Learn to Propagate Stems with No Leaves!
I made you a video to show you how to repot a Monstera Siltepecana and then how to propagate the parts with no leaves. You can watch it here: Repot a Monstera Siltepecana and propagate it from leafless stems! (youtube.com)
Monstera Siltepecana- check out the video where I show you how to repot this plant and propagate it from leafless stems! Repot a Monstera Siltepecana and propagate it from leafless stems! (youtube.com)
Propagating most house plants is pretty easy. Usually you remove a couple of the bottom leaves from a cutting to expose some stem and then plunk it in water. Voila! The cutting will root in a couple months and you have a new plant!
What about the cuttings you take that have no leaves? We’ve all been there. You go to water your tradescantia, pothos, or philodendron and see that your once lush plant full of leaves looks a bit…bald. At this point your best bet is to grab your scissors and show no mercy. Cut all the naked stems off and your plant will bush out and be beautiful again in no time. What to do with the chopped stems?
Before I learned this method for growing new plants from leafless stems, I threw them into the compost heap with the used potting soil and yellow leaves. If you’re like me, you hate to throw away plant cuttings. Even if I don’t want another pothos, I’ll grow it and use it to fill in a plant I already have that’s looking sparse. Sometimes I’ll trade it for another plant or use it to barter for something. When Covid started, I traded plants I had propagated for face masks. (Sewing and I don’t get along, but that’s a story for another time.) At the very least I’ll grow the cutting so I don’t live with the guilt of being a plant murderer.
You Need:
Sphagnum moss that’s been soaked in water
A transparent plastic container with a lid
Scissors
Naked plant stems
Masking tape and a marker, optional
Grow lights or a sunny window
Here’s what you do:
Put a few holes in the bottom of your container because you want the inside of the container to be humid but not wet. The best way I’ve found to do this is to heat up a drill bit and use it to make a couple holes.
Squeeze most of the water out of the sphagnum moss and fluff it out into the bottom of the container. Make a layer a couple inches thick.
Cut your stem into pieces that will fit in your container laying down. Leave about half an inch of stem on either end of the node.
Put the lid on the container.
Put a strip of masking tape on the lid with the name of the plant and the date.
Put the container under grow lights or in a sunny window and wait. I usually check mine 6 months to a year later and find little plants growing.
That’s it! I do this with tradescantia, philodendron, pothos, begonias, and of course monstera. Really any type of plant that has nodes along the stem. If you try this, I’d love to see a picture of your success!
