Invasion of the Pothos

[edric]

The Serenoa repens, in the lot next to my house, and the Pothos, a scrap from one of the house plants that got tossed in the woods next to my house, about 20 years ago, has really made ground with all the rain we've had this year, noticed how prolific it was, when I went to pic saw palmetto fruit, Ed

[Dave-Vero]

Farther south, they can grow into huge masses of vines. I've used a 20' pole saw to reduce the number of hanging vines on a big laurel oak.

[John Case]

Ed,

Do the pothos die back in winter?

[edric]

Ed,

Do the pothos die back in winter?

Hi John, Yes, they freeze to the ground if it dips below 30 F., otherwise just burn. Ed

[John Case]

I have a few here with the same result...I thought that possibly they were a bit hardier in your neck of the woods....

[ando.wsu]

Here in Phoenix Arizona I have a few pothos vines that I planted around my palms, giving them that shade they need during extreme temps. They made it through our hot summer thus far. I hope they become invasive in my yard, which I'm sure they won't. But they look awesome and really give that tropical look!

I'm sure once they begin climbing up trunks and get them exposed to more light, the summer sun will keep them in check. Who knows, maybe winter will kill them. I hope not. Cool photos!

[DoomsDave]

Oh, yeah, remember the Pothos of Doom, engulfing the hangin' oak tree in front of my motel in La Belle back in 2007/2008. Leaves to 12" long or more. Variegated. Spectacular.

[Walt]

I have pothos vines growing wild over much of my property. It all started from just one house plant my wife brought to Florida (from Maryland) when we moved here in 1997.

Some of the vines have grown 40-50' up slash pines. The also run across the ground and attach and climb the first tree, palm, etc., they come to. I like the vines for the tropical effect. When the vines run into the open areas I maintain, I just mow over them.

In December of 2010 I had my all-time low temperature of 20.8 degrees during a severe radiational freeze. All my pothos vines were frozen down to the roots. Since then the ones that were once 50 feet up the slash pines have regrown to about 30 feet or so.

On less severe radiational freezes I can always tell where the 30 degree mark is by the leaves on my photos. On some winters the leaves will be defoliated up to maybe 10 feet above the ground, then the damage becomes less and less, and by 15 feet above the ground the leaves are fine, indicated the warmer air higher above the ground. Further, the main vine doesn't freeze and new leaves will form, but in a different spot from where the old leaves were burned off. However, the severe freeze in December of 2010 even killed the vines down to the roots. But the vines regrow fast.

Below are some photos I took just the other day showing some pothos vines growing up the trunk of my traveler's palm and a clump of Caryota mitis.

[Walt]

I have pothos vines growing wild over much of my property. It all started from just one house plant my wife brought to Florida (from Maryland) when we moved here in 1997.

Some of the vines have grown 40-50' up slash pines. They also run across the ground and attach and climb the first tree, palm, etc., they come to. I like the vines for the tropical effect. When the vines run into the open areas I maintain, I just mow over them.

In December of 2010 I had my all-time low temperature of 20.8 degrees during a severe radiational freeze. All my pothos vines were frozen down to the roots. Since then the ones that were once 50 feet up the slash pines have regrown to about 30 feet or so.

On less severe radiational freezes I can always tell where the 30 degree mark is by the leaves on my photos. On some winters the leaves will be defoliated up to maybe 10 feet above the ground, then the damage becomes less and less, and by 15 feet above the ground the leaves are fine, indicating the warmer air higher above the ground. Further, the main vine doesn't freeze and new leaves will form, but in a different spot from where the old leaves were burned off. However, the severe freeze in December of 2010 even killed the vines down to the roots. But the vines regrow fast.

Below are some photos I took just the other day showing some pothos vines growing up the trunk of my traveler's palm and a clump of Caryota mitis.

[tropicbreeze]

Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) seems to have reached it limits in my garden. It's about 25 metres up one of my 30 metre trees (measured with a clinometer). For a number of years it doesn't seem to have gone any higher but sends down a lot of runners to the ground. I prefer it to Syngonium which I find a lot more invasive.





That's the size of the leaves that fall from the top of the plant.