Propagating Peperomia - Teak And Terracotta

Propagating Peperomia is really easy and fun too. You can even get a leaf and cut it in half and it will still root! We’ll run down a few methods…

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Introduction

Welcome to our mega-guide to propagating peperomia. Peperomias are a large ‘genera’ of plants that covers many species of popular houseplants. There are so many different types of peperomias, but they all grow and propagate in relatively similar ways. We run down all you need to know to take cuttings and grow more plants…

There are 2 main ways to propagate peperomia – by taking a ‘beheading’ – the end of a branch (sometimes also called a branch cutting), or a leaf (or half a leaf), and both of these methods can be done in water, soil or sphagnum moss. We’ll cover the benefits of all of these.

For more information on peperomia care you can check out this ultimate guide: Peperomia Care.

Propagating Peperomia Leaves

Leaf cuttings are really easy…. You can plant the whole leaf, or you can cut the leaf in two horizontally and turn it in to two cuttings and both often root. The reason I like this method is that you can easily get lots of leaves from the plant as it has loads, and you can get many successful propagations from it.

To take a leaf cutting from a peperomia:

Get a glass of water ready. A small whisky shot glass will be ideal as it is small enough to keep the leaves upright.
Take a few leaves from the plant, try to keep the petiole on it if you can (this is the bit that attaches the leaf to stalk).
Put them in a small glass, in water, so the petiole is in the water. You can group together five leaves or so in a small glass, and they’ll all keep upright.
Put the cuttings in a warm and bright spot to encourage root growth.
Wait 1 to 3 months for the roots to develop.
When the roots are big enough you can pot the new plants up.

Peperomia Stem Cutting (Beheading)

‘Beheading’ is where you take the end off a branch including at least one node and about 3 or 4 leaves. This way you have a small part of the plant to root. You need to trim the bottom leaves from the cutting, leaving 2 or so leaves.
Put the cutting in water with the node below the surface and the leaves above the surface.

What I like to do is trim a whole branch from a peperomia and then ‘behead’ any end points on it and put them in water, and then strip the rest for leave to use as leaf cuttings as mentioned above.

Propagation In Water

You can take any cutting from peperomia and root them in water. The best thing to do for stem cuttings (‘beheadings’) is to remove leaves that will be below the soil so that they do not rot.

The pros of using water are that you can see the root growth. The cons are that it can lead to rot. If you only have a few cuttings, then water prop is the way to go as it is so easy, it looks good too.

Propagation In Soil

Soil propagation is great as you can put put the cuttings in soil, keep it moist and let them root. For a large number of cuttings, soil is the way forward.

It is exactly the same as the water method, but you put the cuttings in a pot of soil. Make sure the soil is moist but not soaking. And put the cuttings in halfway down. If you are using a ‘beheading’ then make sure a node is under the soil (this is the joint where the leaves grow from), and strip it of leaves, roots will grow from here under the soil. You should also have at least one node with leaves still on it above the soil.

Also for small leaf cuttings (especially the half-leaves) soil is great as you can set them in the soil and it will hold them in position and you can almost forget about them until they start to grow leaves, which indicates that the cutting was successful.

Sphagnum Moss Method

Using sphagnum moss is the best method in terms of success rate. Sphagnum is great as it keeps the cuttings wet to encourage root growth, but with much less chance of rot like with soil and water. It also allows air to get to the roots and you get better and stronger roots, quickly.

To propagate peperomia with sphagnum moss:

Fill a cup with wet sphagnum moss. A clear container is best so you can see root growth.
Take stem and/or leaf cuttings from your peperomia.
Place the cuttings so the bottom half are in the sphagnum.
Keep the cuttings somewhere bright and warm to encourage root growth and make sure you keep the moss moist.
When the cuttings have rooted well you can pot them on into soil in their own containers.

Be careful when you take the plants out of the sphagnum and remove the moss, as this is where you can damage the roots if you are not really gentle.

Peperomia Propagation Time – How Long Will It Take?

It can take 3 months to establish a good root system, whether you use water, soil or sphagnum moss to propagate. You should start to see roots beginning to grow at about 4 to 5 weeks.

Rotting

With all propagating you run the risk of rot, but the good news is you can take a few steps to drastically mitigate this risk. Firstly the best way to reduce rot is to use sphagnum moss and not water or soil. But if you are using water and it goes cloudy, then change the water and make sure there is no rotting material like leaves in the water. If you are using soil make sure you keep it moist but not waterlogged, let the water drain out well.