Propagating Houseplants by Leaf Cuttings

photo credit: Nadia308

As might be expected, most plants suited to this method of propagation have comparatively soft and fleshy leaves. There are two types of leaf cuttings : those that make use of leaf and stem and those requiring the leaf alone. An example of the first is the dainty African violet and of the second, the gorgeous Begonia Rex.

Merely knock the plant from its pot, tease away some of the soil from the roots and with a sharp knife cut away the new shoots together with the roots closest to them. Pot these up in fresh soil. Well grown Saint Paulias or African Violets after a time grow to a stage where they should be divided if they are to continue growing and blooming. In this case again knock the plant from its pot and gently ease away much of the soil, damaging the roots as little as possible. It will be seen that instead of a single plant there are in fact a considerable number and many of these can be gently separated from the mass and potted up individually.

A considerably more artificial derivation of the layering process is known as air layering. It is particularly useful for the following reason. Many plants such as the rubber plant gradually lose their lower leaves so we are left with a long, naked stem with a tuft of foliage at the top. This is both hideous and a demonstration of our inability to grow the plant properly. If we can take the tuft at the top and make a new plant from it, then we can begin again.

Actually it is possible merely to cut off the green and growing tuft at the top of the plant and to strike this as a cutting, but high soil temperatures and humidity are required, so we can use instead the following simpler method.

The begonia leaf can be cut into several sections and so long as each cut has been made to sever one of the prominent veins, roots will grow from this part. The spear like Sanscvieria can be cut into two inch sections. Each of the sections, from begonia or sansevieria, should be planted with the end originally nearest the stem or base into the soil.

The new plant (for that is what it is) can then be cut away from the naked stem below and potted up in the usual manner.

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