Basic Plant Propagation: Seeds, Division, Cuttings, and Leaf Cuttings

Starting from Seed

Buy fresh seed from a reputable source. Store extras in dry, cool, dark containers. Sow at the time indicated on the packet. A 6-inch pot can hold 1–100 seedlings; use trays for larger quantities. Continue reading

Step 1: Prepare the Tray

Fill tray or pot with sterile medium, mist with water, then top with ¼ inch of milled sphagnum moss. Press moss flat. Sprinkle seeds on the surface or in shallow rows.

Step 2: Cover and Warm

Cover larger seeds with a sprinkle of moss; pat small seeds into moss. Mist again. Cover with glass or plastic; place on a heating pad or refrigerator top. Provide light per packet instructions. Mist when moss begins to dry.

Step 3: Uncover and Transplant

Remove cover when seedlings emerge. Move to brighter light. Transplant when the second set of leaves appears. Lift gently by a leaf, not the stem.

Step 4: Pot Up

Give each seedling its own small pot filled to ½ inch from top with light soil. Firm soil around the base, avoiding burying leaves. Water immediately. Gradually increase light exposure.

Dividing Roots

Many plants produce multiple rooted stems. Each can be separated to make a new plant.

1. Remove plant from pot in early spring. Press thumbs into center and pull apart; if resistant, cut with a knife.
2. Keep a large root clump with each division. Pot immediately in fresh soil.
3. Keep soil evenly moist for several weeks. Place out of direct light, then gradually move to brighter light over 10 days.

Tip Cuttings

Growing tips of many multi-stemmed plants root readily.

Step 1: Take the Cutting

Cut 4–6 inches from the tip of a main stem or side branch, just below a node (where leaf meets stem).

Step 2: Prepare and Plant

Remove lower leaves and flowers. Dust cut end with rooting hormone powder; plant in moist rooting medium (half peat, half perlite). Keep leaves above soil. Alternatively, place in water.

Step 3: Root and Pot

Provide indirect light and bottom heat. When cuttings resist a gentle tug, they’ve rooted. Dig up, check roots, and pot up. Move water-rooted cuttings to medium as soon as roots appear.

Leaf Cuttings

Leaf cuttings work like stem cuttings but use a leaf stalk. Use whole leaves for small-leaved plants; leaf sections for large-leaved.

African Violet

Take at least 1 inch of stem with each leaf. Insert stems into water or peat-based mix. Pot water-rooted leaves as soon as roots form; pot others when roots are established.

Rex Begonia

Lay a healthy leaf top-side up on moist medium. Sever a few veins. Pin leaf down so cuts contact medium. Keep moist. Pot plantlets that grow from each cut.

Snake Plant

Cut leaf into sections; mark bottom ends with angled cuts. Dip bottoms in rooting powder; insert in moist medium. Pot new plants forming at sides of sections.