How to use a cutting to make new plants for free!
- by
Melissa King
Inspired by her recent visit to the stunning Lotsa Pots garden, Melissa shows us two simple ways to propagate. With her easy-peasy propagating tips, you’ll make more with less and grow your collection of pot plants in no time.
WATCH: Melissa's two propagating methods
Plants can be expensive, so make your own by propagating from what you already have.
Method 1
Some plants, such as succulents, grow babies – or pups or offsets – at their base. Each baby will eventually fall away from the mother plant and take root nearby, or you can cut it away with a clean, sharp knife, let it ‘heal’ for about four days in a cool, dry place, then plant in another pot to put in elsewhere.
Agaves reproduce clones of themselves with their pups.
Sue Ferris
They also flower and produce seed, but repotting pups is the easiest way to get more.
Sue Ferris
Method 2
Many plants, such as lavender, rosemary and plectranthus, are easily replicated by cutting off a bit of their stem. Cut stem about 15cm long, remove lower leaves, and cut off half of top leaves to reduce evaporation. Put gently in potting mix, water and keep in the shade for a couple of weeks until the roots develop.
Melissa cutting a bit of the stem.
Sue Ferris
By removing the lower leaves of plectranthus, you allow the cutting’s energy to go into root production rather than leaf transpiration.
Plectranthus are easily replicated by cutting off a bit of their stem.
Sue Ferris
Plectranthus cuttings easily develop roots, but be sparse with watering, as the new roots are prone to rotting.
Melissa KingMelissa King is one of Australia’s most popular and respected garden experts and television presenters. Melissa joins the Better Homes and Gardens team as its respected garden expert. “For a gardening presenter, this is the pinnacle and I’m beyond excited to be working alongside people I have admired for years,” says Melissa.