Read the article and know about how to propagate Pothos in water – the most cost-efficient method of establishing an indoor garden with the least hassle and minor investment.
Pothos is one of the easiest growing houseplants that don’t come with a great deal of fuss regarding fertilising, watering needs, or maintenance. Not only this, but this plant looks extremely stunning due to its golden-green shades and heart-shaped leaves which grab the attention of every passerby.
Most of all, you can grow and increase this houseplant without getting bankrupt, using the technique of propagation. Before moving ahead, let us brief you about the propagation technique.
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What is propagation
In this plant growing method, we tend to increase the number of plants from a single plant – produce new plants from an already-established plant. For this purpose, the vegetative parts of plants, like stems, leaves, roots, and rhizomes are cut down into pieces.
After this, the cuttings are then dug into the soil or water and let them develop roots and shoots. Eventually, these cuttings get transformed into a whole new plant within a couple of days or weeks – depending upon the plant type.
Thus, it won’t be wrong to say that increasing the number of your houseplants using the technique of propagation is the most convenient and most affordable one which also comes with the highest success rate. Even if you don’t have a Pothos plant in your house, you can get a stem or any other vegetative portion from your friends or family and grow this houseplant without spending even a buck.
Procedure for propagating Pothos in water
Collect the suppliesWhile propagating Pothos in water, all you need is water, sunlight, and a few essential nutrients. Thus, the very first step here is to collect the supplies. You don’t need to get distilled water or 99.9% pure water. Get the tap water and your plant will flourish, even there. Just make sure it’s not too contaminated with heavy metals, industrial or domestic pollutants, or cleaning agents like chlorine.
If you are unable to find water, fully free of chlorine, take the water in an open container and place it under direct sunlight for a day or two. By doing so, the chlorine will evaporate out of the water and you can use it for propagation purposes.
Get this water in a glass jar, glass vase, or mason jar. Otherwise, if you get a metallic vase, it would get prone to rusting and deteriorate everything. Similarly, if you induce propagation in a plastic pot or container, the toxins or raw materials of plastic might react with the system and affect the process negatively.
Lastly, get a light or medium duty fertiliser (preferably the liquid fertiliser) so it can act as a rich source of nutrients for your plants. Remember, always get the Pothos-specific fertilisers to discard any kind of undesirable consequences.
Also, some people come to us with a query about why we cannot use granular or powder fertiliser while propagation? The simplest answer is that the liquid fertilisers stay more ready to get absorbed by the plant cuttings and deliver the required nutrients rapidly.
Besides these basic elements, you’ll also need one other thing as well like pruners or scissors to trim the cuttings. However, before using a pruner, make sure to sterilise it or make it germ-free by dipping it in an alcohol solution or diluting bleach.
Now since you have collected all the essentials, the next step is to cut the Pothos vines to get your cuttings. To do so, search for a plant having the freshest and greenest leaves – not the drying or yellowing ones, and cut the stem in a way that the cutting comes out with two or more nodes.
If you don’t know then nodes are those greenish-brown bumps on the stem – the points from where new roots and shoots will emerge afterwards so make sure none of your cutting is without these nodes. After this, remove all the leaves present at the bottom sides of the cutting or around the nodes and keep the leaves on the upper side where they are.
If you won’t remove the leaves around the nodes, these leaves will decompose in water which, in turn, will make the entire cutting decay. The leaves, which you’ve left on the upper surface will stay out of the water so they won’t decompose.
To get better results, dip the cuttings in a rooting solution. This step is optional and if you don’t find a rooting solution, just skip to the next step of setting the cutting into a vase.
Once you’d get your cuttings, set them in a glass vase or glass jar, having clean water, in a way that the nodal parts of cutting stay properly submerged in water. Remember, your container should be wide enough so the air can circulate through it easily.
Within a few days, you’ll notice that some aerial shoots start to grow from the nodal points which, after some more days, will develop into proper shoots.
After setting the cuttings up, the next step is to wait for the roots to sprout out and maintain them so they can grow optimally. Keep your glass vase containing cutting over a north-facing window that doesn’t receive direct or too intense sunlight. If all the north-facing sunlight of your house gets intense sunlight, put the blinds over the windows to minimise its reach and impact.
Don’t wait for the water to start looking dull or dusty and keep changing it regularly, after every 6-7 days. Otherwise, the cuttings will start to suffocate in such low-in-oxygen water and won’t look as fresh as you want. The roots, usually, take one to two weeks to sprout out from the nodal point and when they grow to a length of one inch or more, the next step will be to put some drops of liquid fertiliser in the vase.
Remember, liquid fertilisers are way too potent and fast-acting than granular fertilisers so you should read the instructions over the fertiliser’s packaging thoroughly. Avoid both the conditions of under-fertilizing and over-fertilizing since under-fertilizing will retard the growth whereas the latter one will burn the cutting or stimulate the production of algal blooms.
If the algae starts to build up, even after your extreme care and precautions, remove the cuttings from the vase, scrap out the algae, wash the vase, fill it with fresh water, and set the cutting inside it again.
Once the roots of one inch emerge from your cutting, they will be ready to transfer into the soil. However, if you don’t find the roots very healthy, you better wait for a month but don’t wait for another single day, after one month, and transplant it immediately.
Remember, if more and more roots and shoots sprout and grow in an aqueous medium, your plant will be more used to this environment and will have to face difficulties adjusting to the soil medium.
Instead of transplanting the cuttings into garden beds, we’d suggest you transfer them first in a pot, containing a high-quality potting mix. Once planted into the soil, water the plants regularly and fertilise them after every month for your plants’ better growth and health.
Why is it better to propagate Pothos in water than in soil?
As mentioned before, the propagation can be done in both soil and water. However, when propagating Pothos plants in water, it discards the need of applying costly fertilisers, moisture monitoring, maintaining proper drainage, or ensuring proper air passage.
Also, when you propagate Pothos in soil, it does so at a drastic rate, and eventually, the resulting plant grows wildly very quickly and starts seeming way too absurd if you don’t make time regularly to maintain it. On the other hand, when the same thing is done in water, the plant doesn’t grow at an exponential rate and you can enjoy full control over your vegetation, even if you cannot manage to give it much attention or love.
Can we transfer Pothos cuttings from soil to water?
Yes, just as we transplant the Pothos cuttings from water to soil, we can also transfer the Pothos from soil to water to make them grow there. You might be surprised to know but the Pothos are capable of growing in an aqueous medium for years, with the same growth rate and lifecycle that you observed in soil.
However, when you transfer the cutting from soil to water, you might have to wait for relatively more time to see visible growth in the new environment. At first, you might observe that leaves, present at the cutting, start to wilt but once the plant adjusts to the new environment, it will start to get back on track.
Also, make sure the cuttings don’t contain soil or soil particles, before transplanting them into water. Otherwise, the soil remnants might lead to mould and fungal infestation. Thus, rinse the soil thoroughly from the cutting to prevent such consequences.