Chop and Prop

Propagation is one of my favorite parts about planting. I honestly love anything free and the fact that plants can grow roots from a cutting is still mind-blowing to me. When I first started on this journey, I would talk to some of our clients about their beautiful plants. After long conversations, every once in awhile, they would offer cuttings. This was really exciting to me because in my mind I thought I would never have to spend money on a plant, so long as I could find a cutting. Even though I wish that were the case, I do have a few beauties that came from propagations. I have been gifted a snake plant, pothos, tradescantia zebrina, spider plant, anthurium, monstera’s and many more. It honestly makes me so happy to grow my plants large enough to where I can start propagating for friends and family members.

One of my biggest mistakes with propagating was when I made the first few cuts and immediately put them into water or perlite, only to find root rot a couple weeks later. I don’t have the best of luck with perlite either, so I tend to stick with water propagation only. Turns out when you first cut the plant, you need to let the cut callus over (typically 24 hours) and then put it into water. I recently bought root hormone powder as well, that you dip the plant into to help the process. Keep in mind, some plants you can cut and immediately put into water, but most houseplants need to callus over first.

If you are anything like me, you don’t want to wait 24 hours for the plant to callus over. So, here are a few tips you can use to help speed the process up. The first trick is to make the cut near the node, take super glue and put it over the cut. The second trick that I love to use is lighting a candle and then after a few minutes, blow it out and dip the cut of the plant into the wax. These tricks will prevent your propagations from forming root rot.

One last quick tip is to use SUPERthrive in your propagation water. It helps with root growth as well as repotting so that the plant doesn’t go into shock.

I am still learning so much about propagation and what plants tend to be easier to propagate than others, so follow me on Instagram to watch my journey.