Propagation box developed by Peggie Schulz, author and garden columnist
Sprouted stem cuttings of dwarf geraniums
Stem Cuttings
This is the most familiar way to propagate house plants, and the method that works best for most kinds of plants. With the exception of miniature orchids, stem cuttings can be taken from any house plant mentioned in this book, and your chances for success are very good if you have a propagating box for them.
Generally, stem cuttings are the ends cut from branches that are in healthy, active growth. Each should be more than a mere tip, and have at least two nodes, or “joints.” The large, bottom leaves are stripped off very gently and the cut end of the stem is inserted, to about half of its length, in the propagating medium. When you see evidences of new growth, or when roots have developed, dig under it with a spoon and remove it for potting. (Here is the test to determine if roots have developed: Pull on the cutting, very gently of course. If you feel resistance you know it has roots which are holding it down.) Pot your new plant very carefully in soil that is suitable for it; and please, don’t add fertilizer to this soil.
For stem cuttings, and most other methods of propagation, there are now certain hormone rooting preparations. They speed up rooting, make it more certain, and help to develop larger and healthier root systems. Be sure you get the correct type for softwood cuttings, or indoor plants. In using these new hormones, follow the directions on the package carefully.
Leaf Cuttings
It is a well-known fact that African violets will reproduce themselves from a single leaf. However, it is not so well known that there are dozens of other plants that will do the same. For example, more than once I have taken a succulent leaf, laid it out flat on moist sand, and had it grow roots and a small new plant. Leaves of peperomias, and many other plants, can be cut, with or without a piece of stem, and will grow bushy new plantlets. Some kinds of begonias will send out roots from the end of the stem, or new plants from the point above where stem and leaf join.
Except for some succulents, leaf cuttings are usually inserted with their stem ends in a moist propagating medium, with their leaves standing nearly upright above. (Again, you are safer if you have a propagating box, even though it be a crude one.) When they are well rooted and the new plants are of fair size, the cuttings are potted with the old leaves intact. The parent leaf is removed only when the new plant is strong enough to grow on its own. Of course, in the case of African violets, where more than one plant is produced at the end of the stem, the babies must be separated and each put into its own pot.