Planting pothos in succulent soil | Should you do it?

Pothos should not be planted in succulent soil as it will drain too quickly and can cause the pothos to dry out. The best soil for pothos is a premium potting soil with added slow release fertilizer. These indoor, tropical plants like regular water, a good amount of organic matter and nitrogen fertilizer in spring.

Succulent soil is perfect for plants that prefer dryer conditions like cactus or any of the succulents that you want to grow at home.

What happens when pothos is planted in succulent soil

Pothos grown in succulent soil will dry out quickly, their leaves can go yellow or brown due to lack of water and nutrients and the plant will not thrive.

Succulent soil drains incredibly fast, is lower in nutrients that regular potting soil and is made up of large pieces to allow water to drain away quickly. This can result in the pothos suffering, growing slowly, adding minimal leaf growth and growing a poor root system.

Succulents generally prefer good drainage as their roots can rot quickly if they are kept too wet. Pothos on the other hand is a tropical plant that prefers a regular potting soil, regular watering and fertilizer in the growing season.

Best potting soil for pothos (instead of succulent soil)

The best potting soil to grow new pothos plants from cuttings or to use when transplanting your pothos is a regular, premium potting soil. A premium potting soil will contain a lot of organic matter which will hold water, sand to hold the structure of the soil and sometimes coconut coir.

Premium potting mixes can also include a seaweed mix to improve root growth and slow release fertilizer to feed the plant for up to 12 weeks.

Potting soil that is made for vegetables will also work well as this will have a similar structure and ingredients to a premium mix.

You can add an extra handful of perlite to the potting soil before petting up your pothos to improve air movement, increase drainage and allow the roots to spread through the soil easily. Some premium potting mixes will already have perlite added to the mix.

How to grow new pothos plants in potting soil

Pothos plants can be easily grown from cuttings and you can quickly create new plants for free. This can be done by trimming off a piece of stem that is at least 5 inches long, just below the leaf set, placing it in water.

The stem will quickly grow roots which can then be planted out into good quality potting soil in a pot indoors. Keep it well watered for the first 2 weeks and the plant will happily grow into a brand new plant.

Here are my easy steps for planting out new pothos cuttings or plants into potting soil.

1. Choose your pot

Choose a pot to plant your pothos that has drainage holes. This could be a plastic pot from another plant that has been cleaned and disinfected thoroughly.

For more information on how to disinfect your plant pot without using bleach, check out my previous article: How to disinfect plant pots without bleach | 7 Easy Steps

I like to use old pots from other plants I have bought so I can choose the right size to place inside an indoor pot. Indoor pots will have no drainage holes and are made to have another pot sitting inside them.

This means that any drips of water can be caught in the bottom but you can be taken out to water or moved to another pot easily to change your indoor style easily.

2. Choose your potting soil

Choose a premium potting soil that contains a slow release fertilizer, organic matter and is labelled as ‘premium’ or for vegetable gardens.

3. Fill the bottom third of the pot with potting soil

Place some potting soil in the bottom of the pot. Wear gloves when you are handing potting soil and make sure the soil is moist. Moisten the soil gently with your garden hose sprayer if it is dry.

4. Add the pothos plant

Place the pothos plant into the pot and backfill with more potting soil. Place the soil gently around the plant and do your best to fill in any holes.

5. Water the plant well

Water the pothos plant well with the sprayer on your garden hose or with a spray bottle. Make sure the pothos is watered thoroughly the first time to make sure the soil is pushed around the roots and any air pockets are filled in.

6. Fertilize

Add some slow release indoor plant fertilizer at the time of planting. This is an easy time to add fertilizer as it is easy to remember. Adding fertilizer to your pothos plants in spring is perfect because this will be their peak growing time.

Pothos plants are easy to grow if you choose the right potting soil. While it is easy to grab whatever potting soil you have at home that is leftover it might not always work.

Succulent soil is very specifically made for the types of plants that prefer very well draining soil. Planting tropical plants like pothos can slow their growth and make it difficult to keep them growing well.

I have always been growing pothos indoors and they are very forgiving, a great indoor plant to start with and look great on top of a shelf.

These plants will cascade down a book case or can be trained up a growing pole for an upright display. Pothos or devil’s ivy are one of my favorite indoor plant because they are so easy to grow.

Planting pothos in succulent soil | Summary

Pothos plants will not thrive in succulent soil as it will drain water away too quickly and contain too many air pockets. Pothos prefer a premium potting mix and will grow quickly with lots of leaves if they are watered regularly.

Add some extra seaweed solution to your watering can once per month to help with root growth. Pothos are a great plant for indoors to green up your loungeroom, bedroom or kitchen.

Happy growing.