How fast does a pothos grow?
Among houseplants, pothos is one of the few you can actually watch grow: in a good season the vines trail down the shelf in plain sight. But its speed depends almost entirely on light, and winter is for resting.
Yes: pothos (devil’s ivy) is one of the fastest-growing houseplants, as long as it gets plenty of bright, indirect light. It grows mostly in spring and summer; in winter it slows right down, and that is normal. In low light it survives, but grows slowly and makes long, bare vines.
How fast does a pothos really grow?
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) is a tropical climber that, in the wild, scrambles up tree trunks. The University of Florida rates its growth as fast; NC State Extension calls it medium. Both are mostly describing the plant outdoors, and the disagreement makes the key point well: the pace depends on conditions, not on a fixed figure.
Indoors, in a bright room, a pothos usually keeps adding new leaves at the tip of each vine throughout the warm months. There is no reliable “inches per month” number, so be wary of anyone who promises one: light, warmth and the age of the plant change everything.
Why does pothos almost stop in winter?
With short, cooler days the plant has less energy to spend and enters a period of little growth. Between late autumn and early spring, a pothos that isn’t doing much is not ill. Because it drinks less, the compost takes longer to dry, and the biggest risk of the season is watering as if it were July. We explain why in why houseplants slow down in November.
Light sets the speed
Pothos has a reputation for tolerating shade, and it does, but tolerating is not growing. In low light:
- The vines stretch. They get long, with the leaves further and further apart, as if the plant were searching for the window.
- New leaves come out smaller.
- Variegated types lose their pattern. University of Wisconsin and NC State extension services both list low light as a reason the pale markings fade.
Strong direct sun doesn’t help either: it scorches and bleaches the leaves. The sweet spot is plenty of indirect light, near a window but out of the midday rays. If your home is dark, see the best plants for low-light flats.
Light changes thirst too. The same pothos, in the same pot, in four corners of the house:
| Where it lives | In July | In January |
|---|---|---|
| South- or west-facing window | 4 days | 7 days |
| East-facing window | 4 days | 7 days |
| North-facing window | 7 days | 12 days |
| Hallway or corner with no window | 10 days | 17 days |
How do you make a pothos fuller?
- Give it more indirect light. This makes the biggest difference.
- Trim the long tips. Cutting just above a node (where a leaf joins the stem) usually triggers new side shoots, so the plant fills out instead of having a few long strands. The tips you cut will root in water: see how to propagate pothos in water.
- Feed only in the growing season. A liquid houseplant fertiliser in spring and summer, at the dose on the label. Nothing in winter: the plant can’t use it, and too much fertiliser burns the leaf tips.
- Water to the right rhythm. Constantly soggy compost damages the roots, and without roots there are no new leaves. Your finger in the soil decides: see how often to water a pothos.
What if my pothos isn’t growing at all, even in summer?
Check the light first: it is almost always the light. Then the roots: if the compost stays wet for days or smells musty, the problem is underground. Finally the pot: roots poking out of the drainage hole ask for a slightly bigger pot, in spring. All the care basics are in how to care for a pothos.
Summary: how pothos grows
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is it fast? | Yes, with good indirect light |
| When does it grow most? | Spring and summer |
| And in winter? | Little or not at all: that’s normal |
| Long, bare vines? | Not enough light: move it closer to the window and trim the tips |
| Does more fertiliser speed it up? | No: normal dose, warm months only |
Quick questions
Does pothos grow faster in water or in soil? Cuttings root well in water, but for real growth over years a pothos needs compost and nutrients.
Why are the new leaves smaller? Almost always too little light. Move it somewhere brighter, away from strong direct sun.
Can I cut back a very long pothos? Yes, ideally in spring or summer. Cut above a node and use the tips as cuttings.
Keeping up with its rhythm
A growing pothos is one with the right light and water for where it lives. Verdejar takes the light, the pot, the season and what the plant tells you into account to work out when to water. The numbers for each spot in the house are also on the pothos page.
Sources: Royal Horticultural Society · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · Missouri Botanical Garden · UF/IFAS Extension · Clemson Home & Garden Information Center · Penn State Extension · University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension · South Dakota State University Extension · NC State Extension · University of Maryland Extension. The days between waterings come from the Verdejar watering engine.