More commonly known as the Devil’s Ivy, pothos is one of the most common houseplants. Other names that pothos goes by are- golden pothos, devil’s vine, marble queen, money plant, and the scientific name Epipremnum aureum (Although it is not famous by this name!).
This plant is great if you are starting gardening.
Apart from being easy to care for and undemanding, it has beautiful foliage that gives a nice green touch to your interior. Research suggests that having pothos in your house provides clean air, so it makes your home a healthier place.
Plants similar to pothos
Pothos is a tropical vine with glossy heart-shaped leaves that have gold, white or yellow variegation. It is a hardy indoor foliage plant of the arum family and is very easy to grow.
If you are known for a black thumb and want badly to go green to drive the blues away, we have a list of plants similar to pothos that will give you a lot without needing much attention:
1. Heart Leaf Philodendron:
A treat for the eyes, this plant is a vigorous vining plant known as one of the easiest plants to grow. It has beautiful heart-shaped leaves (duh!) and trailing vines.
It is generally an indoor plant because it is known for clearing the toxins from the air and making it healthier to breathe.
It does not require much care but needs regular watering such that the soil is moist. You can also mist the plant. It can survive a bit dry soil, but too long without watering will result in wilted leaves.
Features:
- Cleans air by getting rid of harmful substances like formaldehyde.
- It is a perennial vining plant. The leaves are 5-10 cm long, and the stem can grow up to 1.2 meters long.
- Overwatering might lead to yellow leaves. Make sure you have a pot with potholes so that you can remove excess water.
- Brown scorch marks indicate that your plant is being in contact with too much direct sunlight. This plant thrives in medium indirect sunlight and can survive low indirect light as well. But prolonged exposure to direct sunlight is harmful.
- This plant secretes sap that can cause skin irritation or burning of the mouth if ingested. Keep it out of reach of children and pets.
Related reading:
2. English Ivy:
This is another evergreen perennial plant that is easy to grow. It is also known as woody vines.
English Ivy can act as a ground cover because it can spread horizontally and reach 8 inches in height. It is a fast-growing aggressive plant and might be considered invasive.
Features:
- It does not like direct sunlight but prefers bright light.
- It needs moist soil and cooler temperatures 50-65 F (10-18 C).
- English Ivy likes humidity, so make sure to mist it.
- It reduces air pollutants at home.
- If the light isn’t bright enough, it does not develop properly and might have problems with pests.
- This plant is toxic to children and pets. It can cause skin problems if the sap comes in contact with the skin and more severe problems if ingested.
- Sometimes the rootlets get firmly attached to the surface on which they are crawling, so they might remove paint with them.
3. Arrowhead Plant:
This should be your preferred choice if you like a dense, bushy vine growing in the bright spots of your home. It does not need overwatering.
Allow the soil to dry out between watering spells. This plant has variegated leaves that have the shape of an arrow’s head. It goes by other names like arrowhead vine, five fingers, and nephthytis.
Features:
- Keeping the soil too wet might lead to the rotting of the roots.
- It can tolerate a broader range of temperatures.
- The leaves change shape as they mature. They start like arrowheads and gradually change into a shape with three to five fingers.
- There are different varieties of this plant. The plant having green leaves can do well in normal to bright light. But keep them away from direct sunlight. But the plants with more variegated leaves require brighter, filtered light.
- It survives normal home humidity but prefers high humidity. So, mist the plant regularly for healthy leaves and growth.
- The sap is poisonous but not lethal. If it comes in contact with your skin, it might cause skin irritation.
Related Reading:
4. Hoya
It has beautiful waxy foliage and fragrant flowers, and because of its leaves, it is often called Wax Plant. It is one of the most stunning indoor plants.
These plants are native to Southern India. The Hoya climbing wine is a very low maintenance decorative plant and grows easily provided it gets enough indirect light and high humidity.
Features:
- It grows enormously, produces porcelain-like fragrant flowers, and lives forever if the proper environment is there.
- It cannot tolerate direct daylight, and the exposure might burn the leaves. It needs bright but indirect light.
- This plant needs to be watered more in summer and spring to keep it moist enough. You can frequently mist it to maintain the proper levels of humidity.
- Hoya plants grow more in summers than in winters but still require light and watering in the winter season.
Conclusion
Planting indoors is the best thing since sliced bread (or is it from even before that?!). Having a beautiful vine sliding down from your office table takes so much stress out of working late.
Or having a creeper spread all over your balcony while you sip coffee after a stressful day. Having plants indoors is a great stress buster as well as it provides fresh oxygen all day long. And not having to spend all your time taking care of your plant is a bonus.
If you are familiar with planting and taking care of pothos, chances are you can easily take care of any of the plants mentioned above. Have fun planting!