Most houseplants come from nurseries, places that have perfected the art and science of making plants in huge quantities. Many online blogs show how easy it can be to make your own. Most don't show the time and patience needed to do this, so let's take a realistic look at making your own houseplants.
Houseplants can be propagated in several different ways and once you see how easy it is, you'll want to have a go yourself.
Seeds.
The easiest and fastest way to make a plant is with a seed. Grasses and herbs do well.Wheatgerm grasses shoot up overnight, look great for a week, and if not trimmed and watered, then crash. Basil and tomatoes are easy to sprout as well as tree seeds like Mahogany and Indian beech. Cotton seeds are troopers.
Happy little cotton seeds.
But do get to know your seeds and if you're looking to make houseplants, forget it.
Parlor palms, for example, do make seeds and nurseries do in fact grow them from seeds, but they have tricks to do this which so far aren't shared. Dont even try- even if a parlor palm seed did sprout, it would take several years to grow tall enough for a houseplant. Perennial flowers and herbs on sale at the store are best germinators, but most common houseplants that you need just don't grow from seed, so let's look at options.
Inspiration :A patio filled with plants.
Cuttings
These are super easy but you need to find a mother plant for this. Visiting friends with plants and joining gardening groups works well, but remember local florists and big box stores don't like you to arrive with scissors ready to take free cuttings.
Cuttings need patience. Cuttings just don't grow roots overnight even if your YouTube videos look that way. This is a slow way of acquiring new houseplants but there are some shortcuts which we can follow. Making your own has an important added benefit -that's the actual feeling you will have about all the plants you make. They are "yours" in a way a store-bought houseplant is not.
Four rules for making cuttings are not just nice, they are necessary:Use scissors, sharp and clean. Have pots and damp soil and watering trays ready. Have rooting powder with the lid off the pot. And have a stick or something to make a holes in the soil to receive your cuttings.
Here are tips and tricks to get the fastest start on houseplants from cuttings. Let's start with easy cuttings to ensure success.
Sansevierias :
Cut off several leaves and place in damp soil. The high-speed way is to do what nurseries do. They use a rooting hormone. Have it ready when you make your cutting, and dip the cut edge of the leaf into the powder. Transfer to a hole made in the damp soil of your pot by lowering it in about half an inch, and by gently pressing the damp soil around the edges of the leaf. Push the damp soil towards the plant cutting and press down. The plan is simple. Get the leaf into the pot without rubbing off the powder and make sure it doesnt wobble at all. Wobble means new roots are disturbed as they grow. Delicate roots hairs are then broken, so definitely do prevent wobble. Do make many leaf cuttings. Some will fail, so hedge your bets. With sansevierias the trick is to keep the cuttings fairly dry and to test by pulling gently on a leaf to see if rooting has started. Wait a month or more.
The Sansevierias are slow to root and tugging leaves to check for rooting can damage delicate roots.
Look at the difference between a young root and this mature root. Yes, it takes time.
Sansevierias like dry well-drained soil to prevent root rot and they also seem to root best in small pots. I'm not sure why.
A note of caution. The more modern sansevierias developed by nurseries do less well than originals like trifasciata, zylanica, superba, cylindrica and truncalis. I would avoid moonshine and any variety ending in "ii" like hahnii and kirkii.
Jade plants
An old Jade plant can produce a multitude of babes. Choose the biggest cuttings you can. Again, do several in case some fail to root. Damp soil is a must, and medium light. Rooting hormone is optional. Trim lower leaves so you have at least two inches of bare stem and lower the cutting into the soil. Press firmly around each cutting. The cut stem has to be stable (no wobbling) for success because, as mentioned before, new root hairs will break if moved at all. As always, make lots of new plants. A houseplant often looks great because it's not a single plant, it's several.
Philodendron congo
The Congo philodendron is a no-fail cutting. Other philodendrons do the same, but this one is the rooting challenge. Place it in water and watch the roots grow hydroponically, or lower into damp soil. Keep warm up in the 80sF .These are sub-tropical plants and grow yards high up trees in Florida.
A congo growing tall
Congos do need warmth and the warmer the better, so find that warm spot in your home for your new congo and marvel at its energetic growth. The trick with cuttings is to choose wisely. This plant is right at the top of the list for easy plants to grow.
Pothos plants.
These are ideal for making cuttings. The pothos plant is actually a vine. Its stems are happy to make roots, in fact if you bury a stem in the soil it will make roots. This is called "layering" and when you get into plant making, you'll have a lot of joy playing with that idea.
Choose the right mother plant.
This is a good example of a nice golden pothos, dark green, leggy, markings a plenty but not overboard like the "pearl queen" nor delicate like the newer "neon" cultivars that can be tricky to keep alive.
You are looking for stems to cut about 8 inches long, but get ready with the one to four rules of cuttings first. Pot and soil, root hormone if you have it, hole maker and of course, clean scissors.
Remove the lower leaves and, having dipped your cutting into rooting hormone(an option), slide it into the prepared pot. Always settle the soil firmly around the stems and place at least 6 cuttings per pot. It's the only way to get good results.
You are aiming to go:
from this:
To this:
To this:
It does take time. The things affecting the pothos are common to most houseplants. Water, warmth, food and light.
A pothos needs to be slightly damp most of the time for quick growth. It has to remain above, say, 50F for steady state living, and above 75F for decent growth. Plant food is easy. A regular store bought houseplant food is fine if used only when watering. Slow-release granules are more convenient and best mixed into the soil when repotting. But you don't need that really. Pothos plants grow like weeds if warm enough and wet enough.
You will see the mature plant has longer stems than the younger plants. The natural tendency of a pothos plant is to look for new places to grow. In the nursery, pothos plants are watched carefully to prevent them from invading houseplants in adjacent pots.
To get your pothos plant to behave well, you need to get out your scissors and make more cuttings. In doing so, you create a lovely bushy houseplant plus, using your new skills at plant making,new pothos plants for your home.
(In southern states take the cuttings outside and stick in the ground for a lush ground cover).
Remember that people like plants. Give pothos plants as great gifts. They are easy care and you can add a happy note about the way they add oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide and filter home air. All good stuff.
Nopal
The Nopal is an underestimated houseplant and so easy to propagate from cuttings. Added to this they have architectural appeal because they are a joy to grow in your own creative way. They also bloom!
Just twist a paddle off the mature plant and stick it into fairly dry soil, about 2 inches down. Leave it in a warm place for a few months. New paddles will form along the edges of the "leaves" creating something of an art form.
No special care is needed. They do enjoy warmth and sunshine.
Go from this:
Ssq
To this: the "bunny" nopal
A mature nopal
Shape as needed. You can also cook with it.
Queen of the night Cirrus
A new fashion in houseplants , this houseplant is prized in some circles because of its amazing ability to suddenly make an intricate white flower in the middle of the night. Parties are arranged to watch it bloom.
It is easy to make one for yourself. Bits of the Queen of the night can be bought for next to nothing online. Don't be tempted. Cuttings are easy to root at 90F and 100% humidity My guess is this isn't your home environment. Yes, go ahead and buy a cutting, but buy a cutting with a root. Better still buy a cutting with a root in a pot.
Failing that take your sharp clean scissors to the next Queen of the Night flowering party and snip off a good 8 inches of the best looking leaf there is. Plant it in well-drained soil, keep warm-very warm- and on the dry side. Let it dry out between waterings. Sunny locations help it grow, but in bright direct sun keep your night blooming cirrus houseplant damp- don't let it burn.
Don't be disappointed if your plant takes its time to grow. Growth comes in spurts, and you really need a dozen or so cuttings for a decent houseplant.
A Stick Plant (Euphorbia tirucalli)
These have architectural features but are quite toxic for a houseplant, so suitable for a home with no kids and no pets. They are easy to root, but don't hold your breath, they take their time.
Use big cuttings and several of them for each plant. Failure rate even in the ideal conditions of a Florida summer (95F and 99% humidity) you get some refusing to make roots. Dry the cuttings for a couple of days to prevent root rot and keep the pot damp followed by drying out.
You go from this:
To this.
The online cuttings are small. It will take several years to go from the little cutting to the full mature size. Best advice here is if you need a decent sized potted plant, buy a huge cutting and pop it in a large pot or get a rooted cutting of decent size.
Diffenbachia
This easy-care plant does well as a cutting. If you find a mature plant, check the lower larger branches for nodules. These bumps are waiting to be roots and will give you a head start on making a new plant. Always make several cuttings and put them two inches deep into a single large pot. Remember the potting 4 point rule: damp soil, hole in the middle, root hormone if you have it, and press gently but very firly down around the stems. They might not all make it and a skinny Dieffenbachia looks, well, like a skinny diffenbachia.
Go from this:
To this:
Please be aware that another name for the Dieffenbachia is "Dumb cane". If you eat it, your vocal cords are affected because the leaves of the Dumbcane plant contain needle-like calcium oxalate crystals and proteolytic enzymes. Maybe not suitable for homes with kids and animals.
Pull-apart plants
This title may seem drastic, but a big plant can easily be converted into several smaller plants by simply pulling it apart. Knowing which plants to pull apart is the trick.
A clean sharp knife is useful and here is a list of the very easiest plants to propagate using this method.
A Parlor Palm.
Since we can't grow these from seeds, choose a nice big plant from the local shop or plunder a friend's collection. You can pull it out of the pot,shake of soil and swirl it in a bucket of water but that's not really necessary.
You'll find it's not a single plant, but between thirty and forty plants. Some of the plants are large and doing well, but others got squashed, saw little light or when growing had less access to water in the mother pot.
Separating the parlor palm plants allows the crowded-out plants in the pot to have a fair crack at growing and when these are all distributed between say, four pots, you have just found an easy way to make new plants.
Separate plants
Four-inch pots are best because they allow future expansion allowing those smallest of the parlor palm plants to thrive.
Make this
The problem with Parlor palms is that even in perfect conditions, the rate of growth is slow. It will take a couple of years to go from a desk or table-sized plant to a floor size,maybe longer ,depending on how you treat it. Keeping your new parlor palms warm and well-fed with moderate to high light is all you can do. Medium to high light and showers are the best way to get fastest growth and remember to rotate the pot sometimes for even growth.
Aloe Plants
These are also pull-apart plants. They practically make new plants themselves by growing offshoots at the root line.
Remove the mother plant from its pot and simply pull off the babies, taking care to preserve the new baby roots. Slide the offshoots into pots containing light sandy soil, water once and allow to dry out. Again, press gently and firmly for root safety. Allow to dry out between waterings.
Start with this.
Grow into this.
Aloes do like sun and must remain fairly dry to do well. You could take leaf cuttings, but why bother when the mother plant provides perfectly rooted little plants.
ZZ Plants
These plants are famous for their ability to tolerate many different conditions and more neglect than many houseplants. Making new ZZ plants is extra easy because you can use a single leaf or a stem or split the rhizome-like structure at the base of the plant.
Quickest of these choices is the "pull the plant apart" method. The rhizomes can be snapped apart with attached roots. This gives you a good start for a new plant.
ZZ roots
Plant the ZZ roots into a pot with good drainage and damp light soil. Press down well and place in a warm sunny place. Starting in four inch pots is easy and to make a good looking houseplant, simply pot a few up together in a six inch pot when the roots are full.
ZZ from this
To this
To this mature plant
The time scale for this kind of growth is at least a year.
Other pull-apart plants are:
Areca
Ferns
Zz
Spider
Prayer
Rattlesnake
Peace lily
Elephant ear
Sansevieria
Layering
This is the most satisfying way to make plants. Anyone can do it. You start with a mother plant, but not just any mother plant. Aim for success. Choose a mother plant guaranteed to work.
For example:
Pothos
Syngonium
Philodendron
Aglaonema
Tradescantia
Syngoniums and Pothos plants
These, like pothos plants, are vines. They are easy to use for layering. Use their natural tendency to escape from the pot using long stems reaching for new places to grow.
Long stems for layering
With layering, don't cut off the stems. Instead, find maybe four or five pots, fill with damp soil, and place them so they surround the mother plant. Now you'll need hair pins, available online but not seen much in stores these days. If no hair pins are found (bobby pins are no good) get bendable wire cut to about four inches and bent in the middle. You are getting ready to take each of the mother plants long stems and fix it onto the surface of each of the pits of soil using the hair pins. Push well down. That stem needs to stay in place until new roots grow down into the new pot. And it will. You are using the power of the mother plant to create a new plant.
Syngoniums are also fun. Even the many new varieties will layer in this way.
Trilobe. Snow white. Pink allusion
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