Providing mild to moderately warm temperatures, plenty of indirect sunlight, and sparingly watering will make it easier for you to care for pothos plant in winter.
Even though the winter months can be hard on plants, there are a few easy steps you can take to keep your pothos healthy and happy.
Given the proper environmental conditions, pothos is pretty simple to maintain.
Also, there are several things you can do in the winter to make sure your plants stay strong, receive lots of nutrients, and look amazing all winter.
If pothos is relocated next to a light window, given slow-release fertilizer in the fall, and watered once every four weeks, they can flourish throughout the winter.
Before winter arrives, re-pot large pothos to give them time to grow roots. When it’s cool outside, they will remain dormant, but when spring arrives, they will grow quickly.
During the winter, keep pothos indoors at a temperature of more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pothos Plant Cold Tolerance
Indoor temperatures between 55 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for pothos. To assist pothos to endure a harsh winter, keep the temperature above 50 degrees.
That should be simple to accomplish indoors, but if it becomes too cold, it could be necessary to bring an outdoor pothos inside.
Ideal Temperature to Grow Pothos
The ideal temperature to grow pothos ranges between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, pothos should be maintained in temperatures that are continuously above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pothos plants also enjoy high humidity levels. Keeping the plant in a normally humid part of the house, like the kitchen or bathroom, will increase the humidity surrounding it.
There is no need to buy a humidifier because the plant is quite resilient and can survive in areas with low humidity.
Pothos Winter Care Tips
Keeping the pothos plant warm during the winter is the best strategy for caring for it. Being tropical plants, pothos needs to spend the winter in a warm environment.
If you have a pothos plant indoors, keep it away from windows and from cold drafts throughout this time of year.
Because pothos dislikes too much disruption or changes throughout the winter, it’s also vital to avoid re-potting them during this period.
Here are winter care tips for pothos indoors and outdoors.
1. Provide a lot of indirect sunlight
Bring your plant inside, you should locate a spot for it as close to a window so your plant can get the benefit of indirect sunlight.
You don’t have any windows at home? It’s all right.
Pothos are very tolerant plants; even though they may not thrive in low light, they will survive the winter and bounce back once they are faced with more indirect sunlight.
Do remember that if your pothos doesn’t get enough indirect sunlight, it could grow leggy and spindly, and variegated varieties can be seen in their leaves turning green as well as losing part of their beautiful patterns.
2. Fertilize your pothos.
Pothos plants don’t require a lot of feed. Most potting soils lack nutrients, so you can fertilize the plant twice a month.
But avoid fertilizing the pothos during the winter season as they go dormant.
Fertilizing a bit is good in comparison to over-fertilizing. This will kill your plant, do it when it’s required.
Check this out: What is the best fertilizer for pothos?
3. Prepare for winter by re-potting your pothos.
Pothos can be replanted before winter to get a jump start on spring growth.
Before the fall season is over, remove your pothos from their present container and re-pot them in a container that is 1-2 inches bigger and deeper than its present container while using quality potting soil.
Every two to three years, pothos can be replanted to keep them healthy and vigorous.
4. In the winter, water your pothos once a month.
Reduce the quantity of watering your pothos to once per month or fewer. The soil can be overwatered and will take longer to dry out. Pour water over the pothos and allow any extra to drain out the bottom.
See if the soil requires more water by checking it. Pothos can still dry out if it is placed close to a heat source, such as a fireplace or heater.
Even if you frequently neglect to water your plants, pothos is perhaps one of the easiest indoor plants to grow.
It is preferable to relocate it somewhere away from direct heat. The pothos will remain content, and it may even help prevent any leaf harm.
5. Prepare your pothos cuttings for the winter by planting them.
Propagating Pothos cuttings in summer or spring is fine, but rooting it in the winter season can take so much time. If you are raising your pothos in water, then it’s time to plant out because winter has arrived now.
You have to do it before the winter until the roots are long at 3-4 inches. Cutting in the fall can take up to four weeks.
Dividing them in the springs is good as it will receive plenty of time to be established over the summer.
As said earlier above pothos plants go dormant and don’t need any extra or special care. With just a little bit of attention, your plant will look lively all winter long.
6. Avoid misting excessively
Misting the pothos plant in winter can be good while doing it in moderation. This will help to keep the leaves of pothos moist in winter but overdoing it can infect your pothos leaves with fungus.
All you have to do is limit the quantity of misting on the leaves in winter to make your pothos look more lively.
Moreover, summer and spring require another care routine for pothos. However, in winter you only have to do this.
7. Remove any old leaves.
Winter has already started, and as you know, houseplants go dormant this season. Before the winter, you can ready your pothos plant to survive the winter by removing any colourless leaves.
You can identify it by checking the colour of the leaves, which will be in the shade of yellow or brown.
If you don’t remove any yellowish leaves, the plant will look somehow damaged because of its appearance. Just a little transformation helps the plant to look more lively in winter.
Pothos plant go dormant in winter and don’t grow much. With just a little trimming, your plant will look good throughout the winter.
Also Read: How to Propagate Pothos Plant with Cuttings?
Can Pothos Survive Winter?
If you feed your pothos with some slow-release fertilizer in the fall, place it near a light window indoors, and water it once a month, it will survive the winter.
Pothos is a robust plant that may brighten up a dull house throughout the winter.
Make sure the pothos receive plenty of indirect sunlight so they may continue to photosynthesize in the winter.
How to Water Pothos Plants in Winter?
The pothos development slows down throughout the winter, or, to put it another way, there is almost no new growth.
The sun’s heat also gets gentle, giving the soil more time to absorb water.
The soil often needs to be checked before watering, although watering once every two weeks will do. It might not be a good idea to overwater them if it’s freezing where you live.
So the best approach to determine whether your plant requires watering or not is to check the soil.
Can Pothos Grow Outside in Winter?
Even though pothos are hardy plants that can endure temperatures as low as 50°F (10°C), if they are subjected to winter freezing temperatures, especially below freezing temperatures, they are unlikely to withstand the damage.
If you have pothos plants, bring them inside for the winter. Moreover, you have the option of storing them in a greenhouse or the garage.
Do I need to Fertilize my Pothos in Winter?
No more fertilizing is required from December to February. If you fertilize throughout these months, your pothos plant may have a higher chance of developing brown leaves.
In November, you can give your pothos plants a little boost with some liquid fertilizer as winter approaches.
Before winter, you must fertilize your pothos. Consider adding a pothos-friendly fertilizer, such as a liquid fertilizer made just for pothos or an all-purpose, slow-release fertilizer that will give your plant one last boost before the arrival of winter.
Just remember to take extreme care when measuring out any all-purpose fertilizer since pothos typically only require 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of fertilizer that the manufacturer recommends. Instead of overfertilizing and harming your plant, it is better to take care of it.
Ensure that you are giving a diluted mixture to the plant. You don’t want to unintentionally fertilize them too much!
Avoid these things while growing pothos in Winter
If they are protected from the cold and harsh weather, pothos plants can survive the winter.
Avoid too much watering
You must first understand how much water a pothos plant need in the winter in order to properly care for it. During the winter months, pothos should only be watered once in two weeks. Never overwater them, as this increases their risk of becoming ill and dying.
If the soil is still damp after inserting your finger approximately an inch into it, you don’t need to water it. More watering is necessary if the soil seems dry and crunchy on top of the surface layer of the pothos plant.
Winter fertilization of the Pothos plant
Fertilizing is another essential element of caring for pothos in the winter, but since they aren’t growing anyway at this time, you don’t need to give them as much fertilizer.
In reality, a lot of individuals don’t fertilize their pothos over the winter. Instead, they do not feed their pothos plant; they merely provide water. That is beneficial since the soil will stay moist without developing a salt buildup that could damage your plant.
Conclusion
Its easy to take of pothos in winter, shift them to warmer temperature, reduce watering depending on your climatic condition and expose them towards indirect sunlight.
During the winter, pothos is beautiful plants that need minimal maintenance. They want bright, indirect light, so put them where they will receive it for 4 to 5 hours each day.
Your pothos plants may survive the chilly winter months with a little planning and attention. Bring them in, give them just a little water, and give them lots of indirect sunlight. You’ll have very content pothos in the spring if you do that!
To protect it from cold breezes, put your plant close to double glazing or away from any chilly air coming through a window.
You can prune back your pothos if it appears excessively lanky or is starting to wilt.
Khaja Moinuddin, a computer science graduate, finds joy in gardening and homesteading. Join him on this blog as he shares his experiences in homesteading, gardening, and composting