Many house plants are only watered and stuck in the corner or are only out for decoration. Many people do not realize that house plants grow out of their pots and then many die. Plant propagation comes in when this happens.

There are many techniques that a person can use to propagate house plants but some may or may not work. Stem cuttings would be one way to propagate. Plants that can be propagated by stem cuttings are geraniums, carnations, poinsettia, and many tropical plants. A stem cutting is a cut that is taken from the terminal growing point and is 4-6 inches long and is cut off at a node. The bottom leaves are taken off and then inserted into the rooting medium.

A leaf section cutting is made by cutting the leaf into pieces. The pieces are then inserted into a rooting medium. An example of a plant that can be used is a sansevaria. Another type is entire leaf cuttings. This is when the whole leaf blade is used but not the leaf stem or petiole. Insert one-third of the leaf blade into a rooting medium. Plants such as the rex begonia can be used for this type of propagation. A leaf petiole is included. The petiole is then inserted into the rooting medium. It is reccommended not to use young leaves. This is a very good way to propagate African Violets.

The easiest way to propagate a house plant is by division. A plant that is too big and crowded can be taken out of the pot and cut into sections. Take the sections and pot them up individually. The best divisions will then be the ones that will root the best.

All of these techniques require a rooting medium which could be vermiculite. Most of the plants will root very well in that. Another option is clean, sterilized sand or some house plants can be placed in water. By placing the cuttings in water, the cutting will not produce the same type of roots as it would in soil.

Sites:

http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/implmod03/01701064.html.