Philodendron Melanochrysum Propagation In Leca

We cover all you need to know about philodendron melanochrysum propagation in leca with step by step instructions and pictures from my propagations.

See also: Philodendron Melanochrysum Care for a full guide to caring for this plant, as well as our other prop guides: Philodendron Melanochrysum Propagation In Soil, Philodendron Melanochrysum Propagation In Moss, Philodendron Melanochrysum Propagation In Water. And How To Propagate Philodendron.

What You’ll Need

You will need:

A plant (big enough to take cuttings from)
Leca / clay pebbles
Filtered tap water
Plastic cups
Clean and sharp knife or scissors

Brief Overview (we’ll go into more details below)

Take a cutting with two leaves and nodes
Let it callous over
Water propagate it for a month
Put it in leca
Keep the leca moist, and give the cutting plenty of indirect light until it is well rooted
You can then trat it as an established plant and start to feed it a very well diluted plant feed.

How To Propagate Philodendron Melanochrysum In Leca

Step 1:

Take your cutting, make sure it is below the node. I normally try to make sure I get cuttings with two leaves when propagating melanochrysums. Then strip the leaves from the bottom node so you avoid getting leaves under the water or leca.

Step 2:

The next step is to make sure the cuttings do not have open wounds so leave them aside for a few hours until the cuts are hard and sealed.

Step 3:

Then you can put them in leca, or you can water propagate them first. I always put mine in water for a month before putting them in leca so that the roots are started well. You don’t have to do this you can put it straight in the leca.

Step 4:

You want to wash the leca by soaking it and draining it a few times to get rid of all the excess clay dust, then soak it for a few hours in filtered tap water.

Step 5:

You want to fill a clear cup with leca about halfway, they hold the cutting place and pour in leca around it with a spoon or a cup of leca. Be careful as the cutting can easily fall out at this stage.

Step 6:

Normally you want to keep a small amount of water at the bottom of the pot, like 2 cms or half an inch, the leca then draws up the water to keep moist. But the first time I put water in I fill the whole cup up with water as it helps the plant adjust from water to leca, then when this first cup-full of water is used up I keep a 2cm reservoir of water at the bottom of the cup as normal.

Step 7:

In a couple of months you’ll see roots well established in the cup, I would then move it to a much bigger pot and start to use proper semi hydroponic fertilizer on it. I have some nice clay pots and some glass jars that fit them well, so it looks great from outside but if you take the jar out of the pot you can easily see the water level.