It is a pleasure to see healthy indoor plants in a client’s home. It is even better to be able to propagate them and have more of the same plant.

Propagating literally means to take a piece of a mature plant and grow another plant from it. It is a very straightforward process and easy to do if you follow some simple rules.

There are three different ways to propagate plants, namely:

• Cuttings where you chop off a piece of the mature plant and root it is water or soil

• Division where you need to split or divide the roots to form more plants

• Offsets where you use the pups or baby plants from your mature plant

Cuttings are done by either using a piece of the stem or a piece of a leaf.

Stem cuttings are best for plants which have lots of leaves growing from their stems, such as the well known monstera plant. Simply cut off a leaf and stem, and place it in a jar of clean water. Leave near a source of light until roots develop. Once roots have formed, plant it in soil.

Leaf cutting will take a longer time of up to several weeks. You need to cut a leaf from the plant and let the cut dry for 48 hours. Pop the leaf into soil and keep near a light source.

Division is done by separating the root of the plant into smaller pieces, which you can then repot. This method works best for plants like ferns and lilies.

This can be messy so is best done outdoors. Remove the entire plant from the pot and expose the roots. Be careful when you split the root system. Now report the original plant and pot the other piece in a new pot with fresh soil or potting mix. Water both plants as you normally would.

Offsets are made by using the smaller plants which either form around the base of the plant or from the fronds. 

Hen and Chicks are great examples of plants with offsets. Wait until the pups which hang at the end of the leaves are large enough to handle, snip off as many as you like and repot each in their own new pot. 

Mother-in-laws tongue or aloes are examples of plants where the pups appear at the base. Simply use a clean, sharp knife to slice through the root from the mother plant to the pup, then gently dig up the chick and repot it.

Final thoughts

There is no reason why your client should not have plants that she enjoys around her. Propagating is an easy way to make sure that there will always be a good selection of healthy plants in the house.

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