Propagate til you drop
Cloning of a plant, is called propagating and is very simple. All you need to know is how to propagate the specific plant, because this is different for every plant.You can choose from five methods:
- Top cuttings (almost all plants with branches)
- Stem cuttings (Ficus, Dieffenbachia and Dracaena)
- Leaf cuttings (Begonia, Sansevieria and African Violet (Saintpaulia))
- Division (Cretan Brake/Table Fern (Pteris cretica), Flamingo Flower (Anthurium), Umbrella Plant (Cyperus) and Gerbera)
- Shoots (Bromelia, Curly Fern (Nephrolepis), Piggyback Plant and many succulents.)
Top cuttings
Examples of plants that can be propagated from shoot cuttings are Poinsettia and Fuschia. You can take top cuttings from almost every plant with branches. This is how you do this:
- Take a beautiful, healthy branch from the top of your plant, preferably between 10-15cm long.
- Fill a pot with nice moist potting soil. Make a little hole with a pencil and gently slip the cutting into the pot.
- As soon as new leaves start to appear, you'll know that the plant has taken root. If you have planted several little plants together in one pot, you can give them each their own pot after two weeks.
Stem cuttings
Examples of plants that can be propagated from stem cuttings are Ficus, Dieffenbachia, and Dragon Tree (Dracaena). This is how you do it:
- Take a stem and cut it into 5cm pieces. Make sure there are two nodes on each one (the points from which leaves grow). Remove the leaves from the lowest node.
- Insert the bottom part into the earth.
- For the rest, treat it like a top cutting.
Leaf cuttings
Examples of plants that can be propagated from leaf cuttings are Begonia, Sansevieria and African Violet (Saintpaulia).
How to propagate from leaf cuttings:
- Break off a fully-grown, but not too old, leaf at the base of the stem. Choose a leaf which has a stalk of about 5cm long. Or cut off the stalk about 5cm from the leaf of the plant with a clean, sharp knife.
- Insert the cutting into a hole (that you've made beforehand with a pencil) in a pot with soil. The bottom of the leaf must touch the moist earth.
- From here on, treat it like a top cutting.
How to propagate from part-leaf cuttings:
- Cut a leaf into squares of about 3 by 3cm. Remember which side of the pieces were closest to the root.
- Carefully insert the squares one centimetre into the moist earth.
- From here on, treat it like a top cutting.
Division
Examples of plants that can be propagated by division are Cretan Brake/Table Fern (Pteris cretica), Flamingo Flower (Anthurium), Umbrella Plant (Cyperus) and Gerbera. How to propagate by division:
- Give your plant water. An hour later, take it out of its pot and remove as much soil as you can from the clump.
- Choose which piece of your plant – and which roots – you want to separate from the big clump. Prise the roots free with your hands or cut them with a clean, sharp knife.
- Put the new clump with your plant in fresh potting soil and give it plenty of water.
Shoots
Examples of plants that can be propagated from shoots are Bromelia, Curly Fern (Nephrolepis), Piggyback Plant and many succulents. This is how to propagate from shoots:
- Wait until the little shoot is at least one-third the size of the mother plant.
- Take the mother plant out of the pot and look carefully at where you're going to cut it: at the point where mother and shoot converge.
- Cut through the umbilical cord between mother and shoot using a clean, sharp knife and put the shoot in its own pot.
comments
i could have done with this guide at end of summer when i wanted to grow from some bits i came by but didnt know how to do it
Excellent. It is very informative
Very informative
Message/comment; Each section of the guide is clear and informative. The step-by-step guide on how to propagate is clear and eaay for a beginner to understand.
I did experiment a lot, some succeeded, others failed, but now I know that the way of propagating plants may be specific to a kind....so I will try again..thanks!
I brought a poinsettia just before xmas its lost a lot of petals and leaves but has new shoots coming to, im not sure how to cut it back as im afraid i will lose it. im so happy with it because normaly they die on me. Help please
Ihave three Christmas Cacti on my kitchen windowsill which are still flowering. Two of these plants are three years old. Is this unusual.
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