Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Marble queen pothos (Epipremnum aureum 'Marble Queen')cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called variegated pothos, marble pothos.

About Marble queen pothos

Epipremnum aureum 'Marble Queen' · also called variegated pothos, marble pothos · tropical

Marble queen pothos is a heavily white-variegated cultivar of devil's ivy. Slower-growing than golden pothos because the white sections lack chlorophyll, but tolerant of typical home conditions. Mildly toxic to pets.

An Epipremnum aureum cultivar of the species native to the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia; 'Marble Queen' is a heavily white-streaked selection rather than a wild form.

Notably slower than golden pothos because so much leaf area is non-photosynthetic; pinching vine tips keeps it full and encourages the most strongly marbled new leaves.

Cold limit: USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) · RHS H1b (18-27°C)

Sources: missouribotanicalgarden.org, plants.ces.ncsu.edu, aspca.org

What marble queen pothos's hardiness rating actually means

Marble queen pothos is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Marble queen pothos has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for marble queen pothos as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can marble queen pothos go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when marble queen pothos can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Marble queen pothos hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is marble queen pothos cold hardy?

Marble queen pothos is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Marble queen pothos can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature marble queen pothos can survive?

What hardiness zone is marble queen pothos?

Marble queen pothos is rated USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can marble queen pothos survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to marble queen pothos below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.