Global Green Pothos Rare Plant Care Guide

Last Updated on March 19, 2022 by Admin

The Global Green Pothos is also called the Global Pothos. It is a rare but quite affordable plant which makes it easy to get once you find one. This is not often the case as rarity usually means expensive price as well.

That said, you do want to take a close look at the plant when you buy it to make sure. That’s because it looks very similar to the Emerald Pothos.

Both feature light green variegations on a darker green leaf background. However, the two are different plants as I’ll explain in the next section.

While both are beautifully stunning, you do want to be able to differentiate one from the other so you can get the plant you actually want.

Some people also say it looks like the Pothos N-Joy, although that’s quite a bit of a stretch give that the N-Joy Pothos looks different and has white variegations instead of light green.

The plant is one of the newest houseplants around as Costa Farms just got a patent to sell in in the US around 2020.

Table of Contents

Global Green Pothos vs. Emerald Pothos: Are they the Same Plant?

As I mentioned above, the Global Green Pothos and the Emerald Pothos are different plants. But, they’re very similar in a lot of aspects.

The easiest way to tell them from ne another is to look closely at the color of their leaves.

You want to focus on where the location of the light green variegation is relative to the dark green areas.

With the Global Green Pothos, the dark green colors are on the outer parts of the leaves. Meanwhile the light green variegations are in the inner and middle portions.

On the other hand, the Emerald Pothos has the two colors inverted. Its light green variegations are located to the outside sections of the leaves while the dark green sections are in the middle portion of the leaves.

Global Green Pothos Plant Care

Light Requirements

The Global Green Pothos likes a lot of light. This allows it to grow better and maintain is light green variegations. However, you want to avoid direct sunlight as well as very strong light. Both of which can cause its leaves to get discolored or even get sunburned.

Note that if you do leave the Global Green Pothos under direct sun or full sun, it will survive. Unfortunately, the side effects to its leaves will affect the way it looks.

If this happens, prune off the leaves that are damaged and move the plant somewhere with less illumination where it will recover.

As such, the Global Green Pothos does best in medium to bright, indirect light.

Because of its variegations, the plant needs more light than similar species will all-green foliage. That’s because the light green variegations don’t participate in photosynthesis (which is the process where the plant collects sun and creates sugars from it to supply itself with energy).

Thus, the fewer pure green sections the leaves have the more light it needs to create the food and energy it needs.

And with less light, it will grow slower, produce fewer foliage and smaller leaves as well.

This means while the plant is not negatively harmed in low light, you’ll see a slower growing, smaller plant overall. And if that’s what you prefer, then you can keep the plant in those low light areas.

Temperature

In addition to moderate to bright lighting, the Global Green Pothos prefers temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It is used to warm weather where there is sunshine throughout the year.

On the other hand, it is not used to the cold. It is not frost hardy and cannot tolerate freezing conditions.

This means that you want to keep the plant away from locations where the climate can drop to under 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 through 12, then you can decide whether to grow in indoors or outdoors. It will do well outside even through the winters because the weather is mild and there is sun during these times in these locations.

But below zone 10, it is better of as a houseplant that you can leave outside temporarily during the summertime.

Indoors, you want to avoid cold drafts, heaters, radiators and air conditioning. All of these will bother the plant to varying degrees depending on how hot or cold the temperature goes .

Humidity

The Global Green Pothos enjoys moderate to high humidty. It is happiest when humidity is kept between 50% to 70%. However, it is not fussy about average home humidity.

Therefore, you don’t really need to worry about this because it will tolerate just about any level without problems.

This is one of the things that makes the plant easy to care for.

How Often to Water Global Green Pothos

The Global Green Pothos will need watering once every 7 to 14 days. In most home environments, this will be closer to once a week.

The reason I’m only giving a guideline here is that there are many different factors that affect how much water your plant needs. And depending on how much or little it gets of these factors its growth will vary.

Of course, each grower and their home is different from everyone else. So, the Global Green Pothos will likewise respond different (and grow in a different pace).

Thus, how much light, humidity, the type of soil, the size of the pot and other factors all come into play.

That said, the most important thing to avoid is overwatering the plant.

You want to let your Global Green Pothos dry out a little between waterings. A good rule of thumb is to wait until the top 1-2 inches of soil is dry to the touch. You can easily tell by inserting your index finger into the soil up to the second knuckle.

You want to wait until the soil at that depth feels dry before you give the plant more water. In doing so, you avoid overwatering (and root rot as well).

Global Green Pothos Potting Soil

Using the right potting soil is the other part of avoiding overwatering and root rot.

The ideal soil for the Global Green Pothos is a potting mix that is well-draining and offers enough aeriation to let it roots breathe.

This means that you can use just about any good quality potting soil that is not heavy. However, if you do use a commercial potting mix on its own, monitor how well it is draining moisture, at least initially.

If you notice that the soil is retaining too much water, you can add perlite, or sand to improve drainage.

Another option it so make the potting mix yourself. Here, there are many combinations you can use provided that the final substrate you have includes some kind of draining component. This can be perlite, pumice or sand.

Here are a couple of DIY potting mixes that work well for the Global Green Pothos.

50% peat and 50% perlite
50% potting soil and 50% perlite
50% succulent mix and 50% perlite

Try them and see which one you like better.

Does the Global Green Pothos Climb?

Yes, it does. In fact, in the wild, the plant starts out in forest floors but as its stems get longer then will cling onto a tree and use that to climb upwards.

This allows it to get more light to grow faster and sustain itself in its natural habitat. In contrast, if it stays in the forest floor, it gets much less light because more plants are taller than it is.

Therefore, while the most popular ways of growing pothos are either in a pot or hanging basket, it grows the best (and the fastest) when allowed to climb a pole or some kind of treliis.

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Fertilizer

The most important thing about fertilizer is to make sure you use it.

What kind of fertilizer you use is less important. That’s because the Global Green Pothos needs fertilizer to grow at its best.

That said, you can likewise get away without using fertilizer. However, the plant will be smaller, grow slower and have smaller leaves as well.

So, you can use an all-purpose or balanced houseplant fertilizer. Avoid the low quality, cheap products though since those tend to leave the most salts in the soil (which harm the plant’s roots).

Apply once a month during the growing season making sure to dilute to half strength. Once fall arrives, you can stop feeding (early or mid fall works). You don’t need to fertilize your Global Green Pothos in the winter.

Pruning

The Global Green Pothos can grow into a long, tall plant in the wild when it climbs up trees. And if you give it a moss pole or something similar to climb on, it will likewise grow taller, faster and produce larger leaves.

Indoors, it won’t grow as big as it will in the wild. But it can still reach between 8 to 10 feet without any pruning.

Now this is not a big plant. Instead, its length is primarily composed of its long vining stems. Therefore, if you place it in a hanging basket you can let it drape down and grow longer.

That said, pruning is a good idea to keep the plant neat, tidy and within the length you want.

The Global Green Pothos is fairly hardy to pruning so it does not mind being trimmed regularly. In fact, if you do so, you’ll notice it become fuller.

How to Propagate Global Green Pothos

The Global Green Pothos responds well to stem propagation and division.

The latter is ideal if you have a somewhat bigger plant you want to split up into 2 smaller ones (or reduce the overall size of the parent plant. it is also best done when you’re repotting.

On the other hand, you can use the pruned stems to propagate the plant as well. Here, you have a couple of options with the stem cuttings in that you can:

Propagate in water
Propagate in soil

All these methods are very effective, produce fairly fast results and have propagation success rates. So, try them out and see which one you prefer doing.

Propagating Global Green Pothos from Stem Cuttings

Take a 4 to 6 inch healthy stem cutting from your mother plant. Ideally look for a stem with at least 2 or 3 leaves. Most importantly, make sure you get a node along with the stem. This is where the roots will eventually grow from. So, you’ll need at least one node for the propagation to work.

You can cut from lower down the plant to get longer stems. This way you, can snip that one long stem into multiple cuttings (if you want to propagate many new plants at once).

To propagate the stem cutting in water:

Place the cutting in a glass container with enough water. You want the node to get submerged into the water. But remove any leaves that end up in the liquid as they will rot.
Place the cutting in a warm location that is well-lit but does not have direct sun exposure.
Chang the water about once a week or 2 weeks. You want to keep it clear.
It will take about 10 or so days to see initial roots grow from the cutting. Although, you’ll need to wait closer to 20-25 days before you’ll get long enough roots.
Wait until the roots get to 2 inches or longer. You can then pot up the cutting in soil.

To propagate the stem cutting in soil:

Allow the cutting to dry a bit and callous.
Then dip the cut end in rooting hormone. You don’t have to do this although it helps speed things up.
Plant the cutting in moist, well draining soil (you can use 1:1 ratio of peat and perlite).
Keep the pot in a moderate to warm spot that’s brightly lit (avoid direct sun).
In about a month, the roots should have taken hold of the soil.

How to Repot or Transplant Global Green Pothos

The Global Green Pothos needs repotting every 2 to 3 years. How soon you need to move it to a larger container will again depend on its growth rate, which in turn depends on your home’s living conditions.

The thing is, the plant has an extensive root system.

This means you don’t want to leave it root bound for long. Therefor, once you noticed roots peeking out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, it is time to get ready to repot.

The best time to repot is during the spring or early summer. Avoid doing so during the cold weather.

Another way to check how pot bound the plant is to take the root ball out of the pot (just slide it out temporarily) then look at the roots.

If they cover a good portion or wrap many times around the root ball, it is a sign that the plant is getting or a bit pot bound. If most of the root ball is soil, it means you won’t have to repot for a while.

Is It Toxic/Poisonous to Humans, Cats & Dogs

Yes, the Global Green Pothos is toxic when ingested to cats, dogs and humans. This makes it very important to keep the plant on a high enough table, shelf or hanging so that young children or pets don’t accidentally chew or eat any part of the plant.

Problems & Troubleshooting

Loss of Variegation

Unfortunately, the Global Green Pothos can lose its variegations. When it reverts, its leaves will turn all green leaving you with an average looking training foliage plant.

Usually, this happens when there is too little light. It will revert to more green foliage too absorb more illumination.

Therefore, make sure to give the plant enough exposure but avoid direct sunlight.

But if they do happen, immediately prune off the affected areas, You want to keep the all-green leaves from spreading. So, trim them off and keep the variegated ones.

This will help the plant recover.

However, there’s no guantee. So, if more and more of the plant becomes all green (and you don’t like want it to), take stem cuttings of the variegated stems and propagate them.

As times, there’s just no way to stop it so the best option is to grow new variegated ones using stem propagation.

Pests

The Global Green Pothos rarely gets pests. But if it does, the most common pest is the mealybug.

Thankfully, these are easy to spot as they look like small while cotton balls on the surface or backsides of the leaves.

When they increase in number, they cotton-like balls will get bigger as they bunch up. You want to avoid this because they will lay eggs and produce more. Thus, leading to an infestation.

Use neem oil or insecticidal soap to get rid of them.

I like to spray them off with water. You can do this in the sink, in the bathroom with a showerhead or a hose outside.

Diseases

Root rot is the plant’s number one enemy. And it happens due to overwatering.

Therefore, avoid watering too often. Check the soil to make sure it is at most soil (although you want to let it get a bit dry to stay safer).

But watch out for wet, mucky or soggy soil. This is a sign you’re watering too often.