5 Ways You Can Propagate Indoor Plants

Propagating plants is one of my favourite things to do. You can turn one of your favourite plants into two, for you or as a gift for someone else. Propagating can be easy and there’s a few ways you can do it. Keep reading for the different ways you can propagate your favourite indoor plants

Stem Cuttings

Taking a stem cutting is one of the most popular methods of propagating as it’s easy and effective and can be done two ways, using water or soil.

Soil Propagation

Firstly, take a cutting that’s about 3-5 inches long, making sure to cut just below the node (where the leaf connects to the stem) and remove the lower leaves, leaving about two leaves at the top. Next, using a pencil, make a hole in the soil for the cutting so that the rooting hormone doesn’t get rubbed off being put into the soil. Dip the bottom inch of the cutting into rooting hormone and then place into the hole in the soil. Place the cutting in a spot that has bright indirect light and keep moist.

Propagating during the plants growing period will have a better success rate. To check if your cutting has started rooting, gently tug the stem and if you feel resistance then your cutting has rooted!

Water Propagation

As said before, take a cutting that’s about 3-5 inches long, making sure to cut just below a node (where the leaf connects to the stem) and remove the lower leaves. Place the cutting into a jar with fresh water and place into bright indirect light, adding fresh water when needed. Once you start seeing roots, wait until they are longer than an inch long before placing the cutting into soil. This may take about 4-6 weeks. Once you put the cutting into soil, treat it as you would any other plant.

Leaf Cutting

Another method for propagating is by leaf cuttings. Snake plants are a good plant for using this method.

Simply cut a leaf, dip it in rooting hormone (rooting hormone isn’t required if you don’t have any available or don’t want to use) and then place it into moist soil.

Air Layering

Air laying is commonly used for plants that become long and leggy like a Fiddle Leaf Fig or Rubber Plant or plants that are too hard to propagate from cuttings.

Firstly, you need to make a cut in the stem leaving about 2 feet of stem above. Make two cuts about a millimetre into the stem that are an inch apart from each other and then remove that inch of bark from the stem as that’s where the roots will come from. Apply some rooting hormone to where the cut was made and place a bag with sphagnum moss around the stem. Once roots have formed, you can remove the bag and cut just under where the roots are and place in soil.

Division

Division is another method of propagating and can be quite easy. It’s just separating the smaller plants from the mother plant.

Firstly, remove the plant from the pot and find the section you would like to take out. Gently remove the smaller plant from the mother plant, getting as many roots as you can. If the plant isn’t coming out easily, you may need to use a knife to help seperate it. Check the plant and remove any browning leaves or loose roots. Pot the plant into a suitable sized pot in well draining soil, water thoroughly and place into bright indirect light.