Botanical Family Planning - Propagate Your Plants!

Space is getting a bit tight in your plant pot and your plants are growing faster than you can repot them? This is the ideal opportunity to propagate plants. This is not only possible with herbs or seeds, but also with your indoor plants at home. Growing and propagating indoor plants on your own is easy, inexpensive and sustainable. In addition, you will grow fond of a plant you have grown yourself if you accompany its development and it is also a great idea as a gift.

The different ways of plant propagation

There are different ways to propagate indoor plants. But in general, a distinction is made between generative and vegetative propagation. Generative propagation is by seeds. Vegetative propagation means that parts of the mother plant are rooted and new plants develop from them. The newly grown plants have the same genetic material and the same characteristics as the mother plant and therefore flower earlier. For the propagation of indoor plants, vegetative propagation is of particular importance.

Plant care includes regular pruning to ensure vigorous growth. You can also use this section to propagate your plants.

You can propagate the birch fig (Ficus benjamina) with top cuttings. Here the upper unwoody part of the plant is cut off. The lower leaves on the cutting are removed, as this reduces evaporation from the leaf surface, the cutting requires less energy and thus forms roots faster.

The Dieffenbachia is suitable as a stem cutting. The stem cutting is a part of the firmer stem, which should not have any leaves. It should not be too soft, but also not too woody and about 7 to 20 cm long. The top of the plant is cut off, leaving only the leafless stem. This can be cut into several pieces to be rooted. The cut should be made below a stem knot. The Ufo plant, also known as Pilea, can be propagated from a single leaf, i.e. leaf cuttings. Put the leaf in a glass of warm water, which should be changed daily if possible. The closer the leaf was severed to the stem, the greater the chance of success. A wound tissue develops on the section, on which the roots later form. This wound incision should be allowed to dry before inserting the section into water. Once your plant has formed roots, you should make sure that no root balls form.

Not all plants that can be used as head or stem cuttings are also suitable for leaf propagation. For example, a Dieffenbachia leaf cannot be raised in a glass of water.

New plants from offshoots

Ferns and bamboo are among the types of plants that reproduce by themselves by forming offshoots from the mother plant. These form independent roots from which new plants develop. You can redirect the stolons to a new pot until they are sufficiently attached to the soil. You should not separate them from the mother plant beforehand, otherwise they will not be strong enough and will die. However, it can happen that the offshoot plants are not as vigorous as the mother plant, so you should not raise stolons from plant to plant too often.

Parting of the rootstocks

Propagation by dividing the rootstock is particularly helpful for plants that grow very densely, such as when it's time to repot. Otherwise, the leaves of the plant would eventually interfere with each other.

This type of propagation works, for example, with the Coriander (Calathea musaica) To propagate the Coriander, remove the plant including the root ball and carefully divide it into several pieces. The individual parts should retain as much rootstock and fibrous roots as possible. You can then immediately replant the divided plants and continue to care for them normally. It is best to provide both the old and the new plant pots with fresh soil.

When plants take root

No matter which type of propagation you choose, make sure that you only use healthy and well-growing mother plants so that the propagation works. It's also important to use clean and sharp pruning tools to avoid injuring or bruising your plant. Before potting the new plant, you can trim its roots a bit to encourage good branching. You can then either plant the plant and water it lightly, or place it directly in moistened soil. The soil should be low in nutrients, you can also use special propagation soil. Depending on the type of plant, it can develop quite quickly in a bright but not sunny location and below room temperature. You can see after about 3 - 5 weeks whether the rooting worked.

It can sometimes be helpful to put a plastic bag over the plant and pot to create higher humidity and warmth like in a greenhouse. Special glass or plastic bells are suitable for this, but also foil bags that are placed over the plant and pot and attached to the pot with a household rubber band. To prevent mold from developing, you should lift the bag daily and air the plant. Attention: You should do this e.g. Do not try this on a succulent or a cactus, for example, as these do not tolerate high humidity.

Now you have learned a lot about propagating your indoor plants. Your botanical family planning can begin!