Marble Queen Pothos

About

The marble queen pothos, Epipremnum aureum “Marble Queen,” a member of the Araceae family, was originally found growing on French Polynesia islands; today it is native to tropical and subtropical forests throughout the world. As a houseplant, the easy to care for marble queen pothos, also called Devil’s Ivy,” grows well in many different locations throughout your home. Its long, cascading, draping vines look beautiful decorating a table, hanging gracefully in a basket, or set in wall planter.  A marble queen pothos can also be trained to climb a bark or peat moss pole.

Marble Queen Pothos Description

As an outdoor plant, the vines on a marble queen pothos can grow 50ft – 60ft ( 15m-18m) long, using aerial roots and thick stems to cling to trees and other surfaces. The leaves can be as large as 35” (90cm) long and 16”-18” (40.6cm – 45.7cm) wide.  As a houseplant, a marble queen pothos is a much smaller plant with thick, waxy, green, and white, heart – shaped leaves that are usually 4”- 6” (10cm- 15cm) long and 2”- 3” (5cm -7.6cm) wide. The long vines, if left untrimmed, grow 6ft (1.8m) or more in length.

Quick Care Tips for a Marble Queen Pothos

Minimum winter temperature 50°- 55°F (10°-12°C) or leaves may be damaged.

In low light, the attractive white pattern in the leaves turns green.

Black or yellow patches on leaves indicate over watering.

Entire leaves turn bright yellow when the soil gets too dry and then you water.

Easy to propagate using stem tip cuttings.

Aggressively prune the ends of long vines to keep plant full and bushy.

Pothos Plant Varieties

Jade pothos has solid green, leathery, heart shaped leaves.

Golden pothos has green and yellow, leathery, heart shaped leaves.

Neon pothos has bright chartreuse, heart shaped leaves that get darker as the plant matures.

Pearls and Jade pothos (a marble queen variant) grows more slowly, has smaller leaves, and the white highlights are along the edges of the leaves.

N’Joy pothos resembles the Pearls & Jade variety; the small, green leaves have a cream and yellow design.

Snow Queen pothos has more white in its leaves than a Marble Queen pothos.

Glacier pothos has smaller, more rounded, white and green marbled leaves.

    Solid green pothos plant    Pothos plant with green and yellow leathery, heart-shaped, shiny leaves. 

Neon Pothos                    Pearls & Jade                  Jade Pothos                   Golden Pothos               Snow Queen

Conclusion

A Marble Queen Pothos is a popular, hardy, fast growing, attractive plant that is perfect for someone just starting to care for houseplants. Although it is a “clean air plant” that removes harmful chemicals from the air, a Marble Queen pothos is also a poisonous plant and should be kept away from pets and small children. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me to Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants .

Plant Care

Light

A marble queen pothos survives in low light but looks better and grows faster in medium to bright indirect light. When the light is too low, the white swirls on the leaves revert to green on the new growth.

Water

Marble queen pothos like their soil to be kept on the dry side. During the spring and summer, water well and then allow the top 50% of the soil to dry out before watering again. During the fall and winter, let the soil get almost totally dry before watering. If in doubt, wait for the leaves to become soft and droop a little before you water. Black leaves indicate over watering while bright yellow leaves mean the plant has gotten a bit too dry before you watered.

Fertilizer

Feed every other month with a plant food high in nitrogen diluted to 1/2 the recommended strength.

Temperature

The best temperature is between 65°F-85°F (18.3°C-29.4°C) The leaves may be damaged if the temperature drops below 55°F ( 12.8°C).

Humidity

Marble Queen pothos grow well in basic household humidity.

Pests

All pothos plants are relatively pest free. Thrips and mealy bugs may be a problem and can be treated with the “Green solution” (recipe in the Glossary the website).

Diseases

Bacterial leaf spot disease causes dark spots with yellow halos. Keeping the leaves dry helps prevent bacterial diseases. Root rot and stem rot fungal diseases cause stems and roots to become mushy and die. These problems need to be treated with a commercial fungicide and correcting how you are watering the plant.

Soil

Use a well-aerated, quick-draining potting soil; if the soil is heavy and doesn’t drain well, add a little sand to the mix.

Pot Size

A marble queen pothos likes to be root-bound in a small pot. When the roots have filled the existing pot, move to the NEXT size pot and nothing larger.

Pruning

Aggressively trim the long vines every few months to keep your plant full and bushy. You can use the stem tip clippings to easily start new plants.

Propagation

Stem Cuttings are a very simple way to propagate a marble queen pothos and all other pothos varieties.

Clean Air Plant

All varieties of pothos plants clean the air of harmful chemicals.

Poisonous Plant Info

A marble queen pothos is very poisonous with a #2 toxicity level. Pets that eat stems or leaves of the plant may exhibit vomiting, pawing at the mouth, lack of appetite, and drooling.

FAQ

Why Are the New Leaves on My Originally Green and White Marble Queen Pothos Coming in a Solid Green?

Your marble queen pothos is not getting enough light to maintain the white variation in its leaves. Move your plant to a brighter location and the new leaves should be white and green again.

I Have My Marble Queen Pothos in My Sunroom. It Did Great All Year Until About December and Then the Leaves Started to Develop Brown Patches and the New Growth Never Opens. Could You Tell Me Why This Is Happening?

The temperature in your sunroom may be getting too cold for a marble queen pothos especially at night. Cut off the damaged leaves and move your plant to a warmer location.

Why Are Entire Vines on My Marble Queen Pothos Getting Mushy at the Base of the Stem and Dying?

Sounds like you are over watering your marble queen pothos and the stems and perhaps the roots are rotting. Cut off all of the dead or dying stems and do not water again until the soil has totally dried out.

Trying to Figure Out Why My Marble Queen Pothos Is Getting Yellow Leaves. I Let It Dry Out Until the Leaves Are Drooping and Then Water Well. It Perks Nicely, but It Still Gets Several Bright Yellow Leaves.

Yellow leaves occur on a pothos plant when you allow the soil to dry out too much before you water. The plant can droop a little, but be sure to water it well before it has drooped too much.