How To Propagate Philodendron In Water – Step By Step
Welcome to our guide to how to propagate philodendron in water, with step by step instructions and pictures from my propagations…
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Introduction
I have lots of philodendrons, I collect, grow and sell many different types of philodendron plants. My favorite method for is to water propagation them first, then once they’ve grown new roots, move them to soil. I get the best results this way and I find it the easiest too, you don’t need rooting hormone or anything like that. In this article I’ll show you in o simple steps with pictures of my props…
See also: Philodendron Burle Marx Water Propagation, Philodendron Micans Water Propagation, Philodendron Gloriosum Propagation In Water, Philodendron Pink Princess Propagation.
What You’ll Need
You will need:
- A philodendron that is big/established enough to take a cutting from.
- A jar of water (filtered tap water is best).
- A clean sharp knife or clean sharp scissors
Follow These Steps To Water Propagate Your Philodendron:
Decide Where You Will Take The Cutting From
You want to be able to cut below a node and get one node and one leaf (or two leaves). You also want to decide how you want the main parent plant to look after your take the cutting. For long vining plants like a micans you need to decide if you want to take multiple cuttings off the end of the vines (like a hair cut!) or maybe you want to take one long vine and cut it into lots of small cuttings.
Take The Cuttings
Philodendrons root from the nodes, so you much make sure you include a node. You also want one or two leaves. Try to make clean cuts, so use sharp scissors or a knife.
You can see in the Florida Ghost image below that each cutting has a node. This is the joint in the stem where the branches grow from on each cutting. I will make sure these joints are under the water when I propagate them and the plant will (hopefully) produce roots from that node too.
With a vining plant like a micans I take a long stem off the plant. Then chop it down into smaller one-leaf, one-node cuttings. You can this with micans and heartleaf philodendrons and most vining philodendrons.
Cut off the debris, and trim down the cuttings. You don’t want unneeded organic mater that can rot in the water. You can trim off aerial roots too.
Let Them Callous Over
You don’t want to put cuttings open wounds in water as they can rot easily. You want to set them aside for a few hours so the wounds seal up before you put them in water. I put them in the jar but I don’t fill it with water yet for a few hours. You can see in the image below some Philodendron Florida Ghost cuttings in the jar with out water…
Fill The Jar With Water
You want to make sure the nodes are well submerged so they root well. You should also try to make sure no leaves are in the water, as they can rot and fall in and cause the rest of the cutting to rot. I sometimes criss-cross string or rubber bands over the top of a pot to hold the leaves in place.
Keep The Water Topped Up and Keep It Warm And Well Lit
Try t to make sure the water is always topped up so that the nodes are under the water. If it starts to go cloudy change the water and remove any rotting cuttings from it, as something is rotting in there and the rot can spread.
Make sure the cuttings are warm and have plenty of bright indirect sunlight, no direct.
Move The Plant To Soil Or Keep It In Water
Once the plant is well rooted you can move it to soil if you like or you can keep it in water. They grow just fine in water, but will grow bigger and quicker in soil as it has a lot more nutrients. If you move it to soil be careful not to over water it as they can get root rot easily. Keep them fairly humid until they’re established, they’re tropical plants and will root quicker if kept humid – you can do this by placing a plastic bag around the plant, but don’t seal it as you want air to move too.
Where To Buy
Try our list of Rare Plant Shops. Or Etsy…
FAQs and Common Problems
They start to root within a week and should have well established root systems in 4 or 5 weeks.
You need to cut below the node. The cutting will root from the node, so without one it will not root. The node is the knuckle or joint in the stem where the plant branches out from.
Philodendrons can live in water alone. It’s best not to move a plant from soil, but take a cutting and let it root in water, then it can live there indefinitely.
In order to propagate a new plant you need a node, just a leaf will not work.
The best time to propagate a philodendron is in early Spring or at Easter time. This gives the plant the whole of the spring and summer months of the growing season to root, establish and put out new growth.
Other Articles You Might Like
There you have it, here ends our guide to this beautiful plant. You might also like our other articles:
Philodendron Burle Marx Water Propagation, Philodendron Micans Water Propagation, Philodendron Gloriosum Propagation In Water, Philodendron Pink Princess Propagation.
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