For pothos or aroid plant collectors wishing to diversify their indoor plant collections, the Baltic blue pothos is a must-have plant. This Epipremnum pinnatum cultivar has glossy, green leaves that become blue as they age. As the plant matures, the Baltic blue’s leaves display dramatic fenestrations (a.k.a. cuts in its leaves), as is the case with many other pothos varieties, although this selection often displays these cuts sooner than other cultivars.
While young, Baltic blue pothos is easy to grow on a window-facing desk or tabletop by letting its stems spread out horizontally. Or, you might plant it in a hanging basket and let the stems cascade down from the container. On a moss pole or other support, you might even allow it to grow vertically. No matter how you grow it, the Baltic blue pothos responds well, making it a very adaptable plant. It grows well as a tabletop plant early on, as is the case with most pothos variations, but if you grow it vertically, you can use it as a gorgeous floor plant in your home or workplace.
In this guide, we’ll explore some important information about this unique variety of pothos, as well as how to properly grow and propagate it.
What is the Baltic Blue Pothos?
During the past few years, the popularity of the Baltic Blue pothos (classified as Epipremnum pinnatum ‘Baltic Blue’) as a houseplant has skyrocketed, and it’s easy to understand why. This plant grows quickly and requires little maintenance, just like many of its pothos siblings. It differs from other species of pothos thanks to its broad, deep blue-green leaves that fenestrate as soon as the plant becomes established and mature. The Cebu blue pothos, another fashionable pothos, and the Baltic blue pothos are both cultivars of Epipremnum pinnatum. While the Baltic blue pothos is bigger than the Cebu blue, it produces fenestrations sooner, and its leaves are somewhat darker. Both plants have similarly shaped leaves.
Native to Asia and Australia, the Baltic blue is a rarer variety of pothos. The Baltic blue pothos is a perennial vine that can easily reach up to 12 feet long indoors and 30 feet long outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 10 through 12.
Take precautions with this houseplant if you have pets or young children in your home since, like other pothos plants, the Baltic blue pothos is slightly poisonous to people and pets if consumed.
The Cebu blue pothos (pictured) shares the same species as the Baltic blue pothos.
©Firn/Shutterstock.com
How to Care for the Baltic Blue Pothos
The Baltic blue pothos is quite easy to grow indoors. This tropical plant benefits from frequent watering, lots of sunshine, and a little bit of fertilizer in the spring and summer. Nonetheless, it is also reasonably versatile and, if necessary, can go without fertilizing or watering for a short period of time. The Baltic blue pothos, like many other pothos plants, will benefit from being guided along a moss pole or similar structure, where its leaves will grow to be significantly bigger and more fenestrated. But if you’d rather let its long stems dangle, this plant can easily survive without any assistance from supports.
Between waterings, let the soil nearly fully dry out before giving it a good soak. It normally doesn’t matter if you forget to water and the soil fully dries out. When the plant is really thirsty, you might notice that the leaves start to droop a bit, but as long as you catch it quickly away and give it a decent amount of water, your Baltic Blue pothos should recover.
A Baltic Blue pothos should never be overwatered; whenever in doubt, submerge it. This pothos, like many tropical aroids, is susceptible to developing root rot if it is consistently overwatered or left in wet soil. If you have trouble figuring out when to water your Baltic blue, utilizing a device like a moisture meter will help you find out how moist the soil is and whether it is necessary to water it.
The Baltic blue pothos thrives in warm climates, making it the perfect indoor plant. These tropical houseplants shouldn’t be kept in temperatures below 55 degrees F for a lengthy period of time since they are neither cold-tolerant nor frost-tolerant.
These plants enjoy somewhat humid surroundings and around 60% humidity is ideal. However, they also flourish at the typically drier levels of indoor humidity. Just as well, they will prosper if kept in a more humid part of the house or when placed near a humidifier.
This pothos thrives in indirect light that is moderate to bright, but it can also tolerate low light if necessary. But be careful when placing it in low light levels, though, as its leaves won’t become very big and they might not even produce fenestrations. If it doesn’t get enough light, it is also more likely to develop leggy stems. The Baltic blue pothos should not be exposed to strong direct light since it is prone to leaf burn. East-facing windows and north-facing windows are the perfect spots for this variety.
Choose a soil mixture that has good drainage but can also hold some moisture. You can also add some tree bark mix if you have any on hand to make it even more drainable and airy, but mixing equal parts indoor potting soil and perlite is an excellent low-maintenance option.
During the busy growing seasons (which are spring and summer), fertilize your pothos once every month to promote robust growth. For optimal results, use a balanced liquid fertilizer that has been diluted to around half its undiluted strength. Once the plant goes into dormancy in the fall and winter, stop fertilizing. Continuing to fertilize during this dormant period could make the soil inhabitable for the plant.
How to Propagate a Baltic Blue Pothos
Pothos plants are notoriously easy to propagate. Both water and soil can be used to multiply them. Remember that you should propagate your Baltic blue pothos cutting in the spring or summer when the growing circumstances are ideal, regardless of the technique you use. It is also wise to invest in a heating pad and grow lights if you want to propagate your cuttings in the fall or winter.
The optimal propagation techniques for this cultivar are in water and soil. Although the plant will experience some transplant shock after being placed in soil, the roots develop quite well, and the plant will recover. Just cut a piece of plant material at one or two growing places or “nodes.” Nodes are where aerial roots tend to grow from pothos plants.
To start the propagation process, take stem cuttings from a mature, healthy Baltic blue pothos plant using a pair of sharp and sanitized scissors. For the greatest likelihood of success, each stem cutting has to contain no more than two to three nodes along the stem. Each stem cutting’s base should have the lowest one to two leaves removed so that the node can be seen along the length of the stem.
The cuttings can then be put in a small container filled with fresh water so that the nodes are submerged and the leaves are visible above the water’s surface. Do not submerge any of this plant’s leaves!
Put the water container in an area with medium to bright indirect light. Change out the water weekly with clean, filtered water. Little white roots should start to emerge from the stem’s nodes after a few weeks. The rooted cuttings can be planted in soil once the roots are at least an inch long.
Plant the rooted cuttings in the soil after adding some well-draining potting mix to one or more small pots. Firmly press the dirt down around the stems to keep them in place, but try not to compact the soil too much. After properly watering them, the newly potted stem cuttings should be placed back in the same area as the parent plant. Keep the soil uniformly moist for the first week to aid in the establishment of new roots. Then, gradually start letting the soil dry out more between waterings until you establish a regular watering schedule.
(pictured) is easier to propagate than to grow from seed.
©iStock.com/Firn
Pests, Diseases, and Leaf Conditions to Watch Out For
Watch out for the telltale indications of common houseplant pests including mealybugs, scale, spider mites, and aphids. Although none of these pests are particularly attracted to Baltic blue pothos plants, if you already have a pest issue at home, these bugs will happily settle down in this tropical plant. Moreover, keep an eye out for symptoms of root rot, which can happen if your plant is subjected to excessive moisture.
When cultivated indoors, the Baltic blue pothos is typically low-maintenance and is not renowned for being particularly prone to any problems. But, as plants are living things, there is always a chance that this plant will have some issues.
Similar to the majority of indoor plants, Baltic blue pothos will occasionally grow yellow leaves. It can either be a sign that something is wrong with the plant’s growth environment or it can simply be an old leaf dropping off, depending on the situation. It’s time to conduct some research if you observe that the leaves of your plant are consistently turning yellow and it’s not just the oldest leaves that are affected.
Yellow leaves on pothos plants are often the consequence of insufficient water or light, but they can also be the result of overwatering or excessive light. Many pests, including thrips and spider mites, can also result in yellow leaves that start to drop off. Examining your plant’s growth environment attentively and starting tests to identify potential problems are the only ways to be certain of the cause. As there is no way to change yellow leaves back to green after they have crossed that threshold, you can just prune them off if you don’t like how they look.
Is the Baltic Blue Pothos and Cebu Blue Pothos the Same Plant?
While being a separate variety of the same species, the Baltic blue pothos is pretty closely related to the Cebu blue pothos (a.k.a. Epipremnum pinnatum ‘Cebu Blue’). Both plants share the same genus. The Baltic blue pothos is a bit darker in hue and grows fenestrated leaves a bit quicker. The foliage of the Cebu blue has a much more vibrant silvery or whitish blue hue.
What’s not to love about the Baltic blue pothos? If you can manage to find this somewhat rare pothos variety, with excellent care and attention, this beauty will live for many years and grow quite large.
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The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Firn
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