Pearls and jade pothos can grow up to three feet long trails, which makes them perfect as indoor plants. You can hang them in baskets and use their vines for decorative purposes.
In this guide, our experts have compiled the most straightforward care and propagation guide for this plant. Go through it and learn all the tricks that make this plant tick.
Contents
What Is a Pearls and Jade Pothos?
Pearls and jade pothos, which also goes by the name Epipremnum aureum, is a variegated subtype of queen marble pothos. It has a climbing vine-like growth which makes it perfect for hanging baskets. The variegations on its deep green leaves are white-colored and stable.
Pearls and Jade Pothos Care
To take care of this plant, you must put it under intense, indirect light. It prefers its soil to be constantly moist but not wet, so water it only once a week. Keep humidity and temperature levels high and the soil loose, airy, and rich in nutrients. Lastly, regular grooming and pruning are a must.
Read the detailed pothos care guide here.
– Water Requirements
The water needs of pothos plants are simple, especially for those who are new to plant care. It prefers constantly moist soil, but it is still better to underwater than overwater this plant.
Frequency of Watering
You must water your jade plant once or every two weeks during spring and summer. Water once or twice a month during fall and winter because water evaporates slowly this time of year.
If you own a moisture meter, this will help you a lot with watering. Simply put this meter into the soil, and if the reading comes out one to three, you must water it immediately.
The Right Method
Your variegated pothos needs to be watered in a precise way. Read how to do this here.
- Use a large volume of water and keep a steady hand while watering.
- Don’t direct the water towards the stem and leaves of the plant. Instead, only water the soil’s surface.
- When the water drains out of the soil and the pot and collects into the saucer underneath, be quick to drain it right away.
Use Distilled or Filtered Water
We cannot reiterate how important it is to use distilled or filtered water. This is because it is safer owing to the lack of harsh minerals and salts that are rampant in ordinary tap water.
The water temperature needs to be either lukewarm or simply at room temperature. You can also use rainwater by collecting it each time it rains. Your plant would tolerate it because it is used to rainwater in nature.
Before using tap water, at least have it checked by a laboratory. If it is deemed safe, then go for it. Otherwise, we recommend you forego it or leave it overnight so that the chlorine evaporates eventually.
– Light Requirements
Pearls and jade pothos light needs to be mild and indirect or filtered. This plant loses its variegation when exposed to even mild direct light. Stronger lights will produce a more substantial adverse effect, such as sunburn.
Here below is a brief lesson on growing this plant indoors.
Most Suitable Windows
Pothos pearls are an indoor plant through and through. Ideally, it needs a room with a window through which natural light can come in. You can place it near a northern window if possible because it receives no direct light.
The second best type of window would be the eastern one. Even such a window receives bright light during early morning hours, and you must put a curtain on it.
Without a curtain, you need to place your plant at some distance from the eastern or the western facing window. A distance of approximately three feet from a southern side window is a must.
Without Natural Light
Even without natural light inside the house, you can grow this plant using only artificial lights. On the market, you will come across two types of plant grow lights: LED and fluorescent. We advise you to go for LED lights because they are energy-efficient, reasonable, and environmentally friendly.
It is best to install these lights right on top of where the plant will be. If the lights are placed only on the side of the plant, you will have to keep rotating it towards the lights at least once a day.
– Soil Requirements
The jade pothos plant can survive in most types of succulent or cacti potting mixes. This makes it one of the most suitable plants for beginners who are not sure what the correct type of soil is. One trick for this plant is that the pothos soil needs to be more sandy than clay-like.
When you go soil shopping, buy a good quality succulent or cactus mix then add some sand and perlite to it. These two ingredients are the main factors to improving aeration and water drainage.
An essential ingredient you need to add is peat moss. Moss is necessary for adding nutrients to the soil. It also absorbs moisture and slowly releases it back, which pothos plants appreciate.
– Temperature Requirements
Like marble queen pothos, this one also needs warm temperatures all day to grow and look healthy. During summertime, 60 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit is a suitable temperature range. In winters, the temperature can drop to 50 degrees Fahrenheit but not more than this.
Temperature colder than this can physically damage your plant. Its tips and edges will turn brown and crisp. Eventually, it will even start to die from cold shock. That is why you must take certain precautions during summer and winter to keep your plant safe.
- Keep potted pothos away from cold frosted air from the vents and air conditioners.
- When keeping the plant on the window sills, shut the windows off at night to keep the cold air out.
- We don’t suggest keeping this plant outdoors, even in the summertime. If you do, at least you must move them indoors during winter.
– Humidity Requirements
Keep humidity levels between 50 to 70 percent for your pothos house plants. As tropical species, they love the moisture in the air.
A hygrometer is a tool you can keep installed on your wall to keep a constant eye on the humidity levels. If it falls below 50 percent, you must take artificial measures to increase it to the required levels.
Here are our favorite methods to increase humidity for our pothos all by ourselves.
- A humidifier will maintain the required humidity levels for your pothos. You will have to keep it running all day long. It doesn’t cost much, but you must prepare for a considerable increase in electricity bills.
- A humidity pebble tray is a much more economical approach than a humidifier. You can take any shallow tray and fill it with water, then place large pebbles in it over which your pot will rest. Water evaporating from this tray will give moisture to the air.
- Misting is another easy option if you cannot even be bothered to make such a tray. Mist your plant lightly and from a distance at least twice a week. Keep in mind that misting the plant does not mean it should be dripping wet.
- Move all your indoor plants with high humidity needs together, which will help increase the humidity levels around these plants.
– Fertilizing Requirements
This plant is not big on fertilizing and will continue to grow if it has enough nutrients in the soil. This is comforting news for those who don’t have much time to fertilize their plants.
The few cold months from fall until the following spring are resting months for plants. It would help if you stopped fertilizing during this time. Even in the summer, keep fertilizing to once a month.
As with all things, fertilizing should be done in a proper method. Learn it here.
- When fertilizing, always use a liquid, well-balanced fertilizer with a preferable NPK ratio of 5:5:5. Make sure to dilute this so that your plant doesn’t get fertilizer burn.
- Water the soil thoroughly and then pour fertilizer directly into the soil. Pour it at a distance of a few inches away from the plant’s stem.
- After every growing season, wash your potting mix with copious amounts of water. It is essential to flush out all the toxins that naturally accumulate in it from fertilizing.
- Slow-release fertilizers aren’t recommended for this plant. If you want to use them, buy a few pellets and bury them one to two inches deep in the soil at the start of spring.
– Pruning
Because this is a trailing vine type of plant, you should constantly prune it back. This is so that your plant stays in shape, looks fuller, and does not get out of hand. While pruning, it is best to make an oblique incision and a blunt one. Your knife or pruning shears need to be adequately sharpened and cleaned.
Although you can groom your plant any time of the year as per your convenience, the best time is early spring. The plant will experience a brilliant growth sprout right afterward.
Propagation
Propagation is how you can make more copies of your plant at home without spending a dime. You can gift all your friends their own pothos vines each growing season.
That is why you must jump down and learn about propagating this plant in the coming sections.
– Take the Right Stem Cuttings
Cuttings is our favorite method of propagating this gorgeous vine. You can take a stem cutting from any part of the plant, but it’s best if you take it from the ending part of a vine. Take about 5 to 6 inches of the stem by making an oblique incision.
After you have your desired cutting, you need to wrap it in a piece of newspaper. The cutting will dry up over time, and you can place some rooting hormone over the cut end. Rooting hormone rapidly speeds up the propagation process.
Now you can use soil and water as the medium for your propagation. Both methods are pretty effective, and only you can decide which one suits you the best.
– Using Water as the Medium
Make sure you use clean, distilled water for propagating pothos stem cutting.
- You can use any glass or plastic jar to fill halfway with water.
- Place your cutting inside the water but only half in. Make sure it stays halfway out of the water using a pencil or twig as support.
- Tighten the jar’s lid and place it in one of the brightest spots in your house that is indirectly lit.
- Every week, you should change the water without fail.
- Your new cutting should have sprouted enough roots and baby leaves in three to four weeks to be transported to a pot.
– Using Soil as the Medium
Use a small clay or terracotta pot and fill it with loose soil that is part sandy and part loamy.
- Make a tiny hole at the center of the pot and insert your cutting directly into it. The end that was cut should go inside the soil.
- Sprinkle some water on the soil so that it initially almost always stays moist.
- Hold the cutting upright by staking the soil against it. You can also use moss to provide some support at this point.
- Take this pot to a warm, humid, and bright place. Take care that the soil doesn’t get dry, and you will have a successful propagation in one to two weeks.
Problems
The most common problems you may encounter are bacterial or fungal diseases or pest attacks. This plant can also quickly get overwatered and swollen. Eating the plant’s leaves or coming in contact with the sap can lead to problematic toxicity.
Find out how to solve all these problems by carrying on ahead.
– Bacterial Leaf Spot
Are your plant’s leaves developing yellow or black necrotic spots with water-filled edges? Then it is likely suffering from a bacterial infliction that causes these spots.
These spots can be up to half an inch in diameter and are usually irregular in shape. The rest of the leaves also become yellowish and papery. They begin to fall off terribly, and this can proceed to kill the plant. The bacteria usually begin to increase in soil that is constantly moist, humid, and warm.
How To Treat This Problem
Unless you take quick and prompt action, your plant may die very soon.
- Take a pair of snippers and cut all the necrosed parts off.
- If your soil is too compact and is getting water-logged, you need to change it.
- Research has found that liquid-copper bactericides work the best for this problem.
– Root Rot
This is a very common affliction among the pothos plants. Overwatering is the primary cause of this disease, and this happens when you don’t allow water to dry one to two inches before each watering. It also occurs when your plant pot or soil has insufficient water drainage.
You might notice rot signs when yellow spots appear over the leaves and stems. They soon turn into black rot spots that are filled with moisture. A smell of decay begins to surround the plant.
The leaves begin to droop downwards owing to excessive water retention. It might not be possible to save the plant if the disease progresses too much, which is why you must take immediate action.
How To Treat Root Rot
It would be best if you lay the plant on a piece of newspaper. Keep changing the newspaper until your water-logged plant dries up completely. This might take up to a couple of days.
Meanwhile, take a gardening knife and use it to chop off the completely black parts. You cannot chop off more than one-third of the plant, though.
Buy any potent fungicide that targets fungal rot and spray it on the whole plant. After the plant dries, pot it in a new soil and pot and carry on the fungicide regime.
– Pests
Pests are a recurrent problem with most indoor plants. The parasitic, sap-sucking mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, and scales will irritate you the most. They make puncture marks on the plant’s surface and drink its sap.
Your plant will begin to experience symptoms of weakness such as leaves turning yellow, drooping, and the plant overall looking weak and lifeless.
How To Treat a Bug Infestation
A bug infestation takes some time to be resolved entirely. You will need to be patient and consistent with your efforts.
- Pick off as many bugs as you can using a cotton roll. You can scrape off the ones stuck to the plant, such as scales.
- Give your plant a proper bath using lots of water and mild insecticidal soap.
- It is best if you could go for a natural approach to killing them instead of chemical insecticides. You can use neem oil directly on the bug colonies or make a foliar spray for weekly use.
- A DIY foliar spray with one tablespoon of vinegar in a gallon of water is another good natural remedy.
- If you must, you can also go for chemical bug-killing agents. Carefully choose one that is suited for indoors and ornamental plants.
– Overwatering
Overwatering pothos can be pretty dangerous. This usually happens when you don’t allow the topsoil to dry properly before proceeding to water it. The plant absorbs all this extra water in the soil.
How can you, as a beginner, identify an overwatered pothos? Have a close look at its leaves. They will be highly swollen and feel mushy upon touch. They might even be drooping down due to the extra weight.
It would be best to immediately improve this plant’s watering and pot drainage. As we have mentioned, overwatering leads to fungal infections and root rot.
– Toxicity
You must beware of the pearls and jade pothos toxicity, especially if you live with children and pets. Chewing or eating any part of this plant accidentally will cause a burning mouth, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.
In severe cases, life-threatening allergic reactions have also been reported. While grooming or propagating this plant, you need to take care to wear full clothing and gloves. Any part of the sap that touches your skin will cause rashes and itching.
Here are some essential things to remember in case of unfortunate toxicity.
- Take the affected person or pet for emergency care immediately.
- Give milk or yogurt to alleviate stomach pain and mouth burns.
- Keep antihistamines close by if breathing difficulties are encountered en route to the doctor.
FAQs
– Are Pothos Njoy and Pearls and Jade The Same?
No, these two plants are not the same, although they are both offsprings of the marble queen pothos. No wonder both of them look a bit similar in appearance.
The main difference between pearls and jade pothos vs njoy lies in their variegations. Both of them sport white variegations, but the pearls and jade one has more green in its foliage. It also has smaller variegations than the big ones on the Njoy pothos. Njoy tends to lose its variegations in the shade while others do not.
– How Fast Do Pothos Grow?
Pothos varieties tend to grow slowly; as this plant grows by climbing or trailing vine, its average length per vine is about 6 to 20 feet.
In successful cases, your pothos can get even 30 feet tall. Because it grows only 18 to 28 inches per season, it might take a few years for this slow-growing plant to reach its maximum length.
Conclusion
We have discussed all of this plant’s care needs in extensive detail here. What you need to take away from this guide are the following few points:
- The pearls and jade pothos plants like warm temperature and indirect natural light for at least 6 to 8 hours every day.
- Keep its soil slightly moist most of the time but stay vigilant regarding watering.
- This variegated plant is best propagated using stem cuttings in water or soil as the propagating medium.
- Be wary of overwatering your plant as it leads to yellowing of leaves, fungal rot, and bacterial disease.
The Epipremnum aureum or the pearls and jade pothos will surely be a gem plant in your collection. With its trailing vine, the decor options are unlimited, so why not order one today and get to care for it?
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