Pothos totem, also known as Devil’s ivy, is an easy-to-grow house and office plant. It has enormous shiny leaves shaped like a heart with a bright green color that is very attractive to the eye.
Place it in a decorative pot or hang it in a basket to make the best of its attractive features.
How to Take Care of Pothos Totem
Pothos Totem doesn’t ask for too much of a gardener’s time and attention, and caring for it is really quite simple. This comprehensive guide will help you with taking care of your plant effortlessly. Read along and follow the steps:
1. Mix Perfect Soil for Pothos Totem
Before even planting your Pothos, the first thing is to ensure whether the soil is suitable for the plant. Pothos prefers soil moderately acidic with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5 but it is not very picky about the soil and can tolerate an extensive pH range.
Place your plant in a well-draining potting mix, and ensure the soil is not too compacted. It is just that the water won’t be able to escape, and the roots might stay wet, which will be the cause of their rotting.
Use indoor potting mix if available, or you can make your mix by taking regular soil and mixing it with elements such as perlite, peat moss, or vermiculite.
2. Watering Pothos Adequately
The next step is to take care of its water requirement. When watering Pothos Totem, remember that these plants do not require a lot of water, and over-watering can cause its roots to rot.
The amount of water they ask for depends on the environment they live in. If the room it is in is bright with lots of sunlight, you will have to water it twice every two weeks. The plant will show signs when it gets thirsty – its leaves will start drooping. To avoid it, you need to water it again once the top inch of the soil gets dry.
3. Ideal Light
Next, provide the right amount of sunlight to your air purifying Totem. This plant will thrive well in bright, indirect sunlight and clean indoor air for you. Medium or low-light conditions will not harm your plant as it can adapt to these conditions rapidly. However, the growing process will tend to be slower.
Keep your plant beside the window or in a place where direct sunlight does not reach. Exposing them to direct light can result in browning leaves, and your plant will burn eventually.
You can also use fluorescent lighting as Pothos Totem will not mind much and stay healthy, though their growth rate will again be compromised.
4. Increase Mist and Humidity
Here is an easy care tip for gardeners looking at ways to increase humidity for your plants. Remember that the Pothos are native to tropical environments where humidity is high. They will thrive anywhere where the humidity is above 40 percent. That being said, the ideal humidity level is between 60–70 percent.
In winter, when the air indoors gets dry, the plant can take advantage of extra moisture. You can provide this by misting or applying a room humidifier.
When misting, ensure you only spray its leaves and not the soil. Spraying soil may cause an issue of excess water because, in winter, it stays hydrated for more than a week. However, it needs moisture every day.
5. How to Set the Temperature Right for the House plant
To set the temperature right for your plant, remember that the Pothos flourishes when the temperature is approximately between 60–80 degrees Fahrenheit. The plant will suffer if the temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit or dehydrate if it gets extreme – above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
It will show various signs if the ideal temperature is there. For instance, leaves will blacken if the temperature drops too low, or the leaves will droop if it gets warm extensively.
When the climate is warm, you can solve this issue by giving more water than usual. In a region with extreme winters, control your house temperature by shielding your room with curtains or blankets to make the surroundings warm and cozy. You can use a thermometer and place it near your plant to ensure that the temperature is suitable.
6. How to Feed Your Pothos?
Pothos is a fast-growing plant that requires regular fertilization, especially in spring and summer, their growing seasons. Use an all-purpose fertilizer with an equal nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium ratio. Your plant will thrive amazingly when the ratio is 10-10-10,15-15-15, or 20-20-20.
Alternative way is to add natural fertilizers for plant care. If the plants are in hanging baskets, you can add liquid feed, but if the plants are in pots and have more space, you can easily add manure, compost, or other fertilizers like peat moss to give perfect Pothos totem care to your plant. Look for these fertilizers specifically for optimum growth and health.
7. How to Trim the Pothos Totem
When pruning, the time you choose must be correct, which is their growing period. Pruning at the wrong time may cause bare stems and vines that may affect its growth. Pruning will give your plant a decent look and give your place a better look rather than giving off forest vibes.
Pruning is not at all complicated – grab a pair of sharp, clean scissors and cut below a node. If your objective behind pruning is to make your plant fuller, cut the vines that appear to you as dead or tall. They make a plant seem fragmentary and affect its growth. If your plant is spreading too wide or maybe growing taller than you prefer, chop off the vines wherever you want them.
8. How to Propagate Golden Pothos
Although caring for them can be simple, some people might find it difficult to propagate them. To start with, know there are two ways to propagate your plant. You can put them in a water jar or plant them in soil.
Cut five to six inch segments of a healthy stem, ensuring they have at least four leaves attached to them. Remove leaves that are near the portion where you cut the stem. Next, you can opt for either way to propagate.
If you want to propagate them in water, place them in a jar containing water and place it in a bright place. Avoid choosing a place where direct sunlight hits. Change water every week, and in about a month, when the roots start growing, plant them in the soil, and then you have to care for them, which is, as mentioned above, easy.
For the second method, the preferable one, start with the same process of cutting the stems. Once done with cutting, bury them till the first set of root nodes in a potting mixture suitable for growing pothos. Keep the soil moist and place Pothos in a bright shady spot away from direct sunlight. The roots will grow at the same time as in the first method, and in about 2-3 months, your plant will be ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
– How Do You Know If Your Golden Pothos is Happy?
The leaves of the plant indicate whether the plant is happy or not. The plant is happy when its leaves are lively, shiny, and bright green. If the leaves are withering, turning yellow, and drooping, you are not providing the plant with proper care. It may be suffering from various diseases and infections. To ensure your plant does not die out, identify the problem and take care of it.
– How Do You Train Golden Pothos Totem?
Use a string and tie it to a stick or a pole. As it grows and spreads, carefully trim the parts where you do not want it to be. Soon it will be climbing tall, producing new shiny green leaves.
– Can You Grow Pothos Totem In Water?
Yes, you can. Planting it in the soil is not necessary. It will do fine in water. You need to ensure that it receives proper nutrition.
All it needs to survive is partial shade and water. If you keep providing it with these things, it will stay healthy and flourish.
– Does Pothos Bring Good Luck?
A plant can not change a person’s luck, and the answer to this is obvious. It’s superstition, a myth created by superstitious people. If you believe in superstition, you may plant it for good luck. Though I must say, it does not change anything.
Conclusion
With everything said and done, Pothos Totem is a decorative plant that requires somewhat close to no close attention.
So here are a few things you can do to take care of these lovelies:
- It can still suffer from some severe diseases, like Phytophthora Ethylene and Bacterial wilt disease.
- Avoid placing it in direct sunlight as it can get burnt.
- Keep it in an environment with a temperature between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit for healthy growth.
- Water Pothos Totem twice every two weeks if it receives lots of indirect sunlight.
With this comprehensive guide, we hope you have an idea or two to take care of this beautiful plant.
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