The decision to propagate your pothos is a big one. You have to have enough patience to wait for the plantlets to root, which can take anywhere from a few days to months. If you’re not careful or diligent in caring for your cuttings before they start rooting, though, you might wind up with sprouts that never develop into full-fledged plants!
Pothos is a beautiful plant, but it needs some help getting its roots established properly.
Pothos is one of the most popular plants in the world, and for good reason. It’s easy to grow, it’s attractive and it has multiple uses around the house. But did you know that pothos can benefit from some extra attention when it comes to root development?
Here are some common reasons why your pothos didn’t root:
Your Cuttings Are Too Long
If you’re new to growing pothos, the best thing to do is start with a single stem (or “cutting”) from an already established plant. Yes, this means taking a cutting from your own pothos!
The ideal length for a cutting is between 4 and 8 inches long. Your cuttings should have at least two nodes (the point where the leaves sprout out) and should be about the thickness of a pencil or slightly thicker. Cuttings should also be about the length of your index finger—this is called pruning off “air shoots.” Air shoots are those little leafy things that come out of nowhere when you’ve been pruned too much or not enough.
You Didn’t Include a Node
It’s not uncommon for pothos plants to have a node or two on the stem (sometimes more than one). A node is where a leaf attaches to the main stem, so it’s where you want to cut when you’re rooting your plant. If your pothos has no visible nodes, try gently rubbing some dirt away from the area where leaves meet the stem, or use a sharp knife or pruning shears to gently scrape away any dirt until you see one or two small bulges at that location.
You’re Keeping Your Cuttings Too Dark
If you’re keeping your cuttings in a dark place, they will not root. The key is to keep them in indirect light and also at least a little shaded from direct sunlight. If you want to keep your cutting in the dark, then use artificial lighting such as grow lights.
You Made Cuttings from Old or Unhealthy Vines
Many people make the mistake of taking cuttings from old or diseased vines, which are likely to die. Others take them from vines that have been pruned back too severely, in an attempt to get more compact growth and increased branching. Both of these things can cause problems when rooting pothos cuttings, so if you’ve got one around your house (or if you’re about to go out and buy one), make sure it’s a healthy specimen before cutting anything off!
You’re Keeping Your Cuttings Too Cold
If you’re trying to root your pothos, you may be keeping it in a cold area. Pothos cuttings should be kept in a warm place, not the fridge or garage or basement. Even if you have an unheated room and the temperature drops to below 70 degrees Fahrenheit at night, that should be okay for rooting pothos cuttings.
You Tried to Let It Callous Over
Callusing is the process of a cut end healing over. It’s important for callusing to occur for rooting to take place, but if you don’t let it happen, your pothos will never root. You can speed up the process by putting your cutting in a warm and humid place for about an hour or so every day to help with callusing.
You’re Lacking Patience
You’re lacking patience.
You need to wait for the cuttings to callous over, which can take from one to three weeks, depending on the size of the cutting and your local conditions. If you don’t have time for that, then you should look into rooting pothos in water rather than soil. It’s also important to make sure your potting mix has enough water-retaining materials such as peat moss or vermiculite, so it doesn’t dry out too quickly after watering.
You’re Trying to Propagate in The Wrong Season
The best time to propagate pothos is in the spring or summer. This is when you’re likely to get the most success with rooting cuttings because many of them contain more energy than at other times of the year. You can also try propagating in late fall and winter, but your chances are lower because it’s harder for plants to grow and produce roots during this time of year.
Pothos has a lot of different varieties (some which look thinner than others), so it’s important that you know what kind you have before you start rooting your cutting. The type will determine how much sunlight it needs, as well as how long it takes for new growths to appear on top of existing ones (this will affect how often you should water).
You’re Not Changing the Water
This is the most common mistake, so it’s important to get this right. As your pothos cuttings root, they are ingesting the nutrients in their growing medium. You need to supply them with nutrients as well. This will help them grow faster and healthier, which gives you a better chance of success! The best way to do this is by using a fertilizer solution along with your regular water changes.
For example: If you change out all of your water every week (the general rule of thumb), then all you have to do is add either 1 tbs or ½ tsp per gallon of distilled water onto each cutting once per week (whichever comes first). Pour this over each new root growth so that the roots get dosed with it too!
You Used Soft Water
To learn why your plant is not rooting, you must first understand the conditions that allow for healthy rooting. The most important factor is water. If you are using soft water, this can hurt your plants by giving them a high concentration of dissolved salts. Salts will build up in the soil and cause root rot. To prevent this from happening, let the water sit out overnight before watering again as hard water usually contains fewer dissolved salts.
Tips To Help Pothos Root Properly
Pothos is one of the most popular plants around. It’s easy to grow, can be used in a variety of ways, and has an almost infinite number of varieties. And while it might be annoying to some people that pothos does not have flowers, it does have another very attractive feature: its roots. The healthiest pothos plants have healthy roots that can grow large enough to fill up a pot on their own. If you want your pothos plant to reach its full potential and look as good as possible, you should know how to root properly! Here are some tips for getting those roots growing strong:
Soak The Pothos Roots for About Half an Hour Prior To Planting.
If you want to expand your pothos roots before planting, soak them for about half an hour in warm water. You can do this by placing the plant in a bowl of room temperature or warm water and letting it sit there for 30 minutes or so. This helps the root system expand and grow faster once you plant it in soil.
Place The Pothos in Moistened Potting Soil or Sand.
To root your pothos, you’ll want to place the plant in moistened potting soil or sand. Soak the roots for about half an hour before planting them. If you don’t have any sand, use a pot with drainage holes and add a layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot.
Add some soil on top of where the stems meet and then fill in around those stems with soil as well. When it has filled up, water lightly so that there isn’t too much moisture in there that can cause root rot. If there’s too much moisture, remove any excess liquid from around leaves and pointy tips on vines (that’s where they’ll grow).
If possible, try not to touch cuttings for at least two weeks after rooting them because this can cause them to lose their leaves or die back prematurely; however if this happens just stick your finger into warm water before touching again so as not to damage delicate new growths!
Place The Pot in An Area That Receives Medium To High Levels Of Indirect Light.
Pothos plants prefer bright but indirect sunlight. They should be positioned near a window where they receive light from the sun, but not direct sunlight. A good rule of thumb is to place them in an area that receives medium to high levels of indirect light throughout the day.
The amount of natural light your plant will receive depends on several factors including the time and season, how much shade there is in your home and where you keep it in relation to windows or skylights. You can also supplement artificial lighting with lamps or lights for healthier growth if you don’t get enough natural sunlight in your house during parts of the day (for example, pothos plants love being near window-mounted indoor hydroponic grow systems).
Keep The Soil Moist by Watering It When the Surface Starts to Dry.
You should water pothos regularly, but not too much. The type of soil and pot you use can affect how often you need to water the plant. If your plant is in a clay pot with no drainage holes at all, then it will need more frequent watering than if it’s planted in plastic or terra cotta with a few holes for drainage.
The key here is to make sure the surface dries out between waterings. If this doesn’t happen, the roots will rot from being submerged in too much moisture for too long and eventually die off completely—a sad fate for such an easy-to-grow houseplant!
Here’s what we recommend: Water until some of the excess drains out through the bottom drainage hole (if there are any). Then wait until most of that drained water has evaporated before watering again—this usually takes 2 – 3 days depending on how hot/humid your home is at any given moment during those 2 – 3 days!
Avoid Placing the Pothos Near Vents and Doors, Which Can Cause Excess Cold Drafts.
When caring for a pothos plant, it’s important to consider the temperature of your home. Pothos can handle lower temperatures than other houseplants, but it’s still wise to avoid placing this plant near vents or doors that lead outside. These areas will likely experience cold drafts and winds, which are detrimental to the health of your pothos and can cause browning leaves and lower growth rates.
Conclusion
So, there you have it—the top five reasons why your pothos cuttings aren’t rooting. If you have any questions about what to do if your pothos isn’t rooting, or if it’s not thriving the way that it should be, please contact us at the email address below. We will be happy to help!