Propagation & Stem Cuttings: How To

While division is a simple way to create one, two, or three new plants, cuttings allow the propagator to make an infinite number.

• Gather together a sharp knife, moist paper towels, a cutting surface, a propagation sweatbox (either a miniature greenhouse or a homespun version — a small pot placed inside a plastic, zippered storage bag), rooting medium (a commercially prepared mix or a homemade one of half peat moss and half perlite), and a water-misting bottle.
• The best time to take houseplant cuttings is in the morning of a mid-spring day. The ideal cutting is three to six inches long and contains at least three nodes (where leaves appear on a stem).
• Make a clean, angled cut an inch below a node, then detach all leaves from the lower half of the cutting. Remove any flowers or flower buds from the entire cutting. To retain moisture, wrap the cutting in paper towels.
• Next, dig a hole in the rooting medium to accommodate the width and height of the leafless node section. Use the knife to make a final, clean cut just below one of the lowest, leafless nodes, and place the cutting in the planting hole. The cutting should be able to support itself; if it doesn’t, plant it deeper.
• Mist it gently with water and replace the greenhouse top or drop the container into the storage bag with the zipper (half-open) on top. Mist once a week and adjust the humidity accordingly: Dense condensation signifies that the plant needs more air; wilting implies the opposite.

Every week, check for roots by inserting a butter knife into the medium and tilting the cutting upward. When the roots are one inch long, consider the cutting young and fragile but independent enough to graduate into a pot.

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