Propagation for People Who Cannot Throw Away a Plant Cutting 

If you have ever carried a broken piece of plant home because “it might root,” congratulations.

You are one of us.

Plant propagation sounds like something that should require a greenhouse, a horticulture degree, and several complicated charts.

Sometimes it requires a drinking glass and a sunny window.

Propagation simply means creating a new plant from an existing one. Depending on the plant, that may happen through cuttings, division, runners, offsets, leaves, or seeds.

For beginners, stem cuttings are a very satisfying place to start.

The basic idea

Choose a healthy stem and cut just below a node—the little point where leaves or new growth emerge.

Remove the lower leaves.

Then place the cutting in water or directly into an appropriate growing medium, depending on the plant.

Give it light, patience, and entirely too much emotional investment.

Eventually, many plants begin forming roots.

That is the magical part.

A stem that looked like leftover plant debris suddenly becomes the beginning of an entirely new plant.

Easy plants to practice with

Many common houseplants and herbs are cooperative propagators, including pothos, tradescantia, mint, basil, coleus and several types of philodendron.

Not every plant wants to be propagated the same way, though. Before snipping, check the recommended method for that particular species.

And yes, propagation becomes addictive.

One plant becomes three.

Three become twelve.

Suddenly every windowsill contains a jar and you are explaining to your family that, technically, none of these plants cost money.

Propagation teaches one of our favorite principles:

Useful things do not always begin as new things.

Sometimes the overlooked cutting, scrap, seed, jar, branch or broken piece is exactly where the next good thing starts.

Save the cutting.

See what happens.