Plant Parenting Propagating

Propagation is the process of propagating new plants from old ones. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your plants, see them grow, and exchange cuttings with friends. Because your plant is likely to be in its busy growing cycle during the spring and summer, these are the greatest periods to help it have babies.

There are several different propagation methods, so start by looking out information on how to propagate your specific plant. Cutting, division, and replanting of offsets are the three major methods for propagating your plants.

Replanting a cutting results in an exact clone of the original plant. It is based on some plants' incredible capacity to develop roots from the bottom of a severed stem or leaf.

How to propagate your plants?

Cutting

Now to get your leaf or stem cutting, by using a sharp pair of scissors, cut stem cuttings a few millimetres below a node (where the stem and leaf connect). Above the place of cutting, the stem should have a few nodes. Leaf cuttings aren't the same as other types of cuttings. Remove the full healthy leaf down to the stem with your fingers for succulents.

To keep the cut edge moist, immediately place stem cuttings into the rooting medium. Submerge them just long enough in the rooting medium to keep them upright. Fleshy leaves like succulents need to be kept for a number of days to form a callus over the cut edge when taking leaf cuttings. Others can be placed directly into the rooting medium, with at least portion of the leaf's cut edge touching the soil. Sansevieria for example requires the entire cut edge to be buried in the soil.

Mist the stem cuttings and place them in their container. Leaf cuttings can be left out in the open, but they should be kept warm and in the shade. By spraying the rooting media whenever it feels dry, you can keep it moist. It will take a few months for your new plants to produce roots, but once you see them, cover them with soil to keep the growth going.

Division/Seperation 

Plants with several stems or those grow in clusters can be propagated by sectioning the original plant. After that, each one can be replanted separately and allowed to grow as a single plant.

Plant division is a messy job, so spread out a lot of newspaper or set up outside. Remove the original plant from its pot and massage the roots to see how easily they can be separated. You can repot your new sections into your new pots and top them up with fresh soil once they've been divided.

Offsets

Have you ever seem your plant create miniature versions of itself? Pilea peperomioides notoriously known for this.  These are miniature versions of a parent plant that can be taken out and replanted.

Offsets should not be removed until they are capable of living independently from the parent plant. Before removing the offset, make sure you have your new pot ready.