If you’re looking for an eye-catching, variegated trailing plant that’s easy to care for, Pothos ‘Marble Queen’ might be next on your list.
This is a vigorous plant that produces new vines quickly in the right conditions and will be fine if you leave it to its own devices for a little while.
This plant isn’t too demanding when it comes to care, making it perfect if you fancy a new plant, but don’t want to add heaps onto your plant to-do list.
Interested in learning more about Marble Queen Pothos? Here’s everything you need to know.
Marble Queen Pothos At A Glance
‘Marble Queen’ is a gorgeous Pothos plant. It’s cultivated across the world, and it’s not difficult to guess why, with its striking heart-shaped foliage, long vines, and bright green and white variegation.
At the most, the vines will reach about 1.5 meters long at maturity, but whether you want the plant to trail or climb is up to you.
Provide it with some support, and it will happily climb or don’t, and the vines will tumble down from the pot, perfect for hanging displays.
Pothos ‘Marble Queen’ Care Guide
One of the main care elements is getting the position right for Marble Queen Pothos.
If you can get it right from the beginning, the adjustment period the plant will take to adapt to your home will be quicker, and your plant will be healthier with fewer problems.
Where To Grow Marble Queen Pothos
Marble Queen Pothos is not the easiest Pothos variety to care for, as it is a variegated form.
If you did want the absolute easiest Pothos plant, go for a non-variegated variety, which will even grow in the darkest of rooms provided it has ample fluorescent light for most of the day.
For Marble Queen, while it’s not the easiest plant, it’s certainly not the hardest, provided you give it the careful placement it needs in terms of light to keep the beautiful variegated leaves bright and lush.
Light
While this plant is easy to care for, it’s a good idea to think about the variegation, as you need to give this plant enough light that the plant doesn’t darken and go solid green, but not so much that the variegation fades in very bright light.
Aim to give your Marble Queen bright and indirect light for most of the day. Morning sunlight won’t hurt, as it is fairly gentle even on variegated plants that have less chlorophyll.
Avoid prolonged sunlight, such as a Southern-facing window, as this is too much for the plant, and can cause the leaves to burn.
Humidity And Temperature Needs
Put your Pothos plant in a warm room that doesn’t have dramatic changes in temperature or humidity.
Temperature-wise, as long as you’re comfortable, this plant will be, too. Ideal temperatures are between 65°F and 80°F (or 18°C and 27°C), which is easy to achieve inside.
Place your Pothos plant somewhere where it can enjoy higher levels of humidity, such as a kitchen, bathroom, or washroom.
Higher humidity levels help stop brown leaves and will keep the plant’s growth lush.
You could also achieve higher levels of humidity by putting your Pothos plant near other houseplants, which creates a little microclimate. It’s also a great excuse to buy more plants…
Failing that, invest in a humidifier. You could use the pebble tray water trick, but this can be a little tricky if you’re growing this plant in a hanging basket.
Many sources will tell you to boost humidity by misting your plants. Don’t mist your plants.
Adding extra moisture to the leaves and stems is not a good idea, as it does nothing to the surrounding air, and invites pests and fungal problems!
Ideal Soil For Pothos Plants
Pothos plants are not too fussy when it comes to compost, so any houseplant compost mix will do.
But you can make it better by adding a handful or two of perlite into the mix, as this helps divert excess water from the roots, and keeps the soil nicely aerated, resulting in a stronger root system.
Some places will tell you it’s a good idea to add a layer of rocks to the bottom of your planter before putting your Pothos plant in the pot, but this doesn’t help drainage all that much and can inhibit the roots.
It can clog the holes, which has the opposite effect when you’re trying to improve drainage. It can leave the water with nowhere to go, or it will drain it slower.
If you want to improve drainage, add perlite to the soil, and water the plant a little less often if you are prone to overwatering your plants.
Avoid sandy, succulent soil mixes where you can, as these drain a little too well for Pothos plants. Use an amended houseplant compost mix for the best results.
When To Water Marble Queen Pothos
Try not to water your plants on a rigid schedule, as the growing conditions your plant is subject to can change, and if the watering aspect of care doesn’t change with it, this can damage or kill your plants.
Make a habit of checking the soil every few days to a week or so, and when the top inch of your Marble Queen’s compost has dried out, it’s time to water.
This plant is susceptible to overwatering, so don’t overdo it! Try to avoid growing it in a pot without drainage holes, as this greatly increases the risk of root rot, no matter how careful you are with watering.
Feeding Pothos Plants
Just like any other Pothos plant, Marble Queen Pothos will appreciate regular fertilizer during the growing season.
It needs less than you might think, however, as the plant will get a lot of its nutrients to start with from its soil mix.
Every fourth watering, give your Pothos plant a feed with a generic and balanced houseplant feed (by balanced, I mean that the numbers of the components the fertilizer is made up of will be equal) during spring and summer.
Follow the directions when it comes to the dosage of your fertilizer, and don’t be tempted to wing it by eyeballing the amounts, as this can burn the plant if the water-to-fertilizer ratio is wrong.
Avoid using feeds that are higher in nitrogen than anything else, as this can cause yellowing leaves.
Try to avoid feeding your plant if the soil is very dry. Hold off on feeding it until the next watering, as the fertilizer would burn the roots, and unhealthy roots are something you want to avoid at all costs.
How To Propagate Marble Queen Pothos
As a vining plant, Marble Queen Pothos can get to the point where it starts touching the floor when it’s grown in a hanging pot, reaching several feet long, so it’s a good idea to prune and propagate it occasionally.
Always propagate your plants when they are in their active growing season. For Marble Queen Pothos, this will be in spring and summer.
Take a look at your plant, and pick a vine that looks healthy and doesn’t have any weirdly distorted or discolored leaves.
Take a stem cutting with two leaves, and at least one node. The node is where the cutting will form roots, and it won’t turn into a plant in its own right without at least one node.
Always use sharp scissors or secateurs to separate any plant material, as this will leave a clean cut, helping to prevent disease.
Take a couple of cuttings, more than you think you might need (you can always grow them on as one bushier plant), and put them into water, or into damp soil, whichever you prefer.
Troubleshooting Problems With Marble Queen Pothos
Leaves Turning Yellow
The leaves turning yellow on your Marble Queen Pothos plant is a sign that something is wrong with the care you’re providing.
Most of the time, this is in terms of soil moisture. Your plant is probably too dry, or too wet, and it has been for too long.
Luckily, it’s easy to tell which problem your plant has. Check the soil with your fingers. If it’s soaking wet, your plant is struggling to dry out.
If it’s too dry, and the soil is coming away from the sides of the pot, your plant is desperate for some water.
When the plant has been overwatered, quickly take it out of the pot, and take a look at the roots. If any smell or look mushy or even shriveled, cut them from the plant.
Then repot your plant into slightly damp soil, and cross your fingers. It might recover, but it might not.
If the plant is too dry, it’s time to give it a good soaking. Water the soil, and notice how the water seems to run straight through the compost and out the drainage holes.
That won’t do. Water it again, thoroughly, and then tip out any excess that collects in the saucer or pot, which will help rehydrate your plant and the soil.
Always check the soil regularly to see if your plant needs water, never watering it blindly, and this will help you achieve the delicate balance between wet soil, and keeping your Pothos plant happy and healthy.
Occasionally, yellowing leaves can mean there is a different problem your plant is suffering from.
Rapidly yellowing leaves can mean the plant isn’t getting enough light, it has run out of nutrients in the soil, or the water isn’t right for your plant.
Variegation Reverting
If you find that the variegation is starting to wash out in your Marble Queen Pothos, and it’s looking greener than it should, this means that the plant is struggling to get enough light to support the variegated leaves.
Keep your variegated plants as close to the windows as you can get. You can give your variegated plants direct sunlight in the morning without worrying about them scorching, but it’s best to avoid a very sunny window that gets more than a couple of hours of direct sunlight.
If all else fails, you could use a grow light instead.
Root Rot
Marble Queen Pothos is susceptible to overwatering, just like any other houseplant. If the roots are too wet for too long, they become damaged, and the plant’s ability to absorb moisture and nutrients dwindles.
Your plant’s leaves will turn yellow, and the roots will smell, and look brown or black, feeling mushy to the touch.
Leaves Turning Brown At The Edges
If the foliage on your Marble Queen Pothos plant is crisping up around the edges, this suggests that the humidity levels are too low, or, you’re letting your plant get too dry, then too wet, and then too dry.
Try moving your plant to a more humid room, such as a bathroom or kitchen that sees a lot of use.
Try to be consistent when it comes to watering your plants, not letting them get to the stage where they are desperate for water, or where they are struggling to dry out because of other elements not being right (low light, low temperatures, or larger pot than necessary can all be culprits).
Leaves Curling Up
Most of the time, a Pothos plant with curling leaves means that the conditions aren’t right, and the plant is stressed, and this is usually caused by an extreme of some sort.
It could be water-related: maybe you’re not watering the plant enough (giving the plant a trickle each time), or it has gone too long without water, or, you’ve overwatered your plant.
Another reason the leaves might curl up is that temperatures are too low, or too high.
The plant might not be getting enough light, or it’s getting too much.
If you’re certain that all the care elements are no different than they have been in the past, this can mean that pests or diseases have taken hold of your plant, and you’ll need to take a careful look at the leaves, including the undersides, to spot any signs of either.
Other Things To Consider When Growing Marble Queen Pothos
Can You Grow Marble Pothos In Water?
You can grow any sort of Pothos in just water, provided that the water you keep it in has some nutrients in it, added by an appropriate fertilizer such as a hydroponic fertilizer.
It’s much simpler to grow a Pothos plant from a cutting if you just want to grow it in water. This is much easier than trying to adapt a Pothos plant that has soil roots into growing water roots before the plant dies.
If you want to try it out, take a few healthy cuttings from your Marble Queen Pothos (or any other Pothos), and put them straight into a clean jar with some fresh water, somewhere bright and warm.
Avoid direct sunlight, and just use plain water to start with, until the cuttings have grown water roots, and then you can switch to a fertilizer solution.
Keep in mind that the growth may not be as vigorous or as large as any Pothos plant grown in soil, as the conditions are wildly different, and after all, the plant is better suited to soil!
It is a great experiment, though, and it looks fantastic.
Marble Queen Pothos Toxicity
It’s important to note that Marble Queen Pothos, and any other type of Pothos, for that matter, is classified as toxic.
This is because the plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, which are dangerous if ingested.
These crystals are the plant’s defense mechanism against things that want to eat them.
The crystals create a burning sensation, irritation, swelling, and other unpleasant effects that make whatever’s trying to make the plant into a snack think twice.
Always keep your Pothos plants well out of reach of pets or children, preferably in a hanging basket, and if you have cats, keep the pot well out of jumping range!
Final Thoughts
Marble Queen Pothos is a beautiful plant, but it’s perhaps not the best variety to choose if you overwater your plants often, or you don’t have a lot of natural light and you don’t fancy using grow lights.
But if you get the conditions right, this plant will flourish under your care, transforming any part of your home into a relaxing, jungle-like space with its gorgeous variegated leaves, and long vines.
