Most rooting failures come down to one mistake: cutting in the wrong place. For vining plants like pothos and philodendron, roots only form at nodes — the small bump or aerial-root nub where a leaf attaches to the stem. A cutting with no node on it, no matter how healthy the leaf looks, will not root. Which stem it comes off matters nearly as much. Take from growth that is healthy and actively extending, in spring or summer if there is a choice, and leave the softest inch at the very tip - it wilts before it roots. One or two nodes with a leaf above them is plenty. A longer cutting only gives itself more leaf to support on no roots at all. Wiping the blade with alcohol between plants costs nothing and keeps a problem on one plant from travelling to the next. The basic method: using clean, sharp scissors or snips, cut just below a node, keeping at least one leaf attached above it. Remove any leaves that would sit underwater or below the soil line — leaves left to rot in water foul it quickly and can kill the cutting before roots even form. In water, change it every few days, more often if it starts to look cloudy, and keep the cutting somewhere with bright indirect light, not direct sun, which can cook a leaf with no root system yet to support it. Roots typically show within one to three weeks for easy rooters like pothos; more temperamental plants can take longer. The common failure at this stage is rot at the cut end. A stem gone soft or slimy below the water line is not going to root: cut back into firm tissue above the damage, start again in clean water, and change it more often than before. A cutting that just sits there with a firm stem and a good leaf is usually fine and slow, which is a different thing. In soil, the same node-below-the-surface rule applies. A rooting hormone isn't necessary for easy plants, but it can improve success rates and speed for slower ones. Keeping the soil consistently barely moist — not wet — and the humidity a little higher than normal (a loose plastic bag over the pot works) helps more than any product. Roots at an inch or two are the moment to pot up, rather than waiting for a jar full of them - long water roots have more to lose in the move. Three or four cuttings in one small pot make a full plant far sooner than one does, and they can share a jar while they root. The single biggest variable is patience: check for resistance by giving the cutting a very gentle tug after a couple of weeks rather than pulling it up to look.
Taking a Cutting That Actually Roots
Where you cut matters more than what you cut with.