How to make pothos grow bigger leaves

Does your pothos have small leaves? Here’s the best tips on how to make Pothos grow bigger leaves!

Pothos are beautiful vining plants. They can grow quickly (and propagate easily) and make lush additions to any houseplant collection.

If you aren’t getting the biggest pothos plant leaves, it can be disappointing. But, with the proper care and right growing conditions, you can get most pothos varieties to bounce back and fluorish.

I think that it is important to remember how pothos plants grow in the wild. They naturally grow at the base of trees in the rainforest, climbing up their trunks.

So, to get large pothos, you want to emulate this environment as much as possible with indirect bright light (like through the canopy of leaves above in the rainforest), lots of water and humidity, and plenty of fresh nutrients.

Why are my new pothos leaves so small?

The reason that your pothos is getting small leaves is because it is not getting enough nutrients. This could mean light, water, or fertilizer.

Will my pothos leaves get bigger?

Once a leaf has fully grown, it doesn’t increase in size. However, you can instead focus on the new growth and new leaves of your pothos plant and encouraging them to grow larger.

What determines pothos leaf size?

Pothos leaf size is determined by the amount of nutrients that the plant gets. This is to include light, water, and fertilizers.

What factors affect leaf size?

• Watering – amount & frequency
• Lighting
• Temperature
• Nutrients

If your plant suddenly has new growth with small leaves, that is usually an indicator that there is something bad about the current conditions. Most likely water, light, or nutrients. See if anything has changed lately and try to fix it!

How long does it take for pothos to grow large leaves?

Even small pothos plants can grow large leaves, if they are put in the right conditions. Large leaf pothos comes from the right amount of water, sun, and nutrients.

How to make pothos grow bigger leaves

The best ways to make your pothos grow bigger leaves are to:

• fertilize
• add a moss pole
• adjust your watering schedule
• pick a sunnier spot
• warm it up
• repot
• give it time

Fertilize

An easy way to try to get a large leafed plant is to apply a fertilizer. Always follow the instructions on your fertilizer and don’t over use – it will burn up and kill the plant. But, a good fertilization can be great for leaf growth.

High-nitrogen fertilizers specifically are designed to encourage leaf growth.

Add a moss pole

Moss poles are vertical poles for vining plants to grow up and grow aerial roots into. It is said that when vining plants have a chance to climb, they get really big leaves, and sometimes fenestrations.

I have had great experience getting plants (especially pothos!) get huge leaves on a moss pole.

No moss pole, no problem. Consider a bamboo stake or trellis for the plant to climb instead!

Adjust your watering schedule

Some plants don’t like to dry out between waterings. Keep the plant a level amount of moist to keep it happy.

Warning: be sure your pot has drainage holes and never let it sit in pooling water! This is more like a little water more frequently compared to a soaking then fully dry out.

Pick a sunnier spot

In general, plants like bright indirect light. In the summer, most plants do really well outdoors in the shade of your house or a tree. If possible, move the plant to a brighter spot to encourage leaf growth.

If there are small leaves on one side of your plant, it might be unbalanced. Try to rotate your plant regularly to encourage more even growth.

Warm it up

As air temperatures rise, plant leaves tend to get larger. Scientifically, this is to give the plant more surface area to cool via transpiration (basically evaporation from leaves, an attempt at “leaf sweating”!)

So, it checks out that moving your plants to a warmer spot could lead to large foliage. Just keep them away from right in front of heat vents or direct sun, which can burn leaves to a crisp.

Repot

Check to see if your plant is root bound or crowded in the pot. It might not have the space to grow. Repot it in a pot 1-2 inches larger in diameter to help to encourage growth.

If the pot size seems fine, shaking off some of the existing soil and adding fresh potting soil can be an easy way to bring in new nutrients.

Give it time

If your plant is young or a rather fresh cutting, big leaves would not be proportionate to the plant. It might just need time to grow and mature into a plant with larger leaves and big green foliage!

Any more questions about how to get bigger leaves on your pothos plants?!

Thanks for reading!

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