waves My name is Diosabellissima and I am a plant murderer.
Some of you may remember my thread in which I asked about indoor plants. For those of you that don’t, this one right here. I ended up going down to OSH (like a Home Depot) and I spent $70 on various plants and pots. And they all died.
Ok, I lie. One cactus, an aloe, and an oniony cactus thing survived. Oh, and one leafy green guy that I keep on the coffee table. But yeah, I totally killed a cactus. No, seriously- I killed a cactus. I also killed three other pots full of other lovely things.
Some of the stuff got this weird fuzz on it, so I’m thinking the plants may have been infected in the store, but that’s beyond the point. I accept full responsibility for the plant holocaust in my apartment.
So I scrubbed out all the old pots, then went down and bought a few new things. I can take pictures and give names later, if you’d like. But my real question is: how do I take cuttings from existing plants?
See, my dad has a ton of beautiful, big plants here in the office. I’d very much like to steal a little leafiness and transplant it into my house. That said, I’m at a complete loss about how to. I’m sure the process varies depending on the type of plant, so if necessary I can sneak in and take some camera phone pictures of the leafy-goodness. That said, any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Lots of plants can be propagated simply by cutting off a piece of the stem with a sharp knife and sticking it in some water. In a couple of weeks, it will grow roots in the water and you can plant those in soil. Why don’t cut flowers grow roots in the vase? I don’t know. It’s a mystery. (Maybe it has something to do with them being flowers? Seriously, I have no idea.)
Spider plants, which are ubiquitous office plants, put out little baby spider plants on long runners which hang down. They just need to be pinched of and put in soil and poof it’s a new plant. Spiders will even plant their own babies in neighboring pots sometimes.
Woody plants often need their outer bark scrapped off and this stuff called “rooting compound” smeared on. Then you wrap the wound in moist paper towel and plastic wrap, misting it every couple of days to keep it moist. Soon, roots will grow in the middle of the branch where you scrapped the bark off, and you can gently cut off the branch and plant it. This is a trickier technique to learn, but it’s so cool once it works.
Plants that have long strands of leafy things, like those little decorative ivys, you can take a branch and place it along the soil, planting the middle in the same soil the base of the plant is in, and it’ll take root at that new spot. Then you just clip it free on one side and plant your new baby in a new pot. This is pretty much like the first water technique, but the mama plant is still feeding the “offspring” as it makes its roots.
Sorry there’s a dearth of techinical terms here, and I await correction by real gardener dopers. I may be doing it all wrong, but I’ve just learned by trying stuff and watching what happens, I’m not really trained in hortoculture or anything. My place has gone from plant genocide to the occasional drive-by shooting as I learn what works and what doesn’t.
The type of plant really does make a big difference as to where and how you cut, or even whether it can be grown from cuttings at all, so yes, we would need to know what you want to propagate.
Also, fall is generally not the best time of year to take cuttings, as most plants tend to slow down their growth at this time of year. Cuttings of some may take longer to root, or be reluctant to root.
And don’t feel bad about the cactus. They are actually easy to kill if any of the following happens a) they don’t get enough light, b) they get too much water/have poor drainage c) they get chilled when the soil is wet or d) they have an injury.
You say your apartment has lots of light (from the old thread.) I have learned from experience that “lots of light” from a human perspective can be pretty darn dim from a plants point of view. You should find out what exposure you have, how many hours of direct sunlight you get, if any.
Kay
(who has 300 plants and not enough space!)
While I was composing this, I see that WhyNot has posted. I don’t disagree with anything she has said, except that the woody plant technique she describes, called air-layering, is tricky for beginners. Most plants that it is used on can also be grown by stem cuttings.
Link 1. Epipremnum pinnatum ‘Marble Queen’ (Marble Pothos.) Take cuttings from end of vine(s). Note brown nobby things on vines. These are aerial roots. New roots will emerge from them. Easy to root in water.
Link 2. Sansevieria trifasciata (Snake Plant.) Easy to propagate, but rather slow. Slice off a leaf. Let cut edge dry for a day or two. Plant cut edge in soil. You can This will eventually produce a plantlet, which will not have yellow-edged leaves, but will otherwise be identical to the mother plant. You can also cut the leaf ihorizonatally into sections, each which will produce a plantlet. If you do this, it is important to remember which edge was toward the top, as the sections will not root upside-down.
Link 3. Monstera deliciosa. (Swiss Cheese Plant) Like the pothos, take stem cutting that has aerial roots. This can be rooted in soil or water, but I’ve had better luck with water.
Link 4. Can’t tell from picture.
Link 5. Palm of some type. Palms cannot be reproduced from cuttings.
Link 6.The Pink plant looks like Tradescantia spathacea variegata, formerly Rhoeo spathacea variegata (Moses-in-the-cradle.) Stem cutting should root super easily in water (look on stems for little brown bumps. You guessed it. Aerial roots again.)
Link 7. Dieffenbachia amoena. (Dumb cane.) Supposedly they can be reproduced from stem cuttings. I’ve never had luck growing these, so maybe someone else can help.
Everything I mentioned as being easy to root should do fine if you take cuttings now.
