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How to Root Pothos Cuttings

Published on June 11, 2025 โ™› By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
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This simple tutorial shows how to take cuttings from your pothos houseplant (Epipremnum aureum) and root them for new plants.

There are also practical tips for How to Grow African Violets From Cuttings.

Pothos vine with scalpel for propagating cuttings.

How to Take a Stem Cutting / Stem-Tip Cutting

Rooting pothos cuttings in small jars of water.

Pothos is an iconic houseplant and itโ€™s enjoying a revival these days.

Grow them as trailing vines or add stick-on hooks to your wall and let them work their way all around the room.

Pothos | Species: Epipremnum aureum
Common Names: pothos, devilโ€™s ivy, money plant, golden pothos
Hardiness Zone: 11 (tropical) | Best temperature range: 60-85 ยบF (15-29 ยบC)
Light: Tolerates fairly low light, prefers medium light a few feet from a window. Variegated leaves lose yellow tones if light is too low.
Water: Even moisture. These guys sulk if the soil dries out (wilting, yellow leaves, brown patches).
Maintenance: For a bushier plant, cut some stems back to soil level to encourage additional shoots.
Or let those vines grow on and on. They can reach 30 feet in length!
Propagation: Stem cuttings (instructions below)โ€”sometimes also called โ€˜stem tip cuttingsโ€™โ€”can be rooted in water or potting medium.


Contents

  • Supplies
  • Step-by-Step Instructions
  • More Houseplants to Grow From Stem Cuttings

Supplies

Pothos vine growing on wicker basket.
Pothos plant grown from root cuttings

This is the same method used to take softwood cuttings from outdoor garden plants.

Some links show the products on Amazon.

  • Scalpel or sharp, fine knife/snippers cleaned with rubbing alcohol or bleach solution (4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water for at least one minute).
  • Jars of warm water for rooting in water. I love these glass bulb rooting stands.
    or
  • Small flowerpots with houseplant potting mix (for rooting and/or growing).
    Rooting medium: perlite, vermiculite, or a general houseplant potting medium.
    Growing medium: general houseplant potting medium.
  • Dibber or thick pencil/sharpie to make hole in potting mix.
  • Pothos plant with long stems (over 12-inches long).

Should I use rooting hormone?

Rooting hormone is recommended for propagating plant cuttings when the plant is slow-growing like hardwood cuttings.

It is not necessary with tender or fast-growing cuttings like pothos plant.

This explains how and when to use rooting hormone.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Trailing pothos vine.
Long pothos stem ready for more cuttings

1Get Supplies Ready

Pothos plant, clean scalpel, jars of water or flowerpots with growing medium. See all the supplies here.

2Take Your Cuttings

Scalpel with pothos cutting.
Pothos stem cutting ready for rooting
  • Choose a healthy, main stem.
  • From the tip/end of the stem, count back at least 3 leaves.
  • Approximately ยฝ to one-inch below the third leaf, cut stem at 45-degree angle.
  • You can keep the top two leaves and remove the third (lower) leaf by cutting it near the stem with a nice, clean cut.
Pothos with 45-degree angle cutting.
Pothos stem cut on an angle

What is a Node?

Nodes are those little bumps you see on plant stems.

Depending on the plant, nodes may be where stems, leaves, or new roots can grow.

On the pothos plant, the leaf nodes are the areas along the stem where leaves are growing.

By removing the lower leaf and cutting the stem below it, the plant will react by sprouting roots in that zone.

Pothos cuttings rooting in water jars.
Pothos cuttings in glass rooting bulbs

See Bulb Rooting Jars | Etsy

Water Rooting
  • Place cutting in warm water, submerged one inch above the node where the 3rd leaf was removed.

or

Root in Potting Mix
  • Use a dibber to create a hole in the growing medium and bury stem to just above node where 3rd leaf was removed. Water until growing medium is moist.

Scissors and an African violet plant in a pot.

Related: How to Grow African Violets from Leaf Cuttings


Light
  • Place cutting (now in jar or flowerpot) near natural light but keep it indirect so the plant will not get hot or dry out.
Two Weeks Later
Pothos vine cuttings with new roots forming.
Pothos cuttings after 18 days in water

This photo (above) was taken 18 days after I started rooting the cuttings.

  • You can see white roots growing from one node on each stem.
  • In another month or so, the roots will have side shoots and be about an inch longerโ€”thatโ€™s when I like to switch water rooted cuttings to potting mix.

The photo (below) is after several months.

Pothos plant cuttings with new roots growing.
Pothos cuttings after several months in water

3Care

Water Rooting : Freshen water every few days.
Growing Medium Rooting: keep evenly moist, not soggy or dry.

Tip: If you have a heating mat, use it to speed up root formation.

Timing: Pothos generally take about 4 to 6 weeks to produce roots ready for planting.

If rooting in water, vermiculite, or perlite, you can move the cutting to household potting mix when roots with side branches have formed.

More Options

Houseplants Suitable for Stem Cuttings

Besides pothos, there are lots more tropical/indoor houseplants you can grow from stem cuttings:

  • African violet Saintpaulia spp.
  • Basil Ocimum basilicum
  • Begonia Begonia spp.
  • Chinese evergreen Aglaonema commutatum
  • Chinese money plant Pilea peperomioides
  • Citrus Citrus spp.
  • Coleus Solenostemon spp.
  • Corn plant Dracaena spp.
  • Dieffenbachia Dieffenbachia spp.
  • Echeveria Echeveria spp.
  • Ficus Ficus benjamina
  • Fiddle leaf fig Ficus lyrata
  • Geranium Pelargonium spp.
  • Hibiscus Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
  • Moth orchid Phalaenopsis spp.
  • Peperomia Peperomia spp.
  • Philodendrum Philodendrum spp.
  • Pothos ivy Pothos spp.
  • Snake plant Sansevieria spp.
  • Schlumbergeras (Christmas and Thanksgiving Cactus) (see tutorial)

About Plant Patents

Some plants areย patentedย and asexual reproduction is not permitted without permission from the patent holder. Patents and trademarks are usually listed on plant tags.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt โ™›

Pothos cutting ready for rooting.
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How to Root Pothos Cuttings in Water

Pothos house plants (ย Epipremnum aureum) are easy to propagate from cuttings. Use these instructions to root them in water.
Steps10 minutes mins
Total Time10 minutes mins
Author: Melissa J. Will
Cost: $5

Equipment

  • Scalpel
  • Jar

Supplies & Materials

  • 1 Pothos plant

Instructions

  • Use clean scalpel to take cutting.
    Choose a healthy, main stem.From the tip/end of the stem, count back at least 3 leaves.
    Approximately ยฝ to one-inch below the third leaf, cut stem at 45-degree angle.
    You can keep the top two leaves and remove the third (lower) leaf by cutting it near the stem with a nice, clean cut.

    Scalpel used for plant propagation.
  • You are cutting below a node (the part of a plant stem where the leaves grow from).
    Pothos cutting sliced at 45-degree angle.
  • Place cuttings in a few inches of warm water.
    Pothos cuttings rooting in jars of water.
  • Place cutting in jar near natural light but not where it will get hot or dry out.
    After two weeks small roots will be forming.
    After six weeks, roots should be an inch or more long and your cutting is ready to planted in potting mix.
    Pothos plant cuttings beginning to grow roots.

Notes

See article for pothos plant care tips.
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Rooting pothos cuttings in small jars of water.
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Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
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