Growing Outdoor Pothos: Where to Best Plant Them and More

Written by Cammi Morgan
Updated: March 16, 2023
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A beloved houseplant across the world, pothos can also be successfully grown outside in many warm, humid environments. If you’re interested in growing pothos outdoors, you’ll want to ensure you set this lovely plant up for success. As a plant native to the tropics, growing pothos outdoors in a suitable environment is crucial to helping it thrive.

This guide will cover pothos’s native growing environment. We’ll also look at what it needs to thrive and plant care tips for growing pothos outside.

Neon pothos plant

Pothos can be grown outdoors in the proper conditions.

©M.Sabouri/Shutterstock.com

Pothos: Plant Classification and Native Growing Environment

This plant belongs to the Araceae family of flowering plants. It is native to the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific. Its botanical name is Epipremnum aureum. Common names for this plant include devil’s ivy, Solomon Island’s ivy, and golden pothos. Interestingly, while pothos is a climbing vine, it’s not an ivy, contrary to a few of its popular names.

In its native habitat, pothos grows in the understory of a dense tropical canopy where it enjoys filtered, indirect sunlight. As it matures, the plant grows higher along its host tree. It will use aerial roots to intake extra nutrients, oxygen, and moisture. Growing in the tropics, this plant loves heat and humidity, and it has become naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions.

Pothos Growing Requirements

Called devil’s ivy for its high adaptability and resilient nature, pothos is an excellent plant for beginner gardeners who wish to grow it outdoors or indoors as a houseplant. To successfully grow this plant outdoors, you’ll want to mimic its natural growing environment as much as possible. Take note that you can only grow pothos outdoors year-round if you live in a climate that does not typically drop below 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. So, for the vast majority of the US, gardeners will need to bring this heat-loving plant indoors once the temps start to drop.

So, what are pothos basic growing requirements? To thrive this plant needs to grow in the following conditions:

  • Fertile, moist, well-draining, aerated, slightly acidic (6.0-6.5 pH) soil.
  • Temperatures between 70-90 degrees Fahrenheit during its growing seasons of Spring and Summer.
  • Humidity percentage between 50-70%.
  • Medium-to-bright, indirect sunlight.

Can You Grow Pothos Outdoors Year-Round?

For gardeners in the US, pothos can be grown outdoors year-round in USDA zones 10-12. These zones are basically limited to some southern areas of California, Texas, Florida, and most of Hawaii. If you do live in these regions, you should be able to grow pothos as an outdoor perennial provided your region or plant care routine provides the rest of this plant’s growing requirements. For example, in a hot, arid region of Texas, the annual temperatures may suit pothos, but not the low air humidity. In that case, you may need to provide increased humidity with a mister setup.

For folks who don’t live within pothos’s hardiness zones, you can grow pothos outside in a container, but you’ll want to bring this heat-loving plant inside once the temperatures drop below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. As such, make sure to keep your pothos in a container that you can lift and bring inside when needed.

Size of Outdoor-Grown Pothos?

When grown outdoors, the size this plant reaches depends on its growing climate, soil quality, and pot size. In non-tropical climates, this plant can reach up to 20 feet long. However, in tropical climates that mimic its native growing region, mature pothos can reach up to 65 feet long in ideal conditions. It typically takes pothos about 10-20 years to enter maturity, at which point it will start to grow to this incredible length.

In order to reach this stunning size, pothos needs to grow directly in the ground (in nutritive soil) where its roots can adequately spread. It will also need to be able to climb a tree with a large canopy or a suitable trellis that protects this plant from direct sunlight. In order to reach this massive size, pothos needs to develop aerial roots from its stem as it climbs, which helps it gain additional nutrients, water, and oxygen.

Be Careful of Invasive Species Status!

While you may be excited about planting pothos into the ground, it’s crucial to know if pothos is considered invasive in your area. This hardy plant is highly adaptable, and as a resilient climbing vine, it can quickly overtake native plants. If you live outside of this plant’s native or naturalized areas, you should definitely check reputable sites to confirm if it poses a risk to native plants. For instance, the Florida Invasive Species Council designates pothos as a “Category II” species for South and Central Florida. This means if pothos escapes into wild plant communities, there is a moderate risk of it causing ecological damage.

As such, if you live outside of pothos’s native and naturalized areas, it’s best to plant this lovely vine in a container to protect native species and the native ecology.

Growing Pothos Outside: Where to Plant?

So, we’ve determined that the best course of action for gardeners outside of native/naturalized regions is to plant pothos outdoors in containers. You could choose a number of pots depending on how you want to display your plant. Hanging baskets could work well, but you’ll likely need to prune your plant to keep it from trailing the ground. On the flip side, you can plant pothos into a lovely earthen pot at the base of a tree or trellis and train the vines to climb. As a climbing vine, your plant will happily thrive with this setup. You could also plant your pothos into a container that’s set on a living wall. This would allow the vines to cascade down the wall among the other plants gracefully.

No matter what container you choose, you’ll want to ensure you place your pothos in an area with filtered, indirect light. While pothos can tolerate low-light conditions fairly well, it suffers from leaf burn and wilting in direct sunlight. An optimum area is a place that receives bright indirect light. Remember, pothos naturally grows as an understory plant among large tropical trees, where it receives filtered light through the leaves of the trees. Recreating this habitat is an excellent way to grow pothos outdoors.

Pothos dorati o Epipremnum aureum, best indoor plant

Pothos thrive in filtered, indirect sunlight.

©Lifesummerlin/Shutterstock.com

Growing Pothos Outdoors: Plant Care Tips

If you live in a region with consistent rainfall, you shouldn’t need to water your pothos too often. Typically in tropical and subtropical regions with consistent rainfall year-round, outdoor-grown pothos receives enough moisture from the rain. However, it’s always good to keep an eye on this plant’s moisture level by checking the soil. Like with indoor-grown pothos, if the top 2-3 inches of the soil is entirely dry, the plant needs watering. A general rule of thumb is that if your area hasn’t received rainfall in about 1.5-2 weeks, it will need thorough watering.

During its growing seasons of Spring and Summer, the plant uptakes more water through the roots, so, depending on your climate, rainfall may not provide enough moisture. Again, you should be set as long as you’re checking the soil moisture, paying attention to rainfall, and looking for signs of underwatering (drooping, crispy yellow/brown leaves, stunted growth).

Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that your potting soil is adequately nutritive. When growing pothos outside in a container, you’ll need to meet its growing needs by providing fertile soil. Potting soil depletes over time without a robust microbial community to break down organic matter into nutrients. So, ideally, you should add a balanced NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) liquid fertilizer about once every 6 weeks during pothos’s growing season.

Watering a pothos plant

Pothos soil should be kept moist and well-drained.

©iStock.com/Margarita Khamidulina

Will It Flower?

If you’re growing outdoors, you may wonder if your pothos plant will flower. The likely answer is no. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, pothos is considered a “shy-flowering” plant, meaning it doesn’t tend to produce flowers or reproduce through flower production. Instead, it tends to reproduce vegetatively. This means the plant typically clones itself from stems that break off the main plant. Pothos is extremely successful at this type of reproduction. Scientists have identified a gibberellin deficiency as responsible for this shy-flowering nature. Gibberellin is a hormone responsible for, among other processes, catalyzing flower production.

Secondly, when pothos does flower, it does so after it has entered its mature life cycle phase. This typically happens after 10 years. To enter maturity, pothos needs adequate space for its roots to grow. It also needs ample nutrients, heat, humidity, enough moisture, oxygen, and plenty of bright, indirect sunlight. When grown in pots, pothos typically doesn’t have the space its roots need to grow. It will have a hard time uptake enough nutrients, oxygen, and water through the soil to enter maturity.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Lifesummerlin/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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