Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Pothos........gotta love this one!!!

For as long as I can remember I had a plant that I thought was a heart leaf philo, even though they looked slightly different (. It wasn't until I actually gave a crap about my plants, and found my hidden hobby inside myself, that I realized this was a potho's.

"Marble Queen"

Now I am a Google junkie.....if I have a question I know Google will help me It was when I started researching potho's that I realized there were a few different types of this plant. Over time I found most of the cultivars, and I love having this plant in my house. My potho's have moved numerous times to new houses. I have taken countless cuttings from them to make more pots, for myself and others.

"Jade"

As far as I know there are a few different cultivars.....jade potho's (plain green), marble queen (white and green), golden (yellow and green, and neon (brighter yellow-ish/green). Of course I am sure there are more, but these are by far the most popular. There is another one I have called Scindapsus picta, that is showing up more lately.

"Golden"

I have a jade Potho's, a marble queen, a golden and the scindapsus. Out of all of these, my plain old jade potho's is my favorite. The one I have in my dining room is starting to take over, with some of the vines (2 I think) almost 8 feet long. It is indestructible. I am bad with watering so sometimes it has to lose a leaf or two for me to notice it. It still keeps growing strong.

"Scindapsus"

I read something a long time ago, that if these plants are let to climb rather than hang, their leaves are larger and can develop splits, just like a monstera deliciosa. Well I had to test this theory, so one of my jade potho's vines has been let to climb or rest on something, rather than hang. I had forgotten that I had done this, but I noticed today that the theory is true. In this pic, obviously the non hanging potho's is on the right.


Hanging vs Climbing

A potho's can flower too, check out a pic here. I have read that it has to reach around 40 feet (40 meters, I don't remember which one, and of course I can't find it again), so I do not anticipate this to happen anytime soon.

Comparison of (from left to right) Golden, Scindapsus, Jade & Marble Queen

I love this plant, I can't think of a more versatile plant or an easier plant to take care of. I love that I can drape the long vines around my plant corner. I love that no mater where I put it, it still grows. My marble queen potho's gets yellow-ish in lower light conditions, and even though it still looks nice, I prefer the white color on the leaves. I don't do much in the way of pruning, I just take cuttings as I need them. I have never had a problem with pests on my potho's. They really are the best plants ever. Everyone should have one.


6 comments:

Jordan said...

Your pothos look very pretty! I have also found that my pothos do better when they can climb.

You have a very interesting blog and I read it often...keep up the good work!

MrBrownThumb said...

tracy,

You have to have the healthiest collection of pothos I've ever seen. I'm not much of a fan because they grow so big and take up space I need in my window but I admire the work you put into growing yours.

Tracy said...

You are making me blush......Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Tracy,

I am an advid reader of mrbrownthumb and plants are the strangest people blogs. I wanted to share with you that I have the plain green, marble queen and also the velvet leaf philo. I'd love to send you some velvet leaf philo clippings to add to your collection.

swissers(at)hotmail.com if you are interested.

Julie said...

These are neat photos, and comparisons! I love the Marble Queen! I must have one now! Nice blog...love all your photography close-ups!

Unknown said...

Can you mix the different varieties together?