Choosing The Best Pot For Pothos

Written by Cammi Morgan
Published: February 9, 2023
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If you’re growing the popular houseplant, pothos, it’s important to ensure that it’s growing in an ideal container. While pothos is widely regarded as low-maintenance and beginner-friendly, it does have some species-specific growing requirements that you’ll want to provide for a thriving, happy plant.

This guide will discuss pothos’s preferred growing methods and how to choose a pot that best fits its needs. This includes choosing a pot that allows the soil to drain, the roots to grow, and the plant not to get overwhelmed by standing water.

Let’s get to it!

Pothos: Plant Classification and Natural Growing Habits

A closeup of tropical 'Epipremnum Global Green' pothos houseplant in flower pot on table in living room

A closeup of the tropical ‘Epipremnum Global Green’ pothos houseplant.

©Firn/Shutterstock.com

You may be familiar with pothos as a houseplant that grows leaves up to 3-6 inches long with an overall growth of about 10-15 feet. However, did you know in ideal conditions in its native and naturalized tropical habitats, this vine can grow up to 65 feet long with leaves up to 3 feet long? Pretty wild, right? And speaking of the wild, we’re going to focus in this section on how pothos grows in its ideal wild setting.

Pothos, or Epipremnum aureum, loves to grow in the understory of a dense tropical canopy. As it grows, it tends to climb trees, developing fine aerial roots that increase the plant’s oxygen, nutrients, and moisture uptake. Pothos grows in the canopy’s understory, allowing it to receive indirect light through the tree leaves. As such, it really doesn’t enjoy direct sunlight and can quickly develop burnt leaves from overexposure.

The roots of pothos love oxygen and thrive in well-draining, aerated soil. If the soil becomes too soggy and doesn’t drain well, the roots become suffocated and susceptible to root rot. So, what does this mean for growing pothos in a pot? How will its roots fare grown in a container with a houseplant potting mix? Find out below.

Choosing the Best Pot for Pothos: Main Considerations

When choosing the best pot for pothos, you’ll want to consider three main things:

  1. Drainage
  2. Size
  3. Climate and Moisture Retention
  4. Displaying

Drainage

Choosing a pot with adequate drainage is hugely important for growing pothos. As we mentioned above, this plant does not tolerate soggy roots, so you’ll need to ensure that the soil can drain and dry out between weekly watering. This means choosing a pot with either one center or multiple small drainage holes. The drainage hole will also help you determine if your plant is overwatered (water-saturated soil draining out the bottom) or is overgrowing its pot (roots pushing out the drainage hole).

Choosing the Best Pot for Pothos: Size

Repotting a pothos plant

Repotting a pothos plant gives the roots more room to grow.

©iStock.com/DragonImages

The next major consideration you’ll want to make is the size of the pot. You may be tempted to buy a large pot where your plant will have plenty of room to grow. But there’s actually a problem with this plan- soil saturation. When you water a pot that is too large for your pothos, when all of the soil is saturated, and the roots have taken up all the moisture it needs, the roots will then sit in the excess water. So, instead of buying a too-large pot, you’ll want to pick a container about 2 inches larger than the root ball of your pothos. This way, the plant will have room to grow, but it won’t end up sitting in a large container of saturated soil that can lead to root rot.

When you buy an appropriately-sized container for pothos, expect to repot your plant into a larger container once a year. Remember that with each repotting, you’ll need to ensure you’re only purchasing a pot about 2 inches larger than the diameter of the plant’s root mass.

Climate and Moisture Retention

Plant containers can differ on how they fare during the seasons and how they retain or wick away moisture. Choosing a pot that doesn’t hold on to too much moisture is important for pothos. Even though this plant likes moist soil, it’s best to let the top few inches of the soil dry out between watering rather than keep the soil constantly moist. If you choose a pot that helps the soil retain moisture and traps condensation, such as metal pots.

Displaying Pothos in Your Pot

The final consideration you’ll want to make when choosing the best pot for pothos is how you’re going to display this lovely plant. Since pothos is a vine, it often looks wonderful as a hanging plant, on a living wall, or placed high up on a shelf or off a wall where the vines can gracefully descend over the sides of the container. While you may be tempted to choose your pot solely on how you want to display it, remember this should be your final consideration as you ultimately want to ensure your plant will thrive in the pot you choose.

Choosing the Best Pot for Pothos: Our Top 3 Picks

We recommend using terracotta, fabric or plastic pots to ensure your pothos plant is happy and in an optimal environment.

©ArtBackground/Shutterstock.com

Now that you have a list of considerations to help you determine the best pot for your pothos plant, we’ll provide our top three picks and explain why we chose them. Based on the considerations above, our top three choices for pothos planting containers are:

  1. Terracotta pots
  2. Fabric pots
  3. Plastic pots

Terracotta

Not only are terracotta pots beautiful, they are porous, which means they allow air to pass through the container and they wick water away from the soil. While this may not be ideal for other houseplants that need more moisture retention, it’s perfect for pothos. Just remember to pick a terracotta pot with a drainage hole. You may also see terracotta described as unglazed ceramic. Either is fine; just make sure not to choose glazed ceramic, as the glazing process seals the pores of the pot and prevents airflow and moisture wicking. One downside of terracotta is that it can be a bit heavier and fragile. So, if you’re planning on hanging pothos, you may want to look into the other two options listed below.

Fabric Pots

Our next choice is a bit less common but an excellent pick for low-maintenance houseplants that don’t like soggy soil like pothos. Fabric pots are highly breathable, like terracotta but aren’t nearly as fragile or heavy. They can also be made from recycled materials, which is a great bonus! When using a fabric pot, you can either display the pot on its own or, since the material is pliable, you can easily fit it into a more solid vessel like a wire, metal, or wood holder. These pots are also great options for fitting into hanging baskets.

Plastic

The last option on our list of containers is the plastic pot. There are a few great upsides to choosing plastic pots, as they are cheap, lightweight, and not particularly fragile. You can also find plastic pots made from recycled materials, but they tend to be a bit more expensive. Plastic pots are another great option for hanging baskets or mounting pot holders off a wall.

The major downside to using plastic is that it’s not breathable. So, in addition to choosing a pot with a drainage hole, you need to make sure you’re using a potting mix optimized for drainage and aeration. We recommend loamy soil with peat moss amendment for excellent drainage if you’re using soil. You can also use a non-soil-based houseplant potting mix created for drainage and airflow. These houseplant potting mixes often incorporate peat moss, perlite and/or coconut coir to ensure adequate drainage.

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The photo featured at the top of this post is © Firn/Shutterstock.com


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About the Author

Cammi Morgan is a writer at A-Z Animals where her primary focus is on mycology, marine animals, forest and river ecology, and dogs. Cammi has been volunteering in animal rescue for over 10 years, and has been studying mycology and field-researching mushrooms for the past 3 years. A resident of Southeast Appalachia, Cammi loves her off-grid life where she shares 20 acres with her landmates, foster dogs, and all the plants, fungi, and critters of the forest.

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