Propagation can be as easy as one, two and three.
You've got stem cuttings, you've got side shoots and leaf cuttings.
I'm going to show you the main techniques for indoor plant propagation
and the first is stem cuttings - probably the simplest.
I'm using a Devil's Ivy
and that's one of the most popular indoor plants.
Now to take the cutting for a stem cutting you look for a node
and you know that a node is
just below where the leaves join onto that main stem...
and many plants are propagated in that same method.
So you just take the cutting just a few centimeters below the node
take off the bottom leaf because
That's not necessary it's going to go under the water
put the cutting into a jar filled with water
change the water every few days
just so that it's got nice bit of oxygen in there
and you'll find that the roots will grow really readily in that.
Once you've seen the cutting growing its little roots
Especially they'll grow very quickly in spring and summer...
but transplant that into a pot with some potting mix.
Right, the next technique is taking pups that are side shoots that are growing from the mother plant
This one is called a Pilea.
It's the Chinese Money Plant
It's a lovely one only grows that big but very full of leaf
lovely circular green leaves
with this wonderful little dot
and that dot is caused because of the petioles that come right up into that part of the leaf.
They're beautiful things the Chinese Money Plant and the way you grow them is
find that little side shoot and snip it just below...
there we go - that's a perfect little cutting of the Pilea
and if you put that into some well-drained compost, potting mix
or coir peat (coconut fiber) it will grow into a brand new plant
Another type of cutting is a 'leaf blade cutting.'
This is the blade of the leaf of a Sansevieria
in the olden days it was called Mother-in-Law's Tongue, but that's not very nice
We're going to call it its modern term and that's the Snake Plant.
It can be an environmental weed in some parts of Australia
So, don't let it escape - keep it as an indoor plant and it will be terrific.
It's an easy one to grow from cuttings
So cut that off at the base and you can see just how succulent that is
there's lots of juice in there and
you could really just leave that for a couple of days to callus over, but for the purposes of today,
what you're going to do is cut
segments into five to ten centimetre lengths
and always use just a little marker to make sure that you know
which is the top of the cutting
dip it into the rooting hormone powder - that just helps the roots
sort of develop a bit quicker and then into a mix of perlite
and coconut fiber and put each little segment in just a couple of centimetres deep
Make sure they're firmly into that mix and you'll find that they will grow roots quite easily.
As with any cuttings
make sure that you give them a very gentle water
so that the cuttings are just bedded into the potting mix.
I'm going to show you another leaf cutting but in this case it's with a Begonia Rex,
noted for its beautiful metallic foliage.
It's not a blade, it's a leaf vein that I'm going to aim for.
It's a little bit of a challenge, but I'm sure you're up to it.
Take a leaf and snip it off and with the petiole, I'll just snip that
off right close to the end.
Turn it over so that you're looking at the back of the leaf and you can see that very
prominent vein will cut the leaf into segments which includes a little bit of that vein
because when the vein is put onto the compost
in this case just a nice light mix of compost
and press it down and use a hairpin or a piece of wire just to clip it into place
So that's actually touching the compost that will then root and it's an amazing thing to see.