Have you ever heard about plant propagation? There are many types of plant propagation but it generally falls into two different categories, through sexual and asexual propagation. Instead of buying yourself a new plant every month, this can be an easy way to begin growing your plant collection.
Plant propagation is an affordable way to expand your plant collection. Its a process that involves care, love, attention and results in fuller, more luscious plants. Plants are beautiful in any home and over the past few years they’ve grown in popularity. If you’re thinking about propagating some of your favourite plants, Jomo Studio has provided us with a few easy steps on how to propagate your own plants in water.
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Types Of Plant Propagation
- Sexual Propagation involves using the plants floral parts to create a new plant from two separate parents; through the seeds
- Asexual Propagation involves using the vegetative parts of a plant to create a new plant using one parent; through cuttings, layering, and division
Jomo Studio defines plant propagation as, “the breeding of other specimens of a plant by natural processes, growing new plants from a variety of sources such as seeds, cuttings from a parent plant, or other plant parts. Each plant you propagate is a genetic copy of the original.”
What You’ll Need
To successfully propagate you’re plant in water you’ll need:
- A Plant – Some plants propagate better then others
- A Tool – Sterilized scissors, or clippers (always make sure you’re sterilizing the tools to reduce the risk of transmitting diseases or pests between plants)
- A Clear Jar or Glass
- Good Location
Other materials that are good to have include a watering can, a potting mat, gloves, a spray bottle to mist the cuttings as they grow, and rainwater, distilled water, or tap water that has sat out overnight to use to water your cuttings.
Benefits Of Propagating
Affordable – The most obvious reason is that it is an extremely affordable way to expand our plant collections, increasing your stock of plants by using what you already own.
Fuller Plants – Not only can you create whole new plants, but you can also make current plants lusher, taking cuttings and sticking them back into the parent plant.
Sharing The Love – Propagation is a fantastic way of sharing your passion with others, growing whole new plants to share with the important people in your lives.
Experimentation – Since caring for plants is already a fulfilling hobby, why not add to that feeling by growing your own plants from scratch, testing out different methods to see what works. If you have ever wanted a smaller version of a plant, try taking a few cuttings and planting them in an appropriately sized pot.
Starting New – On the more matter-of-fact side of propagation, it can be very useful to implement when a plant that is most likely not going to make it, can still have healthy cuttings taken from it to revive it in the form of a whole new plant.
Propagating Plant Cuttings In Water
Propagating plants from cuttings involves taking cuttings from a parent plant, rooting the severed, vegetative plant parts for it to regenerate and from here it’ll slowly start to form a new plant. You need to make sure you’re selecting a healthy cut to ensure successful growth.
Plants like Spider Plants, Monsteras, Philodendrons, Peperomia, Hoyas, Snake Plants, Tradescantias and more can all grow in water! Growing cuttings in water is such a cool experience to see your plant grow overtime. To see this, its best to place your cutting in a clear, glass cup and jar. Not only is it great to watch, it’ll also add to your home aesthetic on any windowsill or bookshelf.
How To Do It
For this method choosing either a healthy stem or leaf cutting. Then, instead of rooting the cuttings in a soil-based medium, prepare a glass or jar of room-temperature water. Place your cuttings in this water. If the cutting has nodes, make sure the nodes are under the water. If the cutting as aerial roots, make sure those roots are under the water, and if it is another type of stem or leaf cutting, make sure the base of the cutting is under the water. Avoid keeping any leaves in the water!
Place your jar in a location that receives very bright, indirect light, but not too much direct sunlight, which can be harmful to the new roots. This method of propagating can be so enrapturing that you may check your cuttings every day for signs of new growth. But be patient, the process takes some time. When the roots are about 1/2 – 2 inches long, the plant is ready to be transferred into a potting medium, planting like you normally would plant with roots.
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