Pothos is one of the easiest, hardiest houseplants to grow, but even a healthy specimen needs occasional pruning to help it look its best. Cutting back leggy stems is also an important step on a struggling plant’s road to recovery.
Here’s how to prune this houseplant to keep it looking lush and full all year round.
Why Prune Pothos
There are a couple of different reasons to prune pothos and encourage a healthier, fuller plant. A thriving pothos with long, trailing vines can eventually outgrow its space. After all, this vigorous houseplant can add as much as 12 to 18 inches of growth in a single month.
Unless you’d like to trellis the plant along your ceiling, you’ll need to remove some of that length.
A pothos that’s struggling for various reasons—shock from a sudden change in environment or overfertilizing, for example—may lose some of its foliage, leaving long, bare sections of stem that look unattractive. Pruning your plant back can improve its appearance.
Whether you’re pruning your pothos plant to maintain its vibrancy or help it regain its former glory, the goal is to remove excess growth and encourage a fuller, bushier growth habit.
When to Prune Pothos
The best time to prune pothos is between early spring and early fall, when plants are still in active growth thanks to long days and warm weather. If you bring plants outdoors for the summer, you may want to prune plants beforehand to encourage new growth in optimal conditions once they’re outside.
New growth in late winter or early spring is a sign that your plant is ready for pruning.
Another time to prune pothos is when you’re preparing to bring the plant inside for winter.
You’ll be cutting it down to a size you can accommodate indoors while removing excess growth that the plant may not be able to support under drier, darker conditions.
Avoid pruning an otherwise healthy pothos plant in winter if possible. However, you can snip off the occasional yellow leaf or broken stem any time of year.
How to Prune Pothos
- Examine your plant for areas of stem you’d like to remove. Step back and think about the shape you’d like the plant to have after pruning. If the plant is otherwise healthy, think about how long you’d like the remaining vines to be. If you’re rehabbing a leggy pothos plant, look for the spot on each vine with new growth closest to the crown and cut below that.
- Use clean, sharp scissors or pruners to remove excess growth, cutting just below a leaf node. Consider staggering your cuts between vines to give the plant a more natural look once it fills out again.
- Continue pruning vines until the plant is at the size you prefer, or until the leggy, bare portions of stem are gone. It’s best to avoid removing more than 30 percent of any one vine during pruning, but damaged vines can be cut back to 2 inches from the soil line if necessary.
- Examine your plant once more and remove any remaining dead, yellowed, or otherwise damaged leaves or stems.
- Use the portions of stem you removed to propagate new pothos plants.
How Often to Prune Pothos
How often to prune pothos plants depends on your reason for pruning. A thriving, fast-growing plant that threatens to outgrow your space can benefit from more frequent, light prunings, which can help promote bushier growth.
A pothos plant that’s suffered leaf loss should be pruned to help it recover. For generally healthy indoor pothos, expect to prune once or twice a year to keep growth contained and maintain your plant’s appearance.
How to Make Pothos Look Fuller
You can make a pothos plant look fuller by cutting back leggy or leafless vines. For young plantings, consider pinching back the immature tips of the plant, which can encourage branching and a fuller look once the plant matures.
Another way to add fullness is to root the cut sections of stem you’ve removed in water or soil, then plant them among the original vines when repotting your pothos plant.