How to Grow and Care for Devil’s Ivy (Pothos)
Devil’s Ivy (Epipremnum aureum), also known as Pothos, is most commonly grown as an easy going indoor plant - it’s one of the best houseplants for beginners! Devil’s Ivy is a rambling or climbing plant with beautiful dark green, lime green or variegated foliage. It can be left to hang over the sides of pots or trained to grow up a totem pole.
Devil’s Ivy prefers a position with bright, indirect light - too much direct sun can scorch its leaves.
Top 5 steps to growing Devil’s Ivy
- Devil’s Ivy is an easy to grow, climbing indoor plant. Give them a totem to climb or allow them to spill over the sides of a pot.
- Use a premium, indoor plant potting mix like Scotts Osmocote® Premium Potting Mix for Indoor Plants.
- Devil’s Ivy will benefit from a humid environment, mist them with water regularly or place them in a naturally humid environment like a bathroom or kitchen.
- Fertilise Devil’s Ivy with a fertiliser designed specially for indoor plants like Scotts Osmocote® Pour+Feed for Indoor Plants
- Position your Devil’s Ivy in a bright spot, with indirect sunlight.
Shopping List
- A Devil’s Ivy plant
- A suitable pot
- Scotts Osmocote® Premium Potting Mix for Indoor Plants
- Scotts Osmocote® Pour+Feed for Indoor Plants
- Scotts Osmocote Mist+Feed for Indoor Plants
- A controlled release fertiliser, either:
Growing
Devil’s Ivy should be planted into either a pot with drainage holes or a plastic pot (with drainage holes) that fits snugly into a coverpot (without drainage holes). Choose a pot no more than 2 times the size of the original nursery pot.
Half fill your pot with Scotts Osmocote® Premium Potting Mix for Indoor Plants and gently remove the Devil’s Ivy from the nursery pot and position it into the potting mix, backfill around the root ball with more potting mix.
Water your new Devil’s Ivy in well and mist the leaves regularly to improve the humidity in dry climates.
Fertilising & Care
Depending on your climate and how dry it is inside your home, your Devil’s Ivy will probably only need a fortnightly watering. Remember to tip out excess water from coverpots or saucers.
To encourage your Devil’s Ivy to climb, provide it with a moss pole inserted into the potting mix. Loosely attach some of the stem to the plant to encourage it upwards, but once established the plant will wind itself up and they can grow up to 2 metres tall!
Fertilise your Devil’s Ivy with a suitable indoor plant fertiliser. Scotts Osmocote® Pour+Feed for Indoor Plants or Scotts Osmocote Mist+Feed for Indoor Plants can be applied fortnightly and you’ll see visible growth within a week. Alternatively use Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser Tablets for Indoor Plants for Indoor Plants or Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser for Indoor Plants applied every 6 months.
Warning - Devil’s Ivy is poisonous to cats and dogs and it can also be a skin irritant for humans. Keep the plants away from small children and pets. Hanging baskets are great for this!
Fun Fact
Devil’s Ivy can grow purely in water! Take a cutting from an established plant and remove the lower leaves. Place in a glass or jar filled with water and pop it into a bright spot with indirect sunlight. To fertilise water growing Devil’s Ivy add a pump of Scotts Osmocote Pump+Feed for Indoor Water Plants into the water every 5-7 days.
Pests & Diseases
Devil’s Ivy are mostly pest and disease free. However mealybugs and scale can from time to time become a problem - use Defender Pyrethrum Insect Spray to control them if needed.
