How to Propagate Plants at Home

Before you begin propagating houseplants, make sure the plant is not patented. It’s illegal to propagate patent protected plants. You can tell patent protected plants by their labels. A patented plant will have the initials “PP” after the cultivar name.

Learn how to propagate plants by cuttings and by air layering. Different plants respond to different propagation methods.

Materials:

• Snips
• Alcohol wipes or disinfectant spray
• Clean glass jars or vases
• Clear plastic bag
• Flowerpot
• Potting mix (Recommend a soil-less media that drains well. This can be perlite, vermiculite, sand, bark or peat moss.)
• Rooting hormone

Tips for Success:

• If you’re making many pots of cuttings, use trays, shelves and grow lights to keep everything organized.
• You’ll need a space with bright, indirect light, and enough h

Humidity to keep plant material from drying out.

• Optimal temperature for propagation is between 75 degrees and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Best Plants for Propagating:

• Herbaceous stem cuttings, sometimes called slips
• African violet
• Begonia
• Chrysanthemum
• Coleus
• Geranium

Softwood cuttings:

• Croton
• Dracaena
• Rubber plant

Succulents are easy to propagate, too. Check out our expert step-by-step guide to propagating succulents.

The simplest method of propagation is to take a cutting and root it in water. This works for many plants, from rosemary to coleus. Just place in a windowsill that gets indirect light and pot up the seedlings when a root system develops.

For better success, give these methods a try.

Terminal cuttings:

• Terminal cuttings are also called tip cuttings. This is a piece of stem with one or more buds. You can use this technique on vining plants like ivy, pothos, philodendron and peperomia.
• When you take cuttings, have your growing container prepped and ready. You want loose, well-draining potting media. Go ahead and add water before planting. When you’re ready to take cuttings, follow these directions.

1. First, locate a node. This is the point at which leaves attach to the stem. Use sharp snips to make a cut just below a node. You want a cutting that’s 2 to 4 inches long, containing 4 to 6 leaves.

2. On the stem, remove the lowest pair of leaves.

3. Insert the stem into moist potting soil. Continue with more stem cuttings.

4. Place a clear plastic bag over the pot. You may need to prop it up with bamboo sticks or repurposed coat hangers.

5. Place the rooting bag in a warm place that gets indirect (not direct) light.

Leaf Cuttings:

• Leaf cuttings take longer to propagate because there’s not a bud. This method works well with African violets, pilea peperomia and succulents.

1. Take a 2 to 4 inch cutting of a single leaf on a stem.
   

2. Insert the stem into the rooting media up to the leaf blade.

3. Using sharp snips or a knife, cut the veins of the leaf in several places.

4. Place small pebbles on the leaf to keep it in contact with soil.

5. New growth forms where the veins are cut. As the plantlets grow, break off and discard the old leaf.

Cane Cuttings:

• Cane plants like dracaena, ti (cordyline) and dieffenbachia are easy to propagate by a similar method.

1. Cut a piece of cane from 2 inches to 12 inches or more. You’ll get more plants using smaller segments. Make sure there’s a node on each segment.

2. Place each piece into the rooting medium and bury halfway.
   

Division:

• Many houseplants are propagated by division. When you repot plants, divide and share with friends.
• Divide plants when they emerge from their dormant season, usually late winter or early summer. To divide plants, gently break them apart. You can use a garden knife or even a serrated bread knife to make cuts. Replant the divisions in their own pots.

Air Layering:

• This method is best for large plants like ficus lyrata (weeping fig) and schefflera. Air layering brings the growing medium to the portion of the plant that will be propagated.

Steps for Air Layering:

Materials: Moistened sphagnum peat moss, a sharp knife, plastic kitchen wrap or aluminum foil, twist ties or cable ties, rooting hormone (optional).

1. For plants with tree-like bark, girdle (cut) entirely around the stem. The girdle should be at least an inch wide.

2. Dust rooting hormone into the wounded area. (Optional, but it will speed results.)

3. Take a small ball of moist sphagnum peat moss and place around the girdled stem.

4. Wrap the moss with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and secure with cable ties or twist ties.

5. Inspect the ball every few weeks and keep watered.

6. Roots should appear in 2 to 4 months. Remove the new plant and like a rooted cutting.

Plants will root without rooting hormone products. But they do make the process faster and more reliable. Rooting hormones are naturally derived auxins that are simple to use when you propagate. They come in powder, liquid and gel forms. The type you pick is based on your preference.

To use rooting hormone products, pour out a bit of the product onto a saucer. Take a cutting and roll the stem in the product until it’s thoroughly coated. Here’s an expert tip: Use a small stick (a chopstick works well) to poke a hole in the potting mix before you insert the coated cutting. This one extra step will make sure that the hormone stays on the cutting and won’t get lost in the soil.

Each plant takes its own time to form roots and leaves. When the plants have sufficient growth, pot them into a slightly larger pot and use an indoor potting mix. Continue with the care that houseplants need: bright, indirect light and proper moisture (whether they like dry or moist). Keep them away from drafts and cold windows.

If the cuttings are new plants to your home, you may need to move them around a bit to get the perfect amount of light.