Whenever you’re looking for a houseplant, you can either be searching for simple green vegetation or something a touch more eccentric.
Neon pothos can give you the outlandish vibe you’re looking for. You and your guests will be enticed by its bright yellow and unnatural glowy hue.
These pothos plants may not require as much constant care as other houseplants, which makes them convenient to own if you have a busy schedule.
If you’re looking to own a neon pothos, doing your research will better prepare you to become a perfect pothos parent. Stick around to learn more about neon pothos.
Characteristics of Neon Pothos
Neon pothos is a plant often pointed out for its vivid neon green color. The common houseplant originated from tropical French Polynesia.
If you’re gazing out in a sea of green in your garden, you’ll be able to easily spot neon pothos. The plant holds cordate-shaped leaves with a lime, chartreuse color that’ll brighten up any room.
The neon plant, unlike other pothos plants, doesn’t hold variation in color. For instance, a marble queen pothos is acquainted with variegated leaves.
You can tell how old a neon pothos is from its leaves’ shade color. If the color is on the brighter side, it means it’s a young plant. The older it gets, the dimmer its leaves’ color will be.
Size
If you’re growing neon pothos outdoors, they can reach up to twenty feet in length. Having the plant indoors, you’ll be able to maintain around six feet. If you’re hanging it six feet up, it’ll be able to trickle down to your floor.
How to care for Neon Pothos
To care for neon pothos, you’ll need to look into each aspect of its care. You’ll need to watch out for its soil, water intake, temperature, among other points of care.
Soil
Your neon pothos will probably come to you in its youngest state, tucked in its small pot. The first thing you’ll want to do is check its soil. Your soil choice will decide how well your neon pothos will grow.
To ensure a healthy trajectory for your pothos, make sure your soil is moist, especially if you’re growing it outdoors. Another crucial soil point to consider is the drainage. The more well-drained your soil is, the better your chances are of growing healthy neon pothos.
While neon pothos isn’t typically fussy about its soil, adding a nutritious soil mixture will give your pothos better chances of growth and survival. You can use a combination of coconut coir or peat moss. This will help maintain your soil’s water retention.
If you want to ensure the best environment for your neon pothos, checking its pH is always a good option. Neon pothos prefers a pH of 6.1 to 6.5. Nevertheless, these plants aren’t finicky, so having a moderately lower pH wouldn’t bother it.
Light Intake
With any pothos plant, you want to ensure the perfect lighting conditions for it to thrive in. Neon pothos is flexible compared to other houseplants. That being so, neon pothos still has light requirements to grow their lifespan.
You might think that since it’s such a bright-colored plant that it might enjoy direct sunlight. Unfortunately for neon pothos, direct sunlight can cause more damage than good. The leaves might end up burnt after prolonged exposure.
If you’re considering putting your neon pothos in an area with dimmer lights, such as your bathroom, the plant will survive. Although it can live, darker areas would deprive neon pothos of its vivacious color.
The best spot you can put your neon pothos in is an area with indirect sunlight. It’ll stimulate its growth without being completely vulnerable to the sun’s harsh rays. If you want to keep it in a room with scarce lighting, we suggest you opt for fluorescent light.
Water Intake
Feeding time can be a troublesome ordeal for several houseplants. You might leave the house and forget to water your plants. Happens to all of us!
Luckily for this pothos plant, its water intake isn’t too dense. The main concern that you should look out for in feeding neon pothos is to avoid overwatering it. If you overwater these plants, you’ll see signs of the rotting root, loss of vibrancy, among other symptoms.
This is why we highly recommend you use a pot with holes in the bottom. It’ll create a drainage system that will empty any excess water from the top.
Your watering intervals should be scheduled around every week. Always look at the soil before watering and make sure the top two inches of soil are fully dried up. Don’t worry if you haven’t watered your neon pothos for a while; it’ll easily recover.
Temperature
Imagine that you’re surrounded by tropical rainforests. The equatorial region will subject you to waves of heat enough to break a sweat. Your neon pothos came from these areas.
Your pothos plant loves the heat and humidity. The plant will flourish in temperatures ranging between 70-90 F. Although it’s able to withstand colder temperatures, prolonged wintry weather might take a toll on your neon pothos.
Your pothos plant might grow slower if kept in cooler rooms. Temperatures below 55 F can easily kill your plant. You’ll start to notice your delicate, heart-shaped leaves turning black when it gets too cold.
Humidity
Your neon pothos will take any opportunity to stay humid. Your best bet at keeping its moisture levels high is picking the right place, like your bathroom or kitchen.
If you’re hoping to keep it in other areas, there are other solutions to maintain its humidity. Grab your water spray bottle and start spritzing away. Your neon pothos will thank you.
If you place your plant in a dry area, you’ll start to notice its leaves’ edges turning brown and starting to shrivel up. You can look into getting a humidifier for your room. It won’t just help your neon pothos, but it’ll add some health benefits to you as well.
Another method you can employ to get sufficient humidity for your neon pothos is placing them on a plate filled with water and pebbles. Keep your potted pothos on top of the pebbles. This will help restore your pothos’ neon shine.
Fertilizer
When it comes to fertilizing neon pothos, less is more. You wouldn’t want to be fertilizing it too much, especially if you’re already using nutritious soil.
If you’re determined about fertilizing and want to go the extra mile, there are options. You can fertilize your neon pothos every two to three months with some houseplant fertilizer. It’s best to do so in the growing season, which comes from spring to fall.
You can also put in a layer of compost on top of your soil. That’ll give your neon pothos more room for growth.
Over-fertilizing your neon pothos can potentially kill it. Due to the excessive amount of minerals and salts, the build-up will do more harm than good.
Choosing the Right Fertilizer
If you’re choosing a fertilizer, there are usually two options, inorganic and organic. Inorganic fertilizer will speed up your neon pothos’ growth rate. Organic fertilizer, on the other hand, is a bit slower but is better for your plant in the long run.
Before purchasing any fertilizer, make sure you read the label and instructions. It’ll take your plant’s pot dimensions into consideration to avoid over-fertilizing it.
Pot Transfer
It’s your plant’s big day. A new pot to celebrate its growth. You’ll want to prepare a few things before repotting your pothos. Here are a few tips to help out.
- Watering your plant two days before will give it the necessary nourishment to handle a repotting.
- If you’re thinking of repotting your neon pothos in the winter, think again. Winter is its hibernation time. It doesn’t want to be disturbed.
- It’s best to repot every 2 to 3 years.
- Make sure your new soil is highly nourishing by incorporating vermiculite into your mixture.
- If your neon pothos is beginning to trail, we recommend getting a hanging basket for it.
How to Repot Your Neon Pothos
After taking the tips above into consideration, you’re now ready to begin the process. Here are the steps to get you started.
- Move the stem to the side and push down the pot to expose the pothos’ root ball.
- Measure your neon pothos. If it’s grown to be more than six inches, then you’ll need a ten-inch pot.
- Fill up the new pot with your soil.
- Bury your root ball in the pot and even out the top of the pot.
Trimming Your Neon Pothos
Neon pothos can grow to overwhelming sizes. Pruning regularly will help you control that growth and make sure your home doesn’t become covered in vine.
Whenever you trim, leave a couple of inches over each leaf. The part where a vine is connected to the stem is called a node. When you cut a node, a new vine will grow in its place.
The best areas to cut are the ones with fewer leaves. Any leafless vine you see will need to be removed. You can use scissors or a knife.
Pruning in the growing season will give you better chances of maintaining your neon pothos’ growth rate. Nonetheless, you’re free to cut your neon pothos to your desired style.
How You Can Breed Neon Pothos
Neon pothos is notably beautiful. It’s no surprise if you want more around your house. The best thing about these plants is that you can have more of them without purchasing another one. There are various methods to propagate your plant. Let’s explore the stem cutting method to get a better outlook on breeding neon pothos.
- Using your scissors or a knife, cut your vines into smaller pieces.
- Prepare a jar of water.
- You’ll need to encase your nodes in the water. Expose them by cutting the bottom leaf.
- Make sure your leaves are above the water.
- Each part that you’ve cut needs to have at least one or two leaves.
- Once your roots have grown to about an inch, your neon pothos is now ready for a pot filled with soil.
- You can either use a new pot or you can plant it along with its original pot to get an overflowing assortment of neon pothos.
Problems with Neon Pothos
Although neon pothos’ resilience is exceedingly inspiring, everything has its weaknesses. For this plant its certain pests and diseases. Here are some of the issues that you should look out for.
Mealybugs
The common house insect can prove to be detrimental to your neon pothos’ life. You can spot them from their pinkish white color. They feed on your plant causing serious damage that can stunt your neon pothos’ growth.
Since their exterior white fluff protects them from moisture and heat, you’ll need stronger reinforcements. The best way to deal with mealybugs is by using rubbing alcohol. Make sure to keep your infected plant away from your other houseplants to avoid contamination.
Root Rot
This issue is usually caused by fungus growth. A clear indicator of root rot is the leaves’ blackened and brownish color. In this case, you might be overwatering your neon pothos.
Unfortunately, you might have to discard your neon pothos if it’s exhibiting root rot. Since your plant is already infected, there’s not much you can do to revive it.
To Conclude
Whether you choose to keep it outside or inside, your guests will love your neon pothos. It gives you a refreshing edge to wherever you put it without becoming too overpowering.
The maintenance of the plant is easy, which makes it perfect if you don’t have much time on your hands. You’re also able to control the size of your neon pothos, giving you a variety of placement options.
You can keep a small pot in your reading nook or grow it to longer lengths in your garden. The better your care for your neon pothos, the longer it gets to stay.