If you ever visit my home, you’ll notice that many shelves and tables hold glass jars with philodendron spilling out over their edges. These plants aren’t newly purchased from a local nursery. They’ve all been propagated. That’s simply a fancy term for trimming long vines and sticking them in a separate container of water. This both keeps parent plant healthy and provides you with additional plants for your home. Now seems like the perfect time for a tutorial on how to propagate plants from ones you already have! While you can propagate just about any indoor plant, I’ll be showing you the steps for vining plants like philodendron and golden pothos. You’ll need the following:
- Parent vine plant
- Pruning shears
- Jar filled with water
Step 1 – The first step to propagate plants is to find a root node about 6 inches up from the last leaf of the vine. This node is brown and knobby, usually found on the opposite side of where a new leaf has grown off the vine. When placed in dirt or water, this node will begin to grow a root, which is all your newly propagated vine will need to gather nutrients from the soil or the water.
Step 2 – Where you find the root node (above my thumb in the photo), you’ll want to gently cut this vine from the parent plant. Cut above the node so that it remains part of the vine you’re removing. Remove the leaf closest to the root node, as it will be submerged in water and may rot. Since this leaf has no root node, it will not grow on its own, so you can discard.
Step 3 – Fill your jar with warm water, then gently set your newly propagated plants into the jar. They may be a little top heavy, so be sure to gently wedge them into the jar. The root nodes need to be fully submerged in order to start forming roots. When these roots have reached a few inches in length, you can repot these vines in soil. You can leave them in the water as well.
Step 4 – As the roots of your propagated plants grow, be sure to keep your jar clean. I usually wash the jars and rinse the roots of these plants every couple of weeks. This will keep the roots and plant healthy!
That’s it! Propagating vine plants is one of the simplest and most rewarding ways to keep your plants happily growing. Plus, it’s a fun activity you can enjoy without needing to leave your home or buy new plants. Best of all, keeping your propagated plants in jars of water requires far less maintenance than those in soil. And they fit snugly in every corner of your home, an elegant decor item no matter where they’re placed!
Have you attempted to propagate plants? Are you going to give it a try? I’d love to know!
XO,
Micah
This would also be a way to share plants, yes? 🙂 Also curious: how long will they last in the jars of water?
Yes! I have done so many times! They’ll last forever, actually. Sometimes, repotting them in dirt can cause them to die. I’ve kept all my cuttings in water and they’re thriving 🙂