How to Propagate Pothos in Water: A Step-by-Step Guide

Water propagation is one of the most satisfying techniques in home gardening — you can watch roots develop in real time, it requires almost no equipment, and the success rate is remarkably high for dozens of popular houseplants. Pothos is the classic starting point, but once you understand the method, you can apply it to philodendrons, tradescantia, coleus, impatiens, begonias, and many more.

I’ve been propagating plants in water for over two decades, and it’s still one of my favourite parts of looking after a collection. Here’s everything you need to know — from which plants root best in water, to cutting preparation, water quality, troubleshooting, and knowing when (and whether) to move to soil.

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Which Plants Root Best in Water?

Not every plant responds well to water propagation. Succulents and cacti, for example, rot rather than root. But a wide range of common houseplants and tender perennials take to water with minimal fuss. The key factor is whether the plant produces stem nodes — the small growth points where roots can initiate.

Plants with woody stems (roses, ficus, citrus) can technically be rooted in water but have lower success rates and do better with rooting hormone in moist medium. Focus water propagation on soft-stemmed houseplants and herbs for the best results.

What You’ll Need

• A healthy parent plant with at least one vine or stem long enough to cut
• Clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears — sterilise with isopropyl alcohol between plants
• A glass jar or clear container (narrow-necked bottles are ideal for keeping cuttings upright)
• Room-temperature water — filtered or tap left out overnight to off-gas chlorine
• A spot with bright, indirect light

That’s all you need to get started. Rooting hormone is optional for the easiest rooters — pothos and tradescantia, for example, produce their own natural auxins (rooting hormones) and rarely benefit from additives. For slower-rooting plants like monstera or begonia, a tiny dip of cut stem into liquid rooting hormone before placing in water can shave several days off the process.

Step 1: Find the Node

This is the single most important step for any vining houseplant. The node is where roots will emerge — it’s the small, slightly raised bump on the stem where a leaf attaches to the vine. Without a node submerged in water, a cutting will not root. It may stay alive for weeks, but no roots will ever form.

Run your finger along a vine and you’ll feel the nodes — they’re often a slightly different colour from the surrounding stem and sometimes have tiny aerial root nubs already visible. Those nubs, called root primordia, are a very good sign. They’ll develop into full roots much faster than a bare node with no visible growth.

For monstera, you’ll also want to look for an aerial root nub alongside the node. Including an existing aerial root in the cutting significantly speeds up water rooting for this species.

Step 2: Make the Cut

Cut about ¼ inch below a node using clean, sharp scissors or a sterilised blade. Aim for a cutting that’s 4–6 inches long with 2–4 leaves. A few rules to follow:

• Cut at a slight angle — a diagonal cut exposes more stem tissue to water, which increases the surface area available for root initiation
• Use a sharp blade — dull scissors crush and compress the stem tissue at the cut point, which can delay rooting or introduce rot
• Sterilise between plants — wiping your blade with isopropyl alcohol prevents transferring pathogens from one plant to another
• Take multiple cuttings at once — most houseplants tolerate heavy pruning and having several cuttings gives you backup if one fails

Long vines can be divided into multiple sections. Each section just needs at least one node and one leaf — you don’t need the growing tip. A 3-foot pothos vine can yield 6 or 7 individual cuttings.

Step 3: Prepare the Cutting

Remove the bottom one or two leaves from each cutting so the lower nodes are completely bare. These exposed nodes will be submerged and are where roots will emerge. Any leaves sitting underwater will rot within days, fouling the water with bacteria and potentially killing the cutting before it can root.

Leave at least one, preferably two, leaves at the top. Foliage is essential for photosynthesis — the cutting generates the energy it needs to grow roots from its remaining leaves. A leafless cutting in water will not root.

If the cutting has any yellowed, damaged, or very small leaves, remove those too. Healthy leaves only.

Step 4: Place in Water

Place the cuttings in a clean jar filled with room-temperature water. The setup should look like this:

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• At least one node — ideally two — fully submerged
• No leaves touching or below the waterline
• The cutting stable enough to stay upright — a narrow-necked bottle does this automatically; in a wide jar, lean the cutting against the rim or use a small piece of tape to hold it in place

Clear glass containers are strongly preferred over opaque ones, at least initially — being able to monitor root development means you can spot problems (rotting stem, bacterial slime, insufficient roots) before they become irreversible. Once roots are established, switching to a darker container reduces algae if that becomes an issue.

Step 5: Find the Right Spot

Place the jar in bright, indirect light. A windowsill with filtered sunlight, or a position a few feet back from a south- or east-facing window, is ideal. Avoid direct sun — it heats the water, creates conditions for algae blooms, and can scorch the cutting’s leaves before roots develop.

Temperature has a real impact on rooting speed. Penn State Extension recommends keeping pothos at 60–80°F (15–27°C), and warmer temperatures within that range noticeably accelerate rooting ^[1]. In my experience, a cutting in a 75°F room will root in roughly half the time compared to one sitting in a 62°F spot. If you’re propagating in winter and your home is cool, consider placing the jar on top of a refrigerator or near a heat source (not directly on a radiator — that’s too hot).

Step 6: Water Quality and Change Schedule

Water quality is where most failed propagations can be traced back. This is also the step most beginners skip.

Change the water at least once a week — twice is better. Fresh water provides dissolved oxygen that developing roots need to function. Stagnant water becomes anaerobic within days, promotes bacterial and fungal rot, and produces the characteristic foul smell that signals a failing cutting.

Each time you change the water:

• Rinse the jar thoroughly to remove any bacterial slime or algae from the glass
• Gently rinse the stem and roots under a slow stream of room-temperature water
• Refill with fresh room-temperature water

Water type matters more than many guides admit. Standard tap water is usually fine, but highly chlorinated municipal water can inhibit root growth. Iowa State University Extension recommends using water that has been left out overnight, which allows chlorine to off-gas naturally ^[2]. Filtered water or rainwater works even better. Avoid softened water — the sodium content is harmful to plants.

If you notice the water turning cloudy or developing any discolouration between scheduled changes, swap it immediately and inspect the cutting’s stem for soft, discoloured tissue, which is an early sign of rot.

Should You Use Rooting Hormone in Water?

For easy rooters like pothos and tradescantia, rooting hormone adds no meaningful benefit. These plants produce their own auxins in quantity — pothos in particular is well known for releasing enough natural rooting hormone into the water that some gardeners add pothos cuttings to jars with harder-to-root plants as a propagation aid.

For slower or more stubborn rooters — monstera, aglaonema, certain begonias — a small amount of liquid rooting hormone (IBA-based) can help. Dip the cut end and the node area into diluted liquid rooting hormone for about 5 seconds before placing in water. Gel rooting hormones designed for soil application are less effective in water and can cloud the water without much benefit.

Willow water is a natural alternative worth knowing about. Willow stems and branches contain high concentrations of indolebutyric acid (IBA) and salicylic acid, both of which promote rooting. Soaking chopped willow twigs in water overnight and using the resulting liquid as your propagation water is a legitimate technique backed by a reasonable body of horticultural research, though the concentration and consistency is less predictable than commercial products.

Step 7: Wait for Roots

Here’s the typical timeline for pothos and similar easy-rooting houseplants:

• Days 3–5: Small white bumps appear at the nodes — these are root initials forming
• Days 7–14: Thin white roots emerge and begin lengthening
• Days 14–21: Roots reach ½ to 1 inch and start branching into secondary rootlets
• Days 21–28: Roots are 1–2 inches long with visible branching — ready to transplant to soil

University of Wisconsin Extension notes that pothos buds can begin growing in as little as 1–2 weeks under warm conditions ^[3]. In my experience, cuttings taken in summer from actively growing plants root faster than winter cuttings from the same plant — the difference can be two to three weeks.

Slower-rooting plants like monstera will need 3–5 weeks before roots are long enough to transplant, and that’s perfectly normal. Resist the urge to poke, prod, or move the cutting during this period — disturbance slows root development.

Step 8: Transitioning to Soil

Once roots are 1–2 inches long with some secondary branching, it’s time to move the cutting to soil. Timing this correctly is more important than most guides acknowledge.

Don’t transplant too early. Roots under ½ inch are fragile and have difficulty anchoring in soil — the cutting can rock in the pot and the roots won’t establish properly.

Don’t wait too long, either. Water roots are structurally different from soil roots. They develop without the soil-adapted root hairs needed to extract water and nutrients from growing medium. Cuttings left in water for months develop increasingly fragile, specialised water roots that struggle badly when moved to soil — wilting that can be severe enough to kill the plant.

The ideal transplant window for most houseplants is when roots are 1–2 inches long and starting to branch. Here’s how to do it well:

1. Fill a small pot (4-inch is ideal for a single cutting) with well-draining potting mix — standard indoor potting mix works fine, or add 20–30% perlite for extra drainage
2. Water the potting mix before planting so it’s evenly moist but not soggy
3. Make a hole in the centre of the soil deep enough to accommodate the root length
4. Gently lower the cutting into place and firm the soil lightly around the roots — avoid packing it down hard
5. Water again gently from the top to settle the soil around the roots
6. Keep the soil consistently moist (not wet) for the first 2–3 weeks while the water roots adapt to the new medium

Some wilting in the first week is completely normal and not a cause for alarm. The water roots are adjusting and beginning to grow soil-adapted root hairs. Maintain moisture, avoid fertilising for 4–6 weeks (new roots are too fragile to handle fertiliser salts), and within 2–3 weeks you should see new leaf growth — the sign that the plant has successfully established.

Plants That Can Live in Water Permanently vs Those That Must Move to Soil

This is a question I get asked frequently, and the honest answer is more nuanced than most sources let on.

Plants That Do Well Long-Term in Water

A handful of plants genuinely thrive as permanent water plants, or at least survive well for extended periods with the right care:

• Pothos — can live in water indefinitely with regular nutrient supplementation, though growth is much slower than in soil
• Tradescantia — tolerates water long-term and makes a decorative water plant
• Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) — specifically adapted to hydroponic conditions; routinely sold as a water plant
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema) — tolerates water long-term better than most aroids
• Coleus — can live in water for months, though will eventually weaken without nutrients

Plants That Should Move to Soil

Most houseplants are not adapted to permanent water culture. They’ll survive short-term but will eventually decline:

• Monstera — roots well in water but needs soil for long-term nutritional health
• Philodendron — tolerates water propagation but should be moved to soil once roots establish
• Begonias — prone to rot in prolonged water culture; move to soil promptly
• Basil and herbs — can live in water for weeks to months but will eventually exhaust available nutrients and decline

If you want to keep any plant in water long-term, you must supplement with nutrients. Add liquid fertiliser diluted to ¼ strength every 2–4 weeks. Without it, the plant will survive but won’t grow — water alone contains no nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium, and the plant will slowly exhaust whatever reserves it brought from the original cutting.

Troubleshooting: Why Your Cutting Isn’t Rooting

Water propagation fails for a predictable set of reasons. Most failures are fixable once you identify the cause.

No roots after 4+ weeks

• No node submerged — the most common cause. Check that a node is fully underwater; a node barely touching the waterline won’t root reliably
• Water too cold — below 60°F significantly inhibits root initiation in most tropical houseplants. Move to a warmer spot
• Cutting taken from a stressed parent plant — plants that are overwatered, nutrient-deficient, or recently repotted produce cuttings with lower rooting success. Take cuttings from healthy, actively growing material
• Cutting too old — very woody or old stem sections root more slowly than young, actively growing stem tips

Stem rotting at the base

• Water not changed frequently enough — bacteria accumulate in stagnant water and attack the soft stem tissue. Increase change frequency to every 3–4 days
• Leaves in the water — remove any leaf that touches the waterline
• Wound site contaminated — if the cut was made with unsterilised scissors, pathogens can infect the fresh wound. Trim back the stem slightly above the rotten section with a sterilised blade and start fresh

Leaves yellowing or dropping

• Too much direct sun — move to indirect light
• Water temperature shock — always use room-temperature water; cold tap water can cause leaf drop
• Normal stress response — losing one or two lower leaves during rooting is normal. As long as the upper leaves remain, the cutting is likely fine

For broader issues with pothos health, see our guide on why pothos leaves turn yellow — many of the same principles apply to cuttings in water.

Roots developing but cutting dies after transplanting

• Transplanted too late — very long water roots (3+ inches) are too specialised and fragile; trim them back to 1–1.5 inches with scissors before planting, which encourages new soil-adapted roots to form from the cut ends
• Soil too dry or too wet — maintain even moisture for the first 3 weeks; the cutting has no drought tolerance until soil roots develop
• Overfertilised too soon — wait at least 6 weeks after transplanting before applying any fertiliser

Pro Tips for Faster Rooting

• Choose vines with aerial roots already showing. Those small brown nubs along the stem are root primordia — they develop into full roots significantly faster than bare nodes
• Propagate in spring or summer. Active growth season means faster, more reliable rooting. Winter propagation works but typically takes two to three times longer
• Keep water and room temperature in the 70–80°F range for the fastest results. Temperature is one of the most controllable variables
• Group multiple pothos cuttings together. Pothos releases natural auxins into the water — more cuttings means a higher auxin concentration, which benefits all the cuttings in the same jar
• Use a dark or amber container if algae is a recurring problem. Algae needs light to grow; a dark container blocks it while still allowing you to monitor roots through occasional checks
• Don’t crowd the jar. Multiple cuttings competing for oxygen in a small jar can slow rooting. If you’re doing many cuttings, use multiple jars or a wide container

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Sources

1. Penn State Extension. “Pothos as a Houseplant.” Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.
2. Iowa State University Extension. “Yard and Garden: Propagating Houseplants.” ISU News.
3. University of Wisconsin Extension. “Pothos, Epipremnum aureum.” Wisconsin Horticulture.
4. University of Vermont Extension. “More, Please: Propagating Houseplants.” UVM Extension News.
5. South Dakota State University Extension. “Pothos (Devil’s Ivy, Golden Pothos): House Plant How-To.”