Planters
The Best Pots for Pothos
Pothos wants a small pot, a drainage hole and to be left alone between waterings. Most of what goes wrong with it is a pot that is too big or too sealed.
By Scooter M., enthusiast · Published
The short answer
Keep a pothos in a small pot with a drainage hole — 6 inches for a store-bought plant, 8 inches for a full one — and let the top of the mix dry between waterings. It prefers a snug pot and rots in a big one, which makes it the plant for the 6-inch ceramic pot on a shelf or the 10-inch hanging pot with a plug. Clear nursery pots are the cheapest way to learn its watering rhythm, because you can see when the roots are dry.
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Pothos is the plant that survives offices, and the pots people buy for it are the pots that kill it. The pattern is nearly always the same: a trailing plant in a 4-inch nursery pot looks like it deserves a big handsome pot, gets a 10-inch one with no hole, and rots over a month while everyone waters it more because the leaves are yellowing. This page is the argument against that purchase, and then the short list of pots that suit how the plant actually grows.
The plant's habits are simple. It tolerates low light, it stores a little water in its stems, it roots from any node it touches, and it prefers a pot that is on the small side and dries out between waterings. That is nearly the opposite brief from a peace lily or a fern, and it makes pothos the ideal plant for the two things this section is most skeptical about elsewhere: a pot on a hook, and a pot on a shelf that is not rated for much.
Small on purpose
A pothos in a pot it has filled is a healthy pothos. The roots do not mind being snug, the plant does not stall, and a pot the roots fill dries at the rate the plant wants. The problem with a pot two sizes too large is the mix nobody is drinking from: it stays wet, the air goes out of it, and the roots in it die. Extension guidance on containers says to move up one size at a time, and for this plant we would add: only when the roots are pushing out of the hole.
volume ratio = (D2 / D1)^3
4 in nursery pot to 6 in: (6/4)^3 = 3.4 times the mix. 4 in to 8 in: (8/4)^3 = 8 times the mix, which is a month of wet soil for a plant that wanted a week.
Volume is 0.46315 x D^3 cubic inches throughout this site. The pot size chart lists the steps.
| Pot size | Mix volume | Dry | Watered | Rating needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 in | 0.017 cu ft | 0.4 lb | 0.9 lb | 2 lb |
| 5 in | 0.034 cu ft | 0.7 lb | 1.8 lb | 3 lb |
| 6 in | 0.058 cu ft | 1.3 lb | 3.2 lb | 5 lb |
| 8 in | 0.137 cu ft | 3 lb | 7.5 lb | 12 lb |
| 10 in | 0.268 cu ft | 5.9 lb | 14.7 lb | 23 lb |
Shelf, hook or window
Where the plant lives decides the pot more than the plant does. On a shelf, a 6-inch ceramic pot with a saucer is the whole answer: it drains, it is light enough for an unrated bookshelf, and the vines trail over the edge. On a hook, a 10-inch hanging pot with a plug or a tray is right — a pothos in a hanging pot without drainage is the single most common way the plant dies. And in a window, a plastic pot with a saucer on a window shelf is the plant's best light and lowest weight at once.
The hook arithmetic is gentle for this plant. A 10-inch pot of wet mix computes to about 15 lb, but a pothos rarely needs a 10-inch pot — an 8-inch hanging pot at about 8 lb saturated is more typical, and either sits comfortably under a rated adhesive hook with the site's 1.5x margin. The hanging load guide has the hook table.
Watering by sight, which is the point of a clear pot
Pothos wants the top of the mix dry before it is watered again, and it tells you it is thirsty by drooping slightly, then recovering within hours of a drink. That is a forgiving signal, and it is why the plant tolerates the busy and the forgetful. The clear nursery pot in the picks is not a decorative choice: through the wall you can see whether the mix is dark and wet or pale and dry, and see white roots reaching the base, which for a first plant is worth more than any schedule. Drop it inside a cachepot when it is on show.
Quick picks
Ranked, with the published figure each pick turns on. Tap a row for the full reasoning further down this page.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gepege 6 in Ceramic Plant Pots with Drainage and SaucersThe size most houseplants are sold in and the size most shelves are built for, with the hole that the decorative version of the same pot leaves out. | The default shelf pot | |
| 2 |  Areutxbis 8 in Plastic Planters with Drainage and Saucers, 4 packPlastic at 8 inches, which is the size where the material choice stops being cosmetic and starts being a load decision. | Four matching pots on a shelf that is not rated | |
| 3 |  10 in Hanging Planter, glazed finish, drainage holes with plug, 2 packThe plug is the whole idea: drainage open on a balcony, plugged indoors so it does not water your floor. | Indoors and outdoors without buying twice | |
| 4 |  Vanslogreen Self Watering Hanging Planter with drainage holes and removable tray, 2 packThe tray comes out, which sounds trivial and is the difference between a hanging pot you can maintain and one you cannot. | A removable tray you can actually empty | |
| 5 |  LE TAUCI Ceramic Plant Pots with Drainage and Saucer, set of 3Three graduated sizes with a real hole and a matched saucer in each, which is a lower bar than it sounds and one most decorative ceramic fails. | Three sizes that actually drain | |
| 6 |  homenote 6.7 in Clear Plastic Nursery Pots with Drainage, 15 packClear walls, which turn the one variable you cannot otherwise check, what the roots are doing, into something you can just look at. | Watching roots instead of guessing |
Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Prices and availability are Amazon's and change without notice.
How we ranked these for a pothos
Drainage first, size second, and then whether the pot suits where a pothos actually lives. The 6-inch ceramic pot leads because it is the right size for most store-bought plants and the right pot for a shelf. The 8-inch plastic pack is the size-up for a plant that has filled its 6-inch pot, at a weight an unrated shelf does not notice. The hanging pots are ranked on whether they can be watered without ruining a floor. The three-piece ceramic set is there for cuttings, which every pothos owner ends up with, and the clear nursery pots are the cheapest way to learn the plant before spending on ceramic.
| Your plant | Pot | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shop-bought, in a 4 in nursery pot | 6 in ceramic with saucer, or a clear nursery pot | One size up; visible roots if you want to learn its rhythm |
| Full plant, roots at the hole | 8 in plastic with saucer | The size-up, light enough for any shelf |
| Trailing from a hook | 10 in hanging with a plug, or the tray-type hanging pot | Drains, and comes down to the sink or empties in place |
| Cuttings you have rooted in water | 4.1 or 5.1 in from the three-piece set | Small pots for small root balls |
Cuttings, and why you will need small pots
Every pothos owner becomes a pothos propagator, because a cut vine in a glass of water roots in a couple of weeks and there is no reason not to. The pot those cuttings need is small — 4 inches is right for two or three rooted stems — and it needs a hole, because a freshly potted cutting in wet mix with no drainage rots faster than a mature plant does. The three-piece ceramic set below covers three sizes with saucers for exactly that, and the propagation station pages cover the glass half of the process.
What we deliberately do not recommend
A big pot for a small plant, whatever it looks like. A sealed decorative pot with the plant planted directly in it — use it as a cachepot with the nursery pot inside, and lift the plant out to water. Self-watering pots for this plant: it wants to dry out, and a reservoir keeps it from doing so. And macrame hangers around a pot without a saucer over a floor you would miss.
Every pick, in full
We have not handled any of these. What follows is what each listing publishes, what that means once you put a watered pot on it, and who should buy something else.
1. The default shelf pot
Gepege 6 in Ceramic Plant Pots with Drainage and Saucers
The size most houseplants are sold in and the size most shelves are built for, with the hole that the decorative version of the same pot leaves out.
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- What the listing publishes
- 6 in ceramic with drainage hole and saucer
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
A 6-inch pot of saturated mix computes to about 3.2 lb. Any stand on this site holds it, which is why 6 inches is where you can buy on looks rather than on arithmetic.
It is also the size where the no-drainage-hole trap is most common, because 6-inch pots are sold as decor as often as they are sold as pots.
Nursery plants usually arrive in a plastic 6-inch. Dropping that pot straight into a ceramic cachepot is a legitimate alternative to repotting, as long as you lift it to water.
What is good
- The correct default size for most houseplants
- Hole and saucer included
- Light enough for any shelf here
What is not
- Outgrown within a year by anything vigorous
- Glazed ceramic holds moisture longer than plastic
- One pot per order at this price point
Skip it if your plant came in a 6-inch nursery pot and is root-bound. You need the next size up, not the same size in ceramic.
2. Four matching pots on a shelf that is not rated
Areutxbis 8 in Plastic Planters with Drainage and Saucers, 4 pack
Plastic at 8 inches, which is the size where the material choice stops being cosmetic and starts being a load decision.
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- What the listing publishes
- 8 in plastic, drainage holes and saucers, four per pack
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
An 8-inch pot of saturated mix computes to about 7.5 lb. In plastic the pot adds ounces; in glazed ceramic it can add several pounds, and on an unrated tiered stand with four of them that difference is the whole safety margin.
Four matching pots is also how a shelf stops looking like a collection of separate shopping trips.
Plastic dries slower at the walls than terracotta and faster than glaze, which puts it in the middle of the moisture range and makes it the safest default if you are not sure.
What is good
- Adds almost nothing to the computed load
- Four matching pots and saucers
- Middle of the road for drying speed
What is not
- Light enough to be knocked over by a cat
- Plastic goes brittle in a sunny window over years
- Looks like what it is
Skip it if the pots are going somewhere visible and the look matters more than the load. A ceramic set is the answer, and 8 inches is still light enough to get away with it.
3. Indoors and outdoors without buying twice
10 in Hanging Planter, glazed finish, drainage holes with plug, 2 pack
The plug is the whole idea: drainage open on a balcony, plugged indoors so it does not water your floor.
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- What the listing publishes
- Published 10 in; drainage holes with an included plug; 3-point chain hanger and hooks; glazed-look plastic; 2 pack
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
A hanging plant indoors has a problem no floor plant has — there is no saucer, so anything that drains lands on whatever is beneath it. A removable plug lets the same pot drain outside and hold indoors, which is genuinely useful in an apartment with a balcony.
The catch, and it is the same catch as every no-drainage pot on this site: plugged, this is a pot with no way for excess water to leave. Water it conservatively by volume when the plug is in, and pull the plug occasionally to flush it.
A 3-point chain hangs more level than a 2-point one, which matters when a trailing plant grows heavier on one side.
What is good
- Drainage with a plug, so one pot works in two places
- 3-point chain hangs level
- Lighter than the ceramic it imitates
What is not
- Plugged, it is a no-drainage pot with the risks that carries
- Glazed-look plastic is still plastic up close
- 10 in of saturated mix is 14.7 lb, which needs a 23 lb rated hook
Skip it if you will never remember to pull the plug. A plain drainage pot with a saucer beneath it is more forgiving.
4. A removable tray you can actually empty
Vanslogreen Self Watering Hanging Planter with drainage holes and removable tray, 2 pack
The tray comes out, which sounds trivial and is the difference between a hanging pot you can maintain and one you cannot.
#ad · Price shown on Amazon. How we are funded
- What the listing publishes
- Published multiple drainage holes; removable tray that doubles as the reservoir; triangulated 3-chain hanger with rust-resistant hooks; 2 pack
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
Every hanging pot with a built-in reservoir eventually needs the reservoir emptying — after a heavy top-watering, before a cold snap on a balcony, or because something has grown in it. A tray that detaches makes that a ten-second job instead of taking the plant down.
The listing publishes drainage holes above the tray rather than a sealed base, so the mix is separated from the standing water. That is the correct arrangement and not all of these have it.
The listing does not publish a diameter, so size it from the product page before buying if you have a specific pot in mind.
What is good
- Removable tray, genuinely maintainable
- Drainage holes separate mix from standing water
- Triangulated three-chain hanger
What is not
- No published diameter in the listing bullets
- No published weight capacity for the chain
- Plastic
Skip it if you need to know the exact diameter before you buy. This listing does not publish one.
5. Three sizes that actually drain
LE TAUCI Ceramic Plant Pots with Drainage and Saucer, set of 3
Three graduated sizes with a real hole and a matched saucer in each, which is a lower bar than it sounds and one most decorative ceramic fails.
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- What the listing publishes
- 4.1, 5.1 and 6.5 in; drainage hole and a matched saucer on every pot
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
Saturated mix in these three sizes computes to about 0.9, 1.8 and 3.7 lb, light enough that any shelf holds them and the interesting question is drainage rather than load.
A matched saucer is not decoration. Buying a saucer separately means guessing a diameter, and a saucer an inch too small overflows onto whatever is underneath.
Graduated sets are how you pot up a plant without a second order. A rooted cutting goes in the 4-inch, moves to the 5-inch in a season and the 6.5-inch after that.
What is good
- Every pot has a hole and a matching saucer
- Three sizes cover a potting-up sequence
- Glazed inside, so they do not wick like bare terracotta
What is not
- Nothing here fits a plant bigger than a small pothos
- Ceramic chips if it goes over
- Glazed pots dry slower than terracotta, which suits some plants and kills others
Skip it if you overwater. A glazed, non-porous pot is the least forgiving container for that habit, and terracotta is the fix.
6. Watching roots instead of guessing
homenote 6.7 in Clear Plastic Nursery Pots with Drainage, 15 pack
Clear walls, which turn the one variable you cannot otherwise check, what the roots are doing, into something you can just look at.
#ad · Price shown on Amazon. How we are funded
- What the listing publishes
- 6.7 in clear plastic with drainage holes, 15 per pack
- Against a 10-inch pot
- No weight rating is published for this product, so there is nothing to check. That counts against it here rather than being treated as neutral.
The reason to use a clear nursery pot inside an opaque cachepot is diagnostic: you can see root growth, you can see when water has actually reached the bottom, and you can see rot before the leaves tell you.
Fifteen pots is a whole shelf and a propagation run's worth of potting-up, at a per-pot price no ceramic reaches.
They are not attractive. They are meant to sit inside something else, which is also the arrangement that keeps a decorative pot with no drainage hole from killing a plant.
What is good
- Root visibility that no other pot format gives you
- Fifteen pots at nursery pricing
- The correct inner pot for a decorative cachepot with no hole
What is not
- Ugly on their own
- Algae grows on the inside of a clear pot in a bright window
- Thin plastic flexes when you lift a wet one
Skip it if you want the pot to be the visible object. These are working pots and they look it.
Questions people actually ask
What size pot should a pothos be in?
Do pothos like to be root bound?
Does a pothos need a drainage hole?
Can I keep a pothos in a hanging pot?
Is a self-watering pot good for pothos?
Should I put pothos cuttings in a big pot?
Sources
- Cornell University, Greenhouse Management: bulk density of greenhouse media components
- Biology Insights: how much a cubic foot of potting soil weighs, dry and saturated
- Clemson HGIC: Indoor Plants — cleaning, fertilizing, containers and light requirements
- Clemson HGIC: Indoor Plants — watering
- University of Illinois Extension: Houseplants — propagation
Product specifications are quoted from each seller's own listing and are the seller's claim, not a measurement of ours.