How to Propagate Houseplants

Propagation is how you turn one plant into several, for free. It is also how you rescue a leggy plant, save part of one that is failing, or share a favorite with friends. Many common houseplants root easily, and the basic methods take only a clean pair of scissors, a glass of water or a pot of fresh mix, and some patience.

Before you start

Work in spring or summer. Plants root fastest when they are actively growing and the days are long.
Take cuttings from healthy, well-watered plants. A stressed plant makes weak cuttings.
Use clean, sharp scissors or a knife. A clean cut heals quickly; a crushed stem rots.
Choose a bright spot out of direct sun for the cuttings. They need light to grow roots but scorch easily without them.

Stem cuttings

This is the method for most vining and climbing plants. It works because many plants can grow new roots from a node, the slightly swollen point on the stem where a leaf joins it.

Choose a healthy stem and cut just below a node, so the cutting is four to six inches long with at least two or three leaves.
Remove the lowest leaf so that the node is bare.
Stand the cutting in a glass of room-temperature water with the bare node submerged and the remaining leaves above the water.
Change the water every few days to keep it fresh.
When the new roots are an inch or two long, usually after three to six weeks, pot the cutting into fresh, slightly moist mix.

Golden pothos is the easiest plant to learn on: its cuttings root reliably in water within a few weeks, and several cuttings potted together make a full new plant.

The same method works for monstera, with one difference. A monstera cutting must include a node, and ideally an aerial root, to grow. A leaf on its own, without a piece of stem and node, will stay green in water for months but never become a plant.

Water or soil?

Most stem cuttings can root either in water or straight into a small pot of moist, airy mix. Water lets you watch the roots form, which is half the fun. Cuttings rooted in soil skip the move from water to soil, which some plants find stressful. If you root in soil, cover the pot loosely with a clear plastic bag to hold in humidity, and check the soil every few days so it never dries out while the roots form.

Leaf cuttings

A few plants can grow a whole new plant from a single leaf or a piece of one.

A snake plant leaf can be cut into sections a few inches long. Let the cut ends dry for a day or two, then push each section, bottom end down, into slightly damp cactus mix. New shoots appear from the base after a couple of months. One thing to know: on many variegated types, plants grown from leaf cuttings lose the yellow edge and come up plain green. Division keeps the pattern.

A ZZ plant can also be grown from individual leaflets pushed into moist, gritty mix. It works, but it is a lesson in patience. Each leaflet first grows a small rhizome under the soil, and the first new stem may take six months or more to appear.

Division

Plants that grow in clumps, with several stems coming up from the soil, can simply be split. Snake plants, ferns, calatheas and many palms can all be divided.

Water the plant the day before.
Ease it out of its pot and gently shake or brush off the loose soil to see where the clumps naturally separate.
Pull the sections apart with your hands, or cut through the root mass with a clean knife, making sure each piece has its own roots and growth.
Pot each section into fresh mix in a pot that fits its root ball, and water well.

Divided plants usually sulk for a few weeks before growing again. Keep them out of direct sun while they recover.

Caring for new plants

Young plants are more delicate than established ones. Keep their soil lightly moist, but not soggy, while the roots develop, and give them bright, indirect light. Do not feed them for the first month or two. When roots begin to show at the drainage hole, they are ready to be treated like any other plant of their kind.

When it does not work

Not every cutting takes. A cutting that turns mushy at the base has rotted, usually from old water or a stem cut too far from a node; cut above the soft part and start again. A cutting that sits unchanged for weeks may simply be slow, especially in cooler months. Taking several cuttings at once and keeping the best is how experienced growers do it, and it is the easiest way to guarantee at least one new plant.