How to Grow Long Pothos Vines | 8 Easy Tips

Grow long pothos vines at home by following a few easy steps. The top ways to grow long pothos vines is to focus the plant’s energy on a few vines and trim the rest, water the plant regularly and repot your plant every year. Place the plant in a bright, light position, plant it in good quality soil and use a slow release indoor plant food every 6 months.

There are 8 easy tips to grow long pothos vines explored in this article. Check out each one and try them at home and you can grow a large pothos plant with long vines.

Here are my top 8 tips for long pothos vines.

1. Focus plant energy on a few vines

The easiest way to grow long vines on pothos is to encourage the plant to focus all its energy on a few long vines. Pothos will branch out and grow lots of vines if you let it. To grow the longest vines possible, trim off the excess vines and allowing 3-4 long vines to grow.

You can actually let the plant grow 1 long vine if you like. This will get the plant to put all its energy to grow the vine long and fast. I have a range of pothos that are growing 1 vine and up to 4-5 long vines. Focusing the plant’s energy on a few long vines will get them to grow longer and faster.

Keep your plant growing 2-3 vines if you want them as long as possible.

2. Repot your plant every year

The next tip to grow long pothos vines is to repot your plant every year. This will give your plant more room, fresh soil and it will grow long vines faster. Repotting pothos into a plant that is 1-2 inches wider and deeper will allow the root to grow larger and the stems to grow longer.

You can also refresh the soil each year to give your plant a nutrient boost. Overtime the organic matter in soil will start to break down, it will hold less water and the plant growth will slow. Repotting and refreshing the plant’s soil is a great way to boost the nutrient level and water holding capacity of the soil.

3.  Water regularly

Watering pothos regularly is key to encouraging the plant to grow long, healthy vines. Watering pothos plants every week in summer, every 2 weeks in fall and spring and every 3-4 weeks in winter. Giving pothos plants regular water will mean that the plant will not be stressed and will continue to grow rapidly.

The best way to water pothos is to take the pot over to your sink and water it across the soil surface. Thoroughly wet the soil until you see small drips come from the drainage holes. Allow it to drain and then return it to the pot tray or outer pot.

4. Increase humidity

Increasing humidity levels for your pothos will encourage the plant to grow faster and longer stems. Higher humidity levels will increase the amount of water the plant absorbs through its leaves. Pothos are tropical plants that grow larger and faster with a humidity level of 50-75%.

There are lots of ways to increase humidity levels including misting the plant in the morning, using a small, indoor humidifier or moving the pothos to your bathroom.

For more on increasing humidity for pothos, check out my article here: Pothos and Humidity | 6 Ways to Increase Humidity

5. Place it in a bright light position

Bright light is essential for growing long pothos stems. Bright filtered sunlight is perfect for pothos as it will allow the leaves to photosynthesize and make food for the plant. The carbon captured during photosynthesis is used by the plant to grow stems and leaves and lengthen the vine.

Avoid placing pothos in direct sun as this can cause leaf damage, browning on the tips and edges or yellowing leaves and slow growth.

This pothos is growing long vines in a bright position near a window. The plant gets bright morning light but no direct sun.

6. Good quality soil

Good quality potting soil is essential for growing long pothos vines. When repotting your plant, choose a premium all-purpose potting soil. This will contain good amounts of organic matter for good drainage. Check the pack and make sure it contains a slow release fertilizer. This will help to feed your plant allowing good root and stem growth.

7. Fertilizer

Regularly fertilizing pothos is essential to grow long stems. Follow a regime of adding a slow release fertilizer every 6 months to your plant. Add this at the start of spring and the start of fall. Avoid adding fertilize in winter because growth will naturally slow and it will not need as many nutrients over this time.

For outdoor pothos, water with some seaweed solution at the start of each month to strengthen root growth and feed the soil bacteria. You can use a liquid fertilizer if you like, but this will need to be added each month over the growing periods of spring and summer.

8. Mulch the pot

The final tip for growing long pothos plant is to mulch the top of the pot with coconut coir. This will help the moisture to stay in the soil for longer by reducing evaporation. This means the plant will have more consistent water in the soil.

It is best to water the plant in the morning in the cooler months. During the warmer weather you can water your plant in the morning or afternoon or whatever suit your schedule.

How long it takes for pothos to grow long

Pothos can grow up to 2-3 feet in a year if they are given the water, nutrients and light they need. Put them in a bright sunny position, water regularly and feed them with slow release plant food and you can encourage 2-3 vines to grow rapidly over this time. For the fastest possible growth, repot the plant every year with new potting soil.

Pothos plants can grow stems that are 20 feet long under the right conditions. The vines may need support over time, hanging them over a book shelf or using hooks to hold them up. A single vine will grow fastest as the plant can focus all its energy on growing this stem.

Place pothos on a shelf to encourage them to grow long vines that trail and hang down.

How to Grow Long Pothos Vines | Summary

Pothos can grow incredibly long vines, over 20 feet on an older plant. For the longest possible vines, allow the plant to focus on 2-3 vines instead of many. Water the plant regularly, fertilize with a good quality indoor plant food and place it in a bright position. Pothos vines can trail down the side of a book shelf or grow from a hanging pot.

Pothos are hardy and fast growing so try one at home for a great feature in your bathroom, lounge room or even the bedroom.

Happy growing.