Three Tips for Faster Propagation of Indoor Plants
The houseplant market was affected by two factors: the same inflation affecting everything else, and the pandemic, which made purchasing indoor plants popular. As a result, the price of two-inch babies, which could be purchased for $4 a few years ago, has now doubled. This is the perfect time to learn how to propagate plants at home.
What is distribution?
While germination means growing a plant from seeds, propagation involves growing a plant from a cutting. Propagation is much faster because all the cutting needs to do is form roots rather than sprout the entire plant. Germination is difficult: different seeds need different light, temperature and humidity. Propagation ensures that you are taking a plant that is already doing well in a particular location. Most people at one time or another have grabbed a cutting, dunked it in water and hoped for the best, but even propagation takes a few weeks. That’s why it’s useful to use some tricks to get the plants you propagate to grow well, properly, and quickly.
Create an environment rich in moisture.
In other words, you’ll need a greenhouse that simultaneously insulates against the cold, enhances heat, and prevents moisture loss. In this case, you don’t need an entire building. For this purpose, many miniature greenhouses have been created.
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Ikea Okerbar: $22.99.
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Greenhouse Terrarium with Tall Plants : $33.74.
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Large Tall Plant Terrarium Glass : $45.74.
Provide adequate lighting
Different indoor plants have different requirements: some prefer more sun, others less. But unless you live in a glass house, it’s likely that your house itself doesn’t provide enough sunlight, especially in the fall and winter. This is why grow lights exist. When you propagate, you are trying to keep two parts of the plant healthy: the new roots that are forming and the foliage at the top. The light will keep the existing part of the plant healthy.
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Small Plant Light: $8.49.
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Gooseneck Halo Plant Ring Light: $26.99.
Hormones can help
Plants also have hormones, and they are an important part of the growth cycle. You can purchase a hormone spray for outdoor plants , but for cuttings, use rooting hormone powder or gel. It’s inexpensive and comes in a small bottle that’s the perfect size to dip your cuttings into to ensure even coverage on all sides.
Although you can propagate the plant in water, rooting hormone does not work in such conditions. A neat trick if you want to propagate in water is to borrow hormones from the pothos plant. Pothos plants contain auxins and cytokinins, which stimulate the production of hormones in other plants. Place the pothos cutting in water along with a new cutting and you can watch the roots grow if you use clear glass.
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Rooting Gel: $21.55.
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Hormex Rooting Powder: $17.89.