How to Prune Pothos Houseplant- Full Guide

Just as you like to groom yourself, plants also need grooming, but in gardening, the term used is pruning.

Do you have questions about whether you have trimmed dead leaves of pothos correctly or if you need to cut them more? Stop your search; you have landed on the best page.

Here, I have explained all my implemented experiments step by step, which will help you with ways to prune pothos and, more especially, mistakes to avoid while pruning. So what are you waiting for? Let’s begin to learn.

Pruning Pothos Houseplant:

• To prune pothos first you need to decide how far you need to prune them.
• Most of the time you can prune them about 2 inches or 5 cm from the soil. If you want longer vines you can leave them and prune less.
• Pruning pothos houseplants does benefit you when you already lost a few leaves, and want to reinvigorate and you will be happy with light pruning of plants.
• Pruning of pothos does help in the new growth of plants from its base and that results in bushier plants.

How to Cut Back Pothos?

Here is the step-by-step guide to prune pothos houseplant:

1. Sterilize Pruners:

• Removing the pothos leaves can be possible by using your hands but always use a knife pruning shears, or sharp scissors that will give a clean cut.
• Before using any pruning tool make sure to sterilize the shears for that you can use 70-100% isopropyl alcohol.
• In case using an old Rag or cloth make sure it is neat and clean.
• You can also use gloves to prune pothos that are well-cleaned.
•  To sterilize the tool takes a few minutes as it will help in reducing any spread of bacteria and infection while pruning the houseplants.

2. Inspect the Leaves:

• Now first decide where to make a cut on the plant and the cutting location depends on where the pruning of the plant will be achieved.
• The new pothos growth will start on new foliage and at the leafless stem.
• The new growth of leaves will not be on the old stem.
• Need to make the cut at a point where leaves are used to grow more densely.
• To new growth on pothos, you need to make a cut on the stem that meets the roots.
• I will suggest you leave the bottom leaf growth and need to remove smaller new leaves on the stem. 
• To propagate pothos you need to find a stem that has at least 4 healthy leaves. 

3. Finding Nodes:

• After selecting an area of the pothos where to start you need to first find the perfect node.
• A node is a place that is a small brown bump on the stem from where the new leaves and new stems start growing.

4. Trimming Stem:

• The next step is to make a cut a half inch above the node where it starts new growth.
• Make sure to make a cut at a 45-degree angle which will help in healing the plant cut more quickly.

5. Propagating Snips:

• The pothos plants are one of the easy-to-propagate houseplants
• The next step is to place the cutting end into a container that is filled with water.
• Make sure to use filtered, chlorine-free water which will not have any chemicals in it.
• Also, check that the leaves sit above the water.
• Need to place the cutting in a location where it can get bright, indirect sunlight.
• Always change the water every 2 to 3 days to maintain oxygen levels to make sure the plant grows quickly.
• You will notice the forming of new roots within 20 days. 
• After growing roots, you can plant the pothos in the soil where it will grow the root system more quickly.
• I will suggest you cut the healthy vines and leaves for propagating the pothos.

How To Prune Pothos?

The pruning process does help to stimulate growth in pothos plants and maintain their long leggy vines that produce new leaves and stems.

While pruning vines, they are used to remove a portion of plants’ overall mass that makes them react to producing new growth that replaces what is being lost.

The following are some ways in which prune pothos works efficiently:

Energy Redistribution: 

After pruning pothos plants it redirects the energy from the existing longer, viners for producing new growth because here the plants do not need energy to support the pruned sections of the plant. It can use energy in other places.  

Promoting Bushier Growth: 

You need to prune pothos just above a leaf node where the leaf is or was attached to the stem which encourages them to produce new stems from the prune node. 

All of these points will help you grow brushier plants having more leaves doing this will produce multiple new stems of plants.

Healthier Plant: 

Pruning pothos plants does help to remove unhealthy or dead parts of the plant that will help to prevent all the spreading of diseases and pests. Following the pruning process will lead to a healthier plant.

Light Distribution: 

The pruning process for the pothos plant does improve light distribution if you remove the overgreen vines by which the light reaches more parts of the plant and will help to stimulate the plant’s growth. 

To prune pothos plants will help to promote new growth but remember not to overdo the process as it will stress the plant and stunt its growth.

Caring after pruning:

• To need to look after the pothos after pruning the plant so that they do recover and encourage new growth.
• The pothos are able to manage in low-light areas and thrive best in bright sunlight.
• Make sure the freshly pruned plant gets some indirect sunlight.
• You need to use a potting mix that is well-drained to prevent the development of moisture.
• To water them, first let the soil get dry between watering then only water them.
• Fertilizing also benefits pothos after pruning it will speed up the recovery process.

Benefits Of Pruning Pothos Plants:

• To grow pothos plants there is not much maintenance needed but you need to prune the plant to get benefits for growing pothos.
• There are garden centers that are used to sell pothos as tidy and compact houseplants but actually, it is a vine plant.
• The vines are used to stretch upto 40 ft long when grown outdoors while indoors will reach upto 30 ft long.
• They are used to grow in waxy, heart-shaped leaves.
• Growing the pothos in suboptimal growing conditions the space between the leaves will elongate and leaves will be used to grow subsequently smaller in size.
• Providing the pothos with inadequate light will make them leggy as here the branches of the pothos will stretch farther and farther.
• Pruning pothos will help to cure the leggy growth of plants.
• Cutting off plants will help encourage new growth of leaves and branching.
• Pruning pothos will help bushy and thick leaf growth and it will make leaves appear more frequently.
• The process of pruning does help in multiplying houseplant collection which is an easy and cheap process.
• Pruning pothos does help in solving the problem of leaf spot.
• Having a leaf spot on the plant will cause yellowing on the underside of the leaves.
• If you do not cure leaf spot disease on time it will start new growth to change in brown color and mushy texture.
• In case of finding any diseased leaf on the plant, you need to remove the diseased part as soon as possible. 

Mistakes to avoid:

The following guidelines will help you in an easy-peasy pruning pothos and here are some points you need to avoid during the whole process: 

• Over-pruning: it is the most common mistake that everyone makes. You need to avoid going over the top and the perfect way is not to trim more than a third of the plant at one time.
• Bad Timing: it is not really any wrong time for pruning pothos but you should avoid pruning during winter. The plant is used to go into the dormant stage over the winter and it will not have any new growth unless the growing season comes.
• Infected tools: make sure to use sharp and sterilized tools whether you are doing light or heavy pruning as sharp tools. Using sharp tools helps in making clean cuts and cleaning them will prevent the spread of disease by making cuts of plants. 

Final thoughts:

The pothos plants are very easy to care for houseplants that help in adding beauty to your house. I have explained all the necessary information for prune pothos. By following all the simple steps you will easily make your pothos plants look healthy, bushier, and beautiful.