Five Tips to Water Propagation

I absolutely adore using water to propagate my plants. There are many ways of making your plant collection grow, some people use moss, or directly to soil. I am quite partial to water propagation simply because I’m SUPER nosey and I LOVE watching the roots grow.

Tip 1: start with SANITIZED plant nippers or scissors. This makes a huge difference in the health of both your cutting AND your mother plant. I quickly wipe my Fiskor sharp cutters with rubbing alcohol, and I repeat that process once’s I’m done with the cutting. It’s easier to do when you already have all the materials out, and some plants sap is harmful to skin.

Tip 2: Choose a plant you won’t be really devastated losing. I recently tried a new method of propagating my Hoya Linearis. I snipped off two long strands and every single section I tried to propagate died. I was really sad, especially knowing I successfully water propagate it all the time. But I took the risk because I had a big healthy mother plant and losing two strands was ok. Thankfully I wont lose any sleep over the lost cuttings because I learned, and I found a better way of doing it for next time.

Tip 3: Treat your cuttings like any other living plant. This means you have to check on it, make sure it has adequate sunlight and adjust when needed. If the water looks really scummy its time to change it! While I change the water I usually give the plants roots a good rinse. Sometimes there is some matter left behind or little bits of rot that can be cleaned off. Cuttings need plenty of sunlight too, they are using so much energy to grow new roots so they need all the sun food they can handle.

Tip 4: You MUST have a node. You absolutely MUST. A node is a connection point usually by the leaves of a plant. It holds all the cellular pathways to tell the plant to grow. Every plant has their nodes located in different places so I recommend a quick google search of your specific plant before taking a cutting, Identify the node and cut close to it.

Tip 5: BE PATIENT! Know which plants are good candidates for water propagation. Chances are if you’re reading this blog it’s you have some interest in doing research about your plants. Not every plant likes to propagate in water the same. I have yet to successfully prop a silver leaf pothos. But I have rooted a snake plant in water, I just had to give it the time to root!

Tip 6: BONUS TIP (LOL) Pick water propagators that make you happy, fit your space, and encourage to keep them full of cuttings. I recently designed the most adorable propagation tube and they have made me even more excited to take cuttings and make more plants. They can be found right HERE in my shop!

Happy baby making!

xo Colleen