My dwelling house is filled with houseplants , and about 30 per centum of those are somevariety of dracaena .
This is in part because of my ( notorious ) tendency to favor fuss - spare houseplants , but another factor at study is how dang gentle it is to disseminate dracaena from cuttings .
We relate to vendors to serve you find relevant products . If you buy from one of our links , we may make a commission .
Photo by Matt Suwak.
These easy - to - grow cutting are perfect for meet up your own habitation , and they make excellent gifts for people who need a little more unripened in their home .
allow ’s get into how to grow dracaena from cuttings !
What You’ll Learn
The Basics
There are a duo of usable methods that work for propagating dracaena , but this guidebook will focus on the one that has the best lead record , and is the easiest in practice .
You ’ll want a few item to do this .
Dracaena Cuttings
We ’ll turn over into what sort of thinning you want to take and how to nip them a little afterwards in the clause . But it ’s significant to recollect that you ca n’t propagate dracaena cuttings without any on hand !
If you have access to a fledged , goodish specimen , that ’s your ticket . Whether it ’s grow in your own domicile , or the home of a friend , you may be able-bodied to take a few snips – with permit of track , if you ’re not the possessor .
On that note , this is n’t the time to be chop plants you see at the storage , a botanical garden , or elsewhere . rent ’s stick withhouseplants that are availablefor sharing .
Rooting Hormone
This part is optional , but I always employ a root powder when set out clipping , and that pass away for every undivided works I start .
My married woman has fantastic luck using only water , but she was born with a light-green ovolo , whereas I lick for mine every day .
Bonide Bontone II Rooting Powder
By default , I ’ve always usedBonide ’s Bontone II Rooting Powder at my sign of the zodiac . It’savailable from Arbico Organics .
A little jar like this will last a long clip , so it ’s a smart investment if you ’re concerned in broadcast any sort of plant life from cuttings .
I ’ve read about citizenry using willow tree branch urine , but have never had lot using this as a root hormone myself . The science seems to work out on it , but I ca n’t say for sure if it put to work .
Growing Medium
Any grow mass medium made for potted plants will work , though dracaena tend to prefer something more or less acidulent . I ’ve used Pro Mix as the medium for the plant I ’ve grown , and it ’s my preferred alternative .
The key quality you want in whatever mass medium you take is good drainage . And you’re able to make your own with no problem .
I wish a portmanteau that is four partspeat mossorcoir roughage , three parts perlite , and one part George Sand . lend a thin top layer ofcompostand you ’ve got something on equation with memory board - quality potting mix .
Ihighlyrecommend wet your grow sensitive before you start working on multiplication .
Very few moments in horticulture are as frustrating as when you proudly give your plants their first watering , only for the growing spiritualist to immediately flood into a schmalzy good deal .
The best test for perfect water floor is to grab a handful of the soil in your palm and compact it into a ball . If the clump of soil retains its shape with little pee squishing out , you ’re doing well !
Containers
I ’ve been using the same four - inch plastic containers for about five years now for all of my cutting .
Every class , we grow ourvegetablesfrom source and transplant them into these larger space , then they seat on the shelf until we circularise more dracaena , pothos , spider plant , or whatever else we ’re looking for at the time .
My period is , you do n’t need anything fancy to get your dracaena cuttings started . The only real requirement is an appropriately - sized container with good drainage . You ’re bet for something about four inch in diameter .
This could be re - used containers from past times , or cut - off arse from Milk River cartons , or leftover party cup from that graduation political party last spring . As long as it ’s got drainage holes and is an appropriate sizing , it ’ll work !
Before you add your filth and plants , always be sure to clean and sanitize reused containers after other usance , or between gardening projects .
Sharp, Clean Tools
For snip off those dracaena cuttings , you need to use a pair of bypass pruners , like mytrusty Felco F-2s . A sharp tongue will do work in a pinch .
Your goal here is to produce a clean cutting with minimal bruising and damage to the cutting , or the parent works ) .
I ’ve grown fond of using a graft knife as well , for all of my fine pruning and slicing – specifically this one from Linsen Outdoor that’savailable from Amazon .
Linsen Outdoor Pruning Knife
It ’s very , verysharp , so do n’t assay using one of these if you are n’t fully confident in your manual manual dexterity !
Before you get started , and after role , be sure to keep your cutting tools fresh and teetotal ! This is good horticulture practice to forbid the spread of any pathogens , as well as keeping rust and gunk by from your precious tools .
1-2-3 Dracaena Propagation
quick to get going ? The first step is to get right to cuttin ’ !
Procuring Your Cuttings
Your goal is to select cuttings that are about six to ten column inch long from your parent industrial plant .
you may get out with taking smaller cuttings , but bombastic ones propagate just as well for this plant , so why not start with something vainglorious if it ’s available ? That way , you ’ll have a big plant life quicker !
The handsome your parent plant life is , the more cutting you’re able to get off with adoption .
Many indoor gardeners willcut back and crop their houseplantsonce or twice a year , and this is the everlasting chance to give your “ trimmings ” a second use .
After you snag your cuttings , remove most of the leaves , leaving a skillful little spray at the top . Imagine each cutting off is a miniature palm tree , and you ’re on the correct track .
We dispatch these leaves so the plant can focus on maximise root growth .
When I ’m working withanytype of press clipping , the moment they ’re take over from the parent plant , I drop them in piss . It ’s an old substance abuse , but it ’s a very good habit , so I ’m stickin ’ to it ! I do this so the stem is at once transition to a good space after it ’s removed from the parent plant .
You could skip the urine . Leave the cuttings out for up to an hour or so , and get your cuttings into their new impermanent domicile for rooting as soon as you’re able to get to it .
I think there ’s a fifty / fifty approval rate on either alternative here depending on who you ask , so your own predilection is just o.k. .
Station Your Cuttings
I ’ve got two destination to offer for your cuttings . But first , if you ’re using a rooting internal secretion production , you require to wet the bottom of each clipping and dip it in there . Tap off any excess , back into the bottle .
Some gardeners recommend against this , advocating for taking a little amount out of the bottle for each project and chuck out any excess instead , but this is what I do , and I have n’t had any exit .
My favourite arrangement is to stick the press cutting right into the soil after it ’s dipped . tauten the dirt with your fingers so the thinning stick out erect , and prisoner of war , you ’re done !
Okay , it ’s not quite that easy . But it’salmostthat easy .
You require the cut to have enough of its radical weigh into the soil so it wo n’t topple over . Firmly press the dirt around the base of the carving so that it does n’t give or skimpy . you may work with the orientation of the flora so that it ’s grow flat up .
I like to will a small space of soil between the bottom of the clipping and the bottom of the container it ’s going in . A half inch or so will do . This industrial plant does n’t demand much of anything – ever – by fashion of fertilizer , so a dusting of compost on the control surface of the filth is plenty .
Another option is to root your dracaena cuttings in water . You simply plop the cutting into a container – without drainage hole , this metre – and waitress a few week for root to grow .
I think it ’s best to hold off until the root on your clipping are about an in long before repotting in another container . And there ’s no pauperization to tot up internal secretion powder if you go this path .
frankly , you could keep the dracaena in its watery home indefinitely . Change out the water once every hebdomad or two and you ’re donezo . “ Donezo ” is a majuscule Holy Scripture , is n’t it ? I do n’t think I coined it , but I for sure utilize it like I did .
But if you decide your lawful dracaena propagation path is for your cutting to raise in grease , wait until you see those tooth root develop , then pot it in a container on the dot as described above .
Tend Your Cuttings
Keep your dracaena cut in a brightly lit country , but do your best to keep them out of direct sunshine to avoid admit them to burn down in the sun .
If your growing medium was gracious and damp , you wo n’t take to water the cutting off for about a calendar week , depending on what weather you have the plants in .
Remember , you ’ve basically got a stick in a cup of dirt here . If you keep watering it , the originate sensitive will grow saturated – and , in a word , earthy – and your dracaena will decompose into a lousy pile of goop .
Nobody wants that , so wait to water your dracaena cuttings until they really require it .
My tried - and - genuine trial for measuring how much water a plant need is to pick up the container it ’s growing in . Does it have any system of weights at all ? If the answer ’s “ yes , ” then your plant probably does n’t require water .
However , if the weight feel like your plant is growing in cotton wool confect rather of soil , it needs a drink of water . I add a little at a sentence , take the air off for ten minute of arc , and then give it another drink .
This is my super - scientific trick for giving the soil enough sentence to engross the first drink , and wetting its whistle for the second .
At this point , you ’re going to wait a few weeks to a few months for answer , but your dracaena extension project is essentially finished . Good job !
Wait! What Happens Next?
After those few weeks of waiting , your dracaena cuttings will have their very own root word . I make out , it ’s like kindergarten gradation ; it get me every time .
But before you repot your dracaena into a big container , wait ! begin plants from cutting requires a majuscule depth of patience , and rushing things along at this stage is an splendid way to sacrifice weeks of waiting .
My nonpayment method for resolve when it ’s prison term to replant any cutting into a large container is to expect until you see roots poking out of the bottom of the crapper . Once you’re able to see evidence of that , wait a few weeks longer .
I ’ve always look until my cuttings or seedlings are ever - so - slightly rootbound in the container before I consider repotting them to a declamatory dwelling house .
Once your dracaena cuttings have this variety of root development , you ’re good to repot them and start treating them like your average dracaena plant .
Of naturally , that entail forgetting to water them for weeks and pucker them off in a street corner in your bedroom where you never await … Right ? That ’s where dracaena works are at their happiest , so keep that going !
Be Seein’ Ya, Dracaena
You ’ve got the noesis to grow yourself a whole boniface of propagated dracaena plants now . Before long , you ’re go to haveway too many flora for your own goodness , so why not reach them out to friends and family ?
Dracaenas are utter gifts for both professional nurseryman and people who are new to the practice . Share the wealth , even if there is n’t much to share .
Propagation is very promiscuous , so it ’s not incredible to suppose you ’ll have tons of extra plant life hanging around that need a dependable home .
Next up , turn back out some of our other articles ongrowing dracaena plants , starting with these :
Photos by Matt Suwak © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL rightfulness RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product photos via Arbico Organics and Linsen Outdoor . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock . With additional piece of writing and redaction by Allison Sidhu .
About
Matt Suwak
