How to make a DIY pothos moss pole

Want to make a moss pole for plants in your collection? Here's a step by step guide on how to make a DIY coco coir moss pole!

I love growing Pothos. It's my jam. It's easy to keep alive (mostly just ignore it, splash in some water once a week).

It can live in low light (yeah, it likes sunny spots better but it lived in our windowless laundry room for 3 years).

And it's sooooo easy to propagate. Snip snip, new plant. That's how I ended up with about two dozen of them - all grown from cuttings off of a plant in my old office lobby (lol).

You can read my complete guide to propagating pothos here!

Anyways, my pothos all grow dangling down (or I cut the stems when they get long) but I have read that the pothos plant grows better if it has something to grow up!

I mean, it makes sense. In the natural jungle they grow under trees and these plants enjoy climbing up and around them.

They grow aerial roots that naturally join themselves to the trees. So, you can make a fake tree and grow pothos up that!

So, I decided to give a few of my golden pothos plants the chance to live their lives as climbing plants.

Honestly, I was inspired to do this project when I saw a photos pole for sale at Home Depot for $210. Like, what? These are, in my opinion, cheap plants. My local plant swap facebook group is swarming with pothos cuttings.

All in all, I spent just under $30 on this project. I already had the plants and pot on hand. So, it's not super cheap, but it's way cheaper than $200. And I have lots of coco liner left over for another project!

Prefer to buy your climbing pole?

You can buy pre-made poles on Amazon. The cost is very reasonable!

In fact, if you just want a small pole and don't have any supplies on hand or want any leftover coco liner, it's cheaper to buy it pre-made!

These are actually modular so you can piece the sections together to make it shorter or taller. Pretty neat!

Moss pole vs trellis

You can also grow your pothos up a trellis. However, the aerial roots prefer something to grow "into", hence the moss!

How to make a pothos moss pole

If you want to make a DIY pothos pole, you are in luck. This is a SUPER simple DIY project!

Supplies needed:

• Large pot - 24" or wider in diameter
• PVC pipe - I chose a 3" diameter in 5' length
• Sharpie or similar marker
• Scissors
• Roll of coco liner or sheet moss
• Small pebbles (if needed for drainage in pot)
• Potting soil
• Hot glue + glue gun
• Staple gun
• Pothos plants
• Twine or fishing line

Steps to make a pothos pole:

STEP 1 - MARK THE PIPE

First, set your pot out. Stick the pole into the pot and use a sharpie to mark where you want the "moss" to go down to.

For me, this was about 1 inch down from the lip of the pot.

Basically, anything under the soil will just be plastic PVC pipe and anything above will be wrapped in coco liner.

STEP 2 - CUT THE COCO LINER

Lay your pipe onto the roll of liner and mark how much is needed to wrap around the pole. Use scissors to cut out a large rectangle. It cuts surprisingly easily!

STEP 3 - ATTACH THE COCO LINER

I used a combination of staples and hot glue to attach the liner to my pole. Staple first and then go tighten the gaps with hot glue.

I stapled about every 4 inches. You have to push some oomph into it to be sure the staple goes into the plastic and not just the coco liner.

You will first do one long edge of the liner, then wrap it tight and do the second long edge, overlapping the two.

Repeat the staples and hot glue to fully secure.

Finally, tuck the top into the hole of the pipe and glue in place.

STEP 4 - PLACE THE POLE IN THE POT

Place the pole vertically in the pot, with the bare exposed PVC portion down inside the pot.

STEP 5 - ADD SOIL

Add pebbles if using for drainage and then add potting mix to fill. You will want to use your hands to compact the soil around the pole to help hold it in place.

STEP 6 - ADD POTHOS PLANTS

Plant pothos around the pot. I ended up with 8 plants in my pot, from two smaller pots. Select plants with longer strands if possible.

Add topsoil to cover the roots.

STEP 7 - TRAIN THE PLANTS

Wrap the strands around the pole. Tie strands of twine to gently hold it in place until the aerial root systems grow into the moss and hold it in place naturally.

Once the strands reach the top, you can trim them for propagating or wind them back down.

Spritz the plant with a mister to keep the moss and the plant humid and happy!

Here's my guide on how to attach a plant to a moss pole!

Benefits of a pothos pole

I absolutely love how this plant turned out. It is a great way to add interest and height to our boring bedroom corner.

It's cheaper and easier to DIY this pole than it is to buy a large, 5 foot tall house plant tree!

I have read that pothos plants that grow up something grow faster, healthier, and larger leaves. I haven't tested this yet but am very excited to find out!

And here's how it looks three months later! We put it on our covered porch and it is living it's BEST LIFE!

YES those are all the same plants - none added - just loving growing upward and outdoors! Here's hoping it does OK indoors over the winter!

Video demonstration

Be sure to watch my video to see step by step how I made my pothos climbing pole!

Thanks for reading!