•  
Home Garden

How to easily propagate plants

Get the most out of your herbs, succulents and plants.
Lucy Lindfield (nee Francis) writer profile headshot Writer
Loading the player...

Propagating plants is the gift that just keeps on giving, allowing you to double and triple your plants, without ever having to reach for your wallet to repurchase!

WATCH: How to grow, propagate and graft frangipanis

All you need is a cutting from an existing herb or flower plant so that you can cultivate a new one. This method – known as propagating – is an easy way to get new plants from plants you already have, including herbs, indoor plants and succulents.

There are generally three methods you can use when it comes to propagating, depending on the plant: using leaf cuttings, root division and re-planting pups.

propagating-pothos-plant

How to propagate leaf cuttings

Leaf cuttings can be propagated quickly and easily, and using leaves is one of the best ways to ensure identical new plants. It’s as easy as snipping off a stem with a few leaves (just below a node – ensure it has at least three internodes of growth) and rooting it. Make sure you’re not putting any leaves in the potting mix (remove them if you have to), and cut every second leaf (unless you’re propagating a succulent). For some plant varieties, it’s best to encourage roots in water then plant in soil. Plants that grow well from leaf cuttings include:

  • Begonias
  • Sansevierias
  • Crassulas
  • Pothos
  • Umbrella plant
  • Rosemary
  • Philodendron
  • Prayer plant
  • Monstera
propagate-monstera

How to propagate plants by dividing the roots

Multi-stemmed plants (like monsteras) can be divided into multiple plants. It involves taking the plant from the pot and gently tugging one stem to separate the roots; if this doesn’t work you can cut the roots with a knife. Plants that grow well from root division include:

  • ZZ plant
  • Peace lily
  • Snake plant
  • Monstera

How to propagate from pups

Some plants will literally multiply all by themselves, producing baby plants (aka “pups”). Let these plants grow to about 3 inches before you cut them and plant them in their own pots. Plants that you can propagate from pups include:

  • Spider plant
  • Aloe vera plant
  • Bromeliad
  • Ponytail plant

Cuttings may take between six days to six months to grow until they’re ready for planting out. Remember to be patient as some garden plants will take a while to grow – but it will certainly be worth the wait! Others may shoot up and surprise you. You can opt for a rooting hormone powder or gel when you plant them to ensure you’re speeding up the process.

Lucy Lindfield (nee Francis) writer profile headshot
Writer Lucy Lindfield

Lucy Lindfield has a long-standing love affair with homes that began with a childhood spent picking out the nicest house on each street from the back of her parents' 2000s Subaru. Years later, after completing both a Diploma of Interior Design at Design Centre Enmore and a Bachelor of Media at Macquarie University, she dipped her toe into PR at a bespoke firm specialising in architecture, then went on to produce social media and editorial content at a Sydney agency before settling right at home in…homes. Following a brief stint with Better Homes and Gardens, Lucy has spent several years writing under Homes To Love and managing the digital presence of Inside Out, Real Living and Country Style. It’s here that she can combine her great loves every day: design, architecture, lifestyle, homes, and, of course, words. In her free time, she finds her dream home over and over on real estate websites and spends far too long browsing Facebook Marketplace for mid-century furniture.

Related stories