As I said in Propagation 1, I love propagating. I buy plants just so I can have the experience of propataging them. This is one of the reasons why I love Alocasias so much. Once you realize how many different ways plants have evolved to clone themselves, it’s hard to stop.
Here is how to go beyond the basics and try some of the more unique ways plants can multiply.
1. The Alocasia Treasure Hunt (Corms)
If you’ve ever repotted an Alocasia and found hard, pea-sized "pearls" in the soil, you’ve found a corm. These are essentially storage organs that Alocasias use to create baby plants.
- How to do it: Don't pull the corms too soon: the larger the corm the more likely it will be to sprout. It's also faster with larger corms, because they have more energy stored from the mother plant. When you find a corm, brush off the dirt, and gently peel the brown paper off the outside as this helps prevent rot. Place it in a small, sealed container on top of damp perlite.
- The Secret: Keep it in a warm location, and be patient, they can take a long time to sprout, but as long as it doesn’t show signs of rot keep waiting. You’ll eventually see tiny roots and a leaf emerge. Once it has a leaf, it's ready to be potted in the media of your choice. It’s a slow process, but watching a tiny "baby" Alocasia grow from a marble-sized bulb is one of the most rewarding things you can do.
2. The "Puppy" Method (Offsets)
Some plants are overachievers—they don't just grow taller; they grow entirely new plants around their base. We call these "pups" or offsets.
- The Plants: Spider Plants, Aloe, Bromeliads, and Sansevieria (Snake Plants).
- The Process: Wait until the pup is about one-third the size of the parent plant. You’ll see that it has its own root system. Gently separate the pup from the mother—sometimes this requires a sharp, clean knife to cut the connecting root—and pot it up in its own small container. Be careful about the size of pot you plant the pup in– too big and it'll be prone to root rot.
3. The Leaf-Only Technique
Did you know some plants don’t need a stem or a node at all? They can grow a full, miniature version of themselves from just a single leaf.
- The Plants: African Violets, Rex Begonias, Pepperomias, and many succulents (like Echeveria).
- The Process: For succulents, simply twist a healthy leaf off, let the end "callous" (dry out for a day or two), and lay it on top of dry soil. Dampen the soil occasionally, but be careful not to rot the leaf. For Begonias or African Violets, you can place a leaf with a bit of its stem (petiole) into water or soil. Keep it humid, and watch for tiny leaves to sprout from the base of the leaf.
4. The Stolon (Runner) Method
Plants like the Strawberry Begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera) are natural colony-builders. They send out long, thin stems called stolons that "crawl" across the soil to find a new place to root.
- The Process: You don't have to do much here! If you want to multiply your colony, simply place a small pot of soil next to the mother plant and pin the "baby" node down onto the surface of the soil with a bent paperclip. Once it roots, you can snip the connection to the mother plant and you’ve got a brand new baby plant.
5. Air Layering: The "Pro" Move
What do you do with a Fiddle Leaf Fig or Rubber Tree that has grown way too tall and woody, but you're too scared to cut the top off? You use air layering to root it while it's still attached.
- The Process: Find a healthy section of the stem, make a shallow, upward-slanting cut into the bark, and wedge a toothpick in the cut to keep it open. Wrap that section in a handful of damp sphagnum moss, and cover the whole thing in plastic wrap to create a mini-greenhouse.
- The Result: Keep the moss moist. After a few weeks, you’ll see roots growing through the moss. Once you have a good root ball, you can safely snip the stem below the roots and pot your new, pre-rooted giant.
A Note for the "Propagation Junkie"
The most important part of "Level 2" propagation is patience. Unlike a simple Pothos cutting, some of these methods (like corms or leaf-only propagation) can take months to show significant progress. I have two African Violet leaves sitting in damp soil for, I don’t know how long, but as long as they haven’t melted or shriveled, I’m still waiting. I do recommend (and always intend) to date the start of the propagation, take notes, label your containers–and don't get discouraged if the first few don't make it—that’s just part of learning!