Golden Pothos

The classic. Green leaves splashed with gold, tough as nails, and the plant I hand to somebody who swears they kill everything. It trails, it climbs, it forgives. (Epipremnum aureum 'Golden')

Light

Almost anything except a dark cave and harsh all day sun. The gold shows best in bright indirect light. In low light it lives, but new leaves come in plainer green.

Water

Let it dry down a couple of inches, then water well. It would rather be a touch dry than sit wet.

Food

I use a balanced liquid feed, like a 20-20-20, at half strength. I feed once a month in spring and summer. In winter I feed every 8 weeks at quarter strength at most, or I stop if it is in low light and barely growing.

Soil

My mix is 2 parts peat or coir, 1 part bark, 1 part perlite, plus a handful of charcoal and a handful of worm castings. I go chunkier if it is going on a pole. Do not leave it forever in the dense soil it came in. That mix is fine for a greenhouse, but at home it compacts and holds too much water.

Growing in Water

Yes, this is the classic water pothos and it lives in plain water for years. I keep a node and the roots in water and the leaves out, I change the water every week, and I add a very weak feed once a month, because plain water has no food in it.

Don't

• Don't leave it sitting in a saucer of water. Forgiving is not the same as swamp proof. The roots still rot.
• Don't mistake a thirsty wilt for a dying plant. Water it, and it perks up by tomorrow.
• Don't bury a fresh cutting deep in soil and keep it soaked. Rooting in water first is the easy road with these.

Good to Know

Toxic to pets if chewed, so trail it up high. And if you give it a moss pole and good light, the leaves get bigger and the gold gets bolder as it climbs. A climbing pothos is a different looking plant than a trailing one.