Golden Pothos (Epipremnum Aureum)

Let me start off  by saying this is one of my favorite vine plants! Please don't tell my other green babies I said that (lol). Seriously this plant is the ultimate beginner plant and I'm going to tell you why. Epipremnum Aureum have many different common names such as golden pothos, hunter's rope, ivy arum, money plant, silver vine, taro vine, Solomon Islands ivy, and my personally least favorite name devil's ivy. Whatever you want to call this plant it's an amazing plant and a very nice indoor plant especially for those who feel like they don't have a green thumb. The golden pothos is known for it's long trailing stems that can get very long if you let it. This plant have beautiful glossy heart-shaped leaves and some are variegated with yellow or white. I personally have the golden and the marble queen pothos plants. I said that to say even though this plant is consider a low light plant if it don't get enough light the leaves will lose that variegation and the leaves will grow smaller. Of course this also means if you keep this plant in low light it will also grow slower so be very mindful of that. Like I do most of my plants I let both my marble and golden pothos get some direct sunlight but I also so this in moderation. The last thing you want to do is keep your pothos in direct sunlight all the time you may risk your pothos plant getting sunburn! If you don't have enough natural sunlight coming in this plant will still do well under fluorescent lights. Golden Pothos will look great just about anywhere one of my favorite looks is when this plant is in a hanging basket. However some people like to train this plant to climb up a moss stick or some type of treliss. Because of it's aerial roots this plant will easy attached to whatever you want to train it to climb. Some like this plant to trail for days but some will control the growth by simply cutting the vines back to keep the plant looking fuller and less leggy. I'm proud to say this is another plant that made the list of top plants to clean the air. It's known for removing formaldehyde that's commonly found in carpets and other materials in our homes. So who wouldn't want a beautiful, inexpensive, low-maintenance, air cleaning plant like this in their home? Oh one thing I really want to mention before I continue is a lot of people mistake the pothos plant as a philodendron. All though they look very similar these plants are not the same and many times the stores will mislabel these plants. A difference I found between these plants are the leaves the pothos have a slightly thicker leaf and is more drought tolerant then the philodendron I just wanted to point that out. Anyway... I always use a well draining soil and a pot with drainage holes with all of my green babies. You also want to let the soil dry out a little between waterings because the pothos can't take soggy soil. A sure sign that you're overwatering this plant is yellow leaves so please be very careful not to overwater. Also if you keep this plant in a lower light setting you will want to water it less because it's not getting as much light which means the soil will stay wet longer. I do this to all of my plants and I highly recommend that you don't water on a tight schedule instead do the stick or finger test. Take a light colored stick push it down about 2-3 inches in the soil. If it's moist check again in a few days of course if it's on the dryer side water it until the water comes out of the drainage holes. So far as feeding I always use miracle gro foam or liquid plant food every 2-4 weeks on this plant. I always get soil that have slow release fertilizer in it so I try not to do to much so far as that go.  Now let's talk about something annoying to us growers inside and out pest problems! The one thing I hate is pest on plants and sadly this plant is susceptible to some house plant pest. Now I am glad to say I've never had a problem with any of these pest and I'll tell you why in a minute. Some pest that may attack this plant however are mealybugs, spider mites, and scale insects. If you have any of these pest attacking your plant you can use alcohol on a cotton swab, an insecticidal soap, or removing them by hand. Now I mentioned before that I haven't had this problem with any pest on my plants because I simply give my plants a "shower" and keep their foliage clean. This really help the plant breathe as it cleans the air but it also helps to keep those nasty pest away from your plant. Another measure you can take is take a spray bottle filling it up with water and putting a couple of drops of dawn (the very basic one that only cause about 97 cents at Wal-Mart) in the water shaking it up and spray your plant. Let this sit on the plant for about a 1-2 hours and rinse off and wipe the foliage off. Now lets talk about propagation the golden pothos is so easy to propagate. Just take any steam you feel like cutting and make sure you cut under a "nod" this will look like a little bump on the plant. You can take that cutting and stick it in slightly moist soil OR stick it in a cup of water. Within 3 weeks or so you should see some roots popping up once that happens you have the option to leave it in water (if that's how you rooted it) or stick it in a pot with good draining soil. Before you know it you will have a brand new plant in no time! Another tip I always like to give is never over pot your plant especially the pothos plant. They have a shallow root system so if you over pot this plant you risk root rot setting in. The soil will stay wet for a long period of time which is not a good thing for this plant so only go up the next size when it's time to repot. It's always recommended to repot late winter early spring but I repotted mine in the summer and haven't had a problem thus far. It's also good for your plant if you pop it out of it's container and check on the root system every now and again. Another thing I want to mention is the humidity this plant can take average household humidity but I still mist mines and or put it on a tray with wet pebbles. You can also group your house plants together (assuming you have enough) to create more humidity for your plants. As always if you have any more questions about this plant feel free to leave a comment on this post or you can contact me on my Google+ page and remember to always do your part to keep this world green.