Pothos vegetation are a starting gardener’s finest buddy

I’m on the lookout for a advice of an easy-to-grow houseplant to start out out with at house. Hope to have success with my first foray into rising houseplants.

— Leticia Brooks, Evanston

Pothos are tropical vining vegetation which might be simple to look after, so will make an amazing alternative for you. There are totally different cultivars of pothos, which will provide you with a wide range of foliage colours and patterns to select from, however all lack flowers, so that you develop them for foliage. Pothos are additionally available to buy. They tolerate a variety of inside environments and carry out properly in shiny, oblique mild in addition to decrease mild situations, providing you with loads of flexibility in the place you possibly can develop them at house. If you buy a closely variegated cultivar, it might not develop as properly in low mild or could lose its variegation if the sunshine is simply too low — particularly if the variegation is white. Solely the inexperienced components of the leaves could make vitality for the plant, so it should be capable of get sufficient mild for vitality or its development will sluggish or the leaves will compensate for the shortage of sunshine by growing the quantity of inexperienced within the leaves. As a further profit, pothos vegetation assist enhance indoor air high quality. They don’t do properly in direct daylight although. Pothos vegetation are toxic and might trigger irritation and vomiting if eaten, as they comprise calcium oxalates. The sap from the plant’s leaves and stems could trigger extremely delicate individuals to interrupt out in a rash.

Pothos vines don’t cling to trellises and helps on their very own, however they might be educated onto helps to present the looks of twining. In case you are rising them in a pot, prune them as needed to regulate their development. Pothos work properly in hanging baskets, vegetation stands and bookshelves. Use any rising medium formulated for containers or houseplants when you’ll want to repot your pothos. Pothos vegetation tolerate average intervals of dry situations, so let the rising medium dry out earlier than watering once more. Plan to water extra usually when the vegetation are in brighter mild and fewer usually in decrease mild situations. Leaves that begin to yellow and black stems each point out overwatering, whereas wilting alerts underwatering. It’s possible you’ll fertilize your pothos plant as soon as each one to a few months for quicker development, however most gardeners get adequate plant development with little or no fertilizer.

For extra plant recommendation, contact the Plant Data Service on the Chicago Botanic Backyard at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture on the Chicago Botanic Backyard.