, the move is the moment most propagation attempts stumble. Pot up once roots reach roughly five centimetres. Wait much longer and the cutting becomes dependent on water, then sulks, drops leaves, or stalls for weeks when finally potted.
Plant several rooted cuttings together in one small pot rather than spacing them out. Pothos looks sparse as a single vine and full as a cluster. Water it in, keep the soil slightly moister than usual for the first fortnight while the roots adapt, then settle into a normal pothos watering routine. Hold off on fertiliser for a month or two, since fresh mix already carries enough nutrients.
This article is about making new plants. If you would rather keep a cutting in water indefinitely as a display in its own right, that is a different approach covered in how to grow pothos in water permanently.
The mistake that stalls a pothos cutting
If you take one thing forward, let it be the five centimetre mark: a water-rooted cutting potted at that point settles in quickly, while one left to trail long white roots across the jar tends to sulk for weeks after the move. Once you spot the first root nubs, check every few days and pot up the moment the roots reach length, rather than holding out for a fuller-looking tangle. Cuttings root fastest in spring and summer, so if you are starting one off in the depths of winter, give it a warm spot and a little extra patience.
Where to go next
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