Pothos earned its reputation as the “impossible to kill” houseplant, becoming the gateway drug for first-time plant parents in the mid-2010s.
The Beginner’s Best Friend
Epipremnum aureum (golden pothos) thrives on neglect — tolerating low light, irregular watering, and general amateur incompetence. This resilience made it the recommended starter plant across plant forums, Reddit’s r/houseplants (founded 2012), and plant care YouTube channels.
Pinterest boards from 2014 featured pothos cascading from shelves, trained up moss poles, and propagating in glass jars. The visual simplicity of water propagation (clip, place in water, wait for roots) made it endlessly shareable content.
Variety Explosion
Beyond golden pothos, collectors obsessed over: Marble Queen (white variegation), Neon (chartreuse leaves), Jade (solid green), Manjula (cream splashes), and the rare Cebu Blue. By 2018, rare pothos varieties commanded $50-200 per cutting.
Source
- Peak Pinterest activity: March 2014
- The Spruce: “How to Grow and Care for Pothos” (archived 2015)
- Water propagation tutorials: 2014-2015 YouTube boom