Let’s Talk About Plant Propagation!

[TEG Project Manager]

Okay, let’s be honest. “Plant propagation” sounds like something fancy you’d learn in a science lab, right? But really, it just means making new plants from the ones you already have. Think of it like giving your plants a chance to “have babies” — but without all the drama.

If you’ve ever cut off a piece of your favorite plant and stuck it in water until roots appeared, congratulations! You’ve already done propagation. Pretty cool, huh?

There are a few ways to do it, and each one feels a bit like magic:

Cuttings – This is the most popular and easiest way. You snip a healthy stem from your plant, pop it in some water or soil, and watch it grow roots. It’s like giving your plant a second life! Mint, pothos, rosemary, and even roses love this method.

Runners or Stolons – Some plants, like strawberries or spider plants, practically propagate themselves. They send out little “runners” that grow baby plants on the ends. All you have to do is cut them off and plant them elsewhere. It’s like your garden is cloning itself without asking.

Seeds – The classic way, of course. But starting from seed takes patience. Some plants grow fast, while others act like moody teenagers — taking forever to get moving. Still, there’s something so satisfying about seeing that tiny sprout peek through the soil.

Division – This one’s perfect for plants that grow in clumps, like aloe, lavender, or hostas. You gently separate the roots into smaller sections and replant them. It’s a bit like splitting a big family into smaller households so everyone has more space.

Layering – Ever seen a low branch touch the ground and start growing roots right there? That’s layering. You can do it on purpose by bending a stem to the soil and covering part of it. Once it roots, snip it off, and boom — you’ve got a brand-new plant.

Now, why do gardeners love propagation so much? Simple: it saves money, it’s fun, and it feels a little like playing nature’s matchmaker. You can grow a whole garden from just a few plants, share cuttings with friends, or keep backups of your favorites in case one doesn’t make it through the winter.

It’s also a great way to learn what plants like and how they grow. You’ll start to notice things like how fast roots form, which cuttings thrive, and what kind of environment helps them flourish. It’s hands-on learning — and it’s way more exciting than reading about it in a textbook.

So let’s chat!

Have you ever tried propagating your plants before? What worked best for you — water, soil, or the “set it and forget it” runner method?

Or if you’ve never tried it, what plant would you love to clone first?

Let’s swap stories, share tips, and maybe even brag a little about our plant “babies”!

 

[flowerbug]

division doesn't have to be gentle or careful, but at first you might do that to get an idea of what you can get away with in future "operations".

pretty much you just have to know how large of chunks you need to slice to get the chunks to take and then how to treat those chunks so they will take.

for some plants the growing points are obvious and other plants you can't easily see so you just make the chunks big enough and hope they do grow. some chunks might need some curing time to get a bit of callous on the cut edges to prevent spoilage.

it is what learning and observation is about, but also you can look things up and read or watch videos.

as a kid plant propagation was how i got most of my house plants. i was often talking to neighbors and finding out what plants they were growing and then they would often have extra cuttings they'd give me in exchange. it never hurt that i often had extra roses to give away.

 

[digitS']

In the '90's my youngest uncle on my father's side stopped by while on vacation for a visit. He was something of a gardener, as was my grandmother and he had saved her tomato seed from her gardening during "The Depression." As the youngest child and with all of his older brothers in the military during the 40's, he was with his parents during their retirement years and wanted to save a garden crop memory. I have grown Grandmother Pearl's saladette tomatoes ever since.

With a semi-arid climate, I have never felt the need to ferment tomato pulp, then filter out seed, rinse and dry. Juicy tomatoes will spill out seed onto the cutting board as they are being sliced. I can enjoy the tomato at the table and just remove as many seeds from the cutting board as I think necessary to save. On a paper towel left on a deck rail that receives a few hours of sunshine every day, I have seeds for saving after a couple of weeks.

Germination in subsequent years is nearly 100%. However, germination slows in seed older than 5 years and, crowded together with plants of other varieties, late sprouting seedlings have too much competition if they are later than a week or so. For that reason, I feel that 5 years serves is a reasonable length of time to save tomato seed.

The old seed is not immediately discarded. Tomatoes are primarily self-pollinating but crossing with other varieties does occur. It has happened with others and once with my grandmother's tomato. When I had a plant that didn't have the familiar characteristics. I could toss the new seed and use some special care with the older seeds the following year and save a new batch of seed, hopefully, with no cross- pollination.

Special-to-us tomato seed is not the only seed we save. I once bought a variety of twisted stem-"mustard from an Asian grocery store racks. They didn't sell seeds after that year and I had no idea what company packaged them. I'm not much of a fan of mustard greens but liked that one. It was easy to allow a couple of plants of that annual brassica to go until seed bearing, cut the stalks and then thresh out the seeds.

Some propagation is as simple as saving cloves of garlic for replanting. And, allowing a mother plant to set seeds for volunteers in following years. I have done that with cilantro, dill and various amaranth species. DW takes cuttings from broad-leaf thyme each fall for potting up new plants. These are favorite houseplants but the older plants begin to look rather tattered after 12 months. Cuttings quickly develop roots in water and then benefit from fresh potting soil and grow.

Steve

 

[SPedigrees]

In the '90's my youngest uncle on my father's side stopped by while on vacation for a visit. He was something of a gardener, as was my grandmother and he had saved her tomato seed from her gardening during "The Depression." As the youngest child and with all of his older brothers in the military during the 40's, he was with his parents during their retirement years and wanted to save a garden crop memory. I have grown Grandmother Pearl's saladette tomatoes ever since.

That is so cool, Steve, that you are still growing your grandmother's legacy tomatoes from generations of saved seeds.

The oldest living thing that I own (if you count clones as originals) is/are two rubber tree house plants. In the 1960s when we lived in Boston, I worked for a time at a drycleaners and the neighboring shop belonged to a man who sold plants. Every morning he would take all of his potted rubber tree plants out onto the sidewalk for the day so they could get sunlight, and then bring them back in later in the day. These caught my eye and I bought one from him and took it back with me on the subway. It lived with us in three different city apartments and then moved with us to Vermont in the early 70s. It survived healthy and unscathed through an epidemic of mealy bugs that killed all my other plants.

Eventually it outgrew its pot. We always had it in mind that if we moved to a warmer climate, we could plant it outside and let it grow to its full 100 ft potential, but that didn't happen. Instead I have periodically (about 3 or 4 times over the years now) replaced the existing tree with a branch or the snipped top of the plant, placed in potting soil and watered generously. The prescribed method of propagation is complicated, involving sphagnum moss, plastic wrap, and rooting hormone, but I've just stuck the severed limb into a pot of soil. I've had about a 75% success rate with this simplified method.

The similar method of rooting cuttings in water is something I often use to create new geranium house plants from those that I've grown from seed outdoors just before the frost kills them. I have about a 1/3 to 1/2 success rate with these, but that provides me with one or two new plants which do very well indoors all winter, blooming continuously.

In the spring I often take a cutting from the wild mint because it amuses me to see the prolific root systems that develop on my windowsill, and also it provides me with easy access to a few leaves to add to iced tea.

Also I save seeds from a few flower favorites that I grow each year. The marigold seeds date back to a flat of marigolds bought in the early 2000s, and the nasturtium and cosmos seeds I've saved annually for at least ten years. If I'm planning to regrow cucumbers or squash for a second year, I'll save seeds from one of the harvested vegetables.