What Is Marble Pothos?
The marble pothos plant is also called “marble queen” and “toy box vine.” As with all pothos plants, the leaves are variegated in green and white.
It has a trailing growth habit that grows to 15 feet long and about three feet wide. The vines will trail along the ground or climb on a trellis or hanging basket. The vine will flower during the spring and summer with white flowers that grow to 2 inches long.
Where Are marble pothos from?
Marble pothos is popular in greenhouses, homes, and offices because of their trailing growth habit. India and Sri Lanka are the primary locations where this plant grows wild; it’s hardy in USDA zones 9 through 11.
Marble pothos does well indoors as a houseplant in either high light situations (near a window), partially shaded areas, or under fluorescent lights – especially if you don’t want the leaves to get too variegated and pastel-colored. If you have kids who like to play with garden toys, plant your marble pothos in hanging baskets where they can climb on them.
Marble Pothos Care & Maintenance
Marble pothos care is easy. The plant can thrive in low light and is considered an “indoor jungle vine.” As trailing houseplants, they like to be kept moist so the leaves don’t dry out.
Marble Pothos Care Tips
Pinching: If you want your marble pothos to grow into fuller, bushier plants that climb up trellises, pinch off growing tips when they reach 6 inches or longer.
Hanging Baskets: If your plant has grown too long and floppy, cut it back by half its length and continue to water it well until more side shoots appear from the bottom of the stem.
These side shoots have reached about 8-10 inches long, you can start pinching off the growing tips to encourage fullness, and that will keep your marble pothos from getting too long and floppy.
Care in Winter: If you live in an area with cold winters, you need to allow your plant to become dormant by letting the leaves die back until spring. After a freeze, remove the dead leaves.
Don’t prune it back during or after a freeze, or you won’t see the pretty white flowers in Spring! You may want to place your plant near a sunny window during this time so that it’s ready for Springtime when you want it showy white flowers again. Otherwise, leave it where it is and let it be quiet.
Marble Pothos Light Requirements:
Marble pothos like high to medium indirect light. Too much direct light can cause the leaves to get too variegated and pastel-colored.
You should try to keep it in areas where the sunlight doesn’t shine directly on them, but you can also place them under fluorescent lights for great results if you don’t have a window that gets enough natural daylight.
Water Requirements
Watering marble pothos is very easy. You don’t want the soil to dry out, so keep the soil moist. Overwatering frequently leads to root rot and other problems. Allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out between watering. It’s better to under-water than overwater plants in general because over-watering often causes more problems for indoor plants than any other problem does!
When your plant is growing vigorously, water it every 7 days or so. When it’s dormant in wintertime, cut back on watering but don’t let the plant shrivel up from lack of moisture (always keep a little moisture in the pot). If you live in a mild climate that doesn’t get too cold in winter (zones 8 and above), the plant will be all right if you let it go dormant.
Keep Marble Pothos Moist:
The plant does best when its soil is kept moist all of the time – do not let the plant dry out! Water marble pothos by pouring water into the top of their container until the excess starts draining through the drainage holes. Don’t allow your houseplants to sit in saucers full of water, but do allow the excess water to drain out.
Temperature Requirements for Marble Pothos:
Cold tolerance is 40 to 100 F. If you’re going to put your pothos outside, don’t let the temperature drop below 50F, or else it may die off. Please don’t leave it out in freezing temperatures unless you know that there’s no chance of freezing.
Marble Pothosoptimal care:
Marble pothos, like all houseplants, do not due fertilizer because they are grown in high-pH soils due to good cultivation practices. Most fertilizers will burn the roots of a houseplant or cause nutrient deficiencies.
The best way to fertilize your pothos is to use a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro, or a weak soluble fertilizer such as fish emulsion, from time to time during the growing season.
You should allow the top layer of soil to dry out before you fertilize again. This is most important! Be sure not to over-fertilize your plant by using high amounts of nitrogen fertilizers on them. Leaf tips burn sure signs that too much nutrient has been given over a long period of time. It’s better to under-fertilize than over-fertilize houseplants usually!
Propagation:
Propagate Marble pothos by either air-layering or rooting stem tip cuttings in a humid, warm environment. Air-layering is the best way and can be done in any season except wintertime.
If you want to propagate your pothos plants from stem tips, you should use a rooting hormone powder such as Dip ‘n Grow or B-Nine Hormone Powder to give your cuttings an edge when rooting them since it’s hard to get good roots on houseplant stem tip cuttings in a typical home.
You’ll need some paper towels for this procedure — nothing fancy! You will also need plastic sandwich bags without holes and a rubber band.
Soil Requirements:
To create the best environment for pothos plants, you need the right soil mix. The best thing you can do is create a potting mixture that mimics your natural outdoor growing conditions.
You are trying to recreate the type of acidic conditions they would find in their native habitat, so it’s good to use things like sphagnum moss or peat moss mixed with some sand (varying percentages depending on how well-drained your soil mix is). If you don’t have access to these kinds of materials, any standard potting soil will do fine as long as it stays moist and drains well.
Another option for those who do not want to go through all this trouble is buying a premade potting soil formulated to have the correct pH for growing pothos plants. It usually comes in a light, medium or heavy mix and you can choose which one you prefer. (They usually come in bags at your local garden center.)
Fertilizing Requirements:
You will want to fertilize your pothos plant every couple of weeks in the growing season. I recommend using an organic fertilizer that does not contain high levels of nitrogen. The best way is to use a time-release pellet fertilizer, which will last for about 3 months with just one application. These are available at all garden centers, and they also sell capsules you can open up and sprinkle around the base of your marble pothos plants.
For more information on other houseplant care topics, please go to these following links: Indoor House Plant Care Indoor House Plants — Lighting Indoor House Plants — Watering Indoor House Plants — Temperatures.
A very commonly grown vine throughout the world because of its beauty and ease of care.
It is a perennial vine that grows upright and can grow to an average height of 5-10 feet, or more depending on your chosen variety.
A trendy house plant for offices, restaurants, medical facilities, or anywhere desired to have its elegance displayed with little effort required.
When grown in a container indoors, it requires little attention other than watering now and then. Marble pothos prefers indirect sunlight at all times but also do well under artificial lights as long as they are not full sun conditions.
Marble Pothos Plant Care Tips: Pothos plants will tolerate low light conditions better when they are younger (under 3 years old). They like humid environments but like to be kept on the dry side when it comes to watering. They like evenly moist soil but do not like soggy wet roots.
They will tolerate a wide range of temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Just make sure you keep them out of drafts, direct sun, or heat vents. You can propagate pothos by rooting stem tip cuttings in a humid, warm environment; otherwise, they grow very easily from seeds with little effort too!
Remember, when propagating marble pothos, you can use two methods: stick the stem into an appropriate growing medium filled with potting soil and water regularly. You can either root this way (in indirect light) or immediately transplant to another pot to grow independently. The other option is to take stem cuttings, which you can root in water until they form roots and then transplant. Either way works fine, but the latter will yield more pothos plants for your efforts!
Marble Pothos Problems:
As with all houseplants, there are always a few things that can cause problems for your marble pothos. A list of the more common ones include:
When you see brown, withered leaves appear on one or two of your plants, it may be due to moving them from shade to sun too quickly. Give the plant time to acclimate itself and then take another look at it in a day or so.
If not resolved by then, try using a fertilizer with less nitrogen in it; this will help increase chlorophyll production, making the plant able to handle direct sunlight better.
Another problem is spider mites! The good news is they are easy to get rid of as long as you keep up with them! I recommend using a good pest control spray that will eliminate them as they appear. Remember to be very careful because these products can also kill beneficial insects like ladybugs and praying mantises!
Houseplants need to have their leaves washed off occasionally (every 2 weeks or so) to remove dust, dead plant material, and other pollutants that collect on the leaves of plants.
If the plant has been exposed to any chemicals (especially insecticides), wash the leaves right away with plain water. The best method is to use a soft, wet rag and wipe down each leaf individually; this helps direct moisture from underneath up onto the top of each leaf where it is needed most!
Use an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer once every couple of months during the growing season. This will help keep your plants healthy and green! Just be sure not to over-fertilize; this can cause browning of the leaves (especially on marble pothos).
If you are growing in a container, be cautious about overwatering them, especially if they have no drainage holes. Pothos plants do well with moist soil but will rot if their roots stay wet too long!
If you suspect that your plant is suffering from root rot, try repotting into an appropriate-sized pot filled with lightweight porous material like sphagnum moss or vermiculite when repotting. Make sure to use a pot that has adequate drainage so that water does not pool up at the bottom of the pot.
If you notice that your marble pothos is not growing very quickly, try repotting it into a slightly larger pot filled with fresh soil. This will help promote new growth! Always be sure to use a good quality soil mix when repotting; this should contain composted bark or peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. You can also add slow-release fertilizer if desired, but there is no nitrogen in the mix!
Also,, like most tropical plants, marble pothos do not like being moved around too much, so avoid bringing them indoors during the winter months (this includes vacations, please!). They prefer warm, humid environments which are closer to what they would find naturally outdoors.
