Do you propagate your plants by clipping them? I do, all the time. It's so very, very easy, and you can keep plants going for ages. You can't do this with all plants, but it does work with quite a lot of them. Some work better rooted in water, first, and some work better rooted in soil. Click here for information on plant propagation. I don't generally put that much thought into it though, honestly. I just try it, and if it works, great, and if not, I compost the clipping.
I keep plant cuttings in water at all times. I like to have a constant supply of potential new houseplants for rearranging rooms, replacing plants that die, gifting, and just generally making our house greener. There are also many plants that you can split once they become a certain size; you take off a whole chunk, roots and all, and it's ready to be planted in soil. I find plant propagation to be immensely fun. We have plants that are (as I like to think of it) the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of plants we bought when we first moved here.
And if you have a houseplant that's dying or almost dead, don't throw it away or compost it. First try to root the remaining green part.
To make the Houseplant Sampler, I just used an old seedling container (which, by the way, I dug out of our neighbor's trash two years ago and have since used for two spring's worth of new seedlings.) I filled it with soil and added a variety of clippings--some that had previously been rooted in water, and some cut from plants that day. Some have not made it, but some have, and I think next time around I'll have a better sense of what to put in there.
I'm planning to use this idea for housewarming presents. I know I would have loved it if someone had shown up at my door with a tray of baby houseplants right after I'd moved in.
4 comments:
This is a lovely idea! I need to try plant propagation - it's always intrigued me but I haven't experimented with it yet.
Excellent idea, what a thoughtful housewarming present. I am going to send this post to my colleagues at the office as well. In April, we had a repotted all of the sad looking office plants and there was a great deal of interest expressed in proprogating, this would be perfect.
My Mom MUST see this. She's a big time propagator. I love it!
MaryAnne--try it! It's fun for the kids too. It's slow, but it is exciting for them to see that a leaf can start sprouting roots.
KJ--I keep meaning to have a plant swap with friends. You could do the same in the office--have everyone bring in cuttings of what they have. Then you'd get a big variety, I imagine.
mutantsupermodel--thanks!
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