Home is where the heart is… and it should be where you feel most calm. Gardening is widely renowned to have an extremely beneficial impact on our mental health, being used as a coping mechanism for sufferers of depression and anxiety. But what if you don’t have a garden to enjoy? Houseplants offer a great way to brighten up your living space, purify your air and bring a sense of the great outdoors inside. If you are considering some new leafy housemates, stem propagation is the most common way to grow a variety of houseplants – and here’s our full guide:

Stem cutting is the simplest method to propagating a houseplant, but there’s still a lot to know to make sure you get it right. Get started by choosing your houseplant to clip from and selecting a stem which is not fully mature or completely fresh and has a couple of smallish leaves. Your next step is to use sterilised scissors to cut below the leaf node to stop bacteria being transferred to the plant. The leaf node is a joint or bump on the steam normally with a leaf above it that you should trim off.  

The nature of houseplants lends itself well to propagating in water rather than soil. For this method, you will need a small glass container, like a jar or a small old-fashioned glass ketchup bottle. It’s important to have just the stem in the water but no other plant material, such as the leaves; you can use the side of the container to keep leaves out of the water or use sticky tape to help narrow the width of the receptacle in question. 

The stem will suck up the water so be sure to check back the following day to make sure you top up on water if needed to avoid it drying out or keeling over. It will take around a few weeks for you to start noticing roots as they start to grow and fill the container. This is one of the best reasons to use the water method, and a transparent container, as you can clearly see the process for yourself and involve little ones to inspire their love of nature and gardening.

Once your stem has grown enough roots, transfer it to a small pot containing a mix of houseplant compost and perlite, which is a soil mix that modifies the soil structure to improve aeration, and drainage water retention. Remember to give it water, and then place your freshly planted houseplant on a windowsill to get some good light – but not direct sunlight. Our top tip is to plant your stem to the side of the pot as when the roots hit the side, they will start to branch out and grow new roots.

Just some of the houseplants which will thrive from propagation in water are Tradescantia, Philodendron and, the ever-popular, Epipremnum or Devil’s Ivy. If you are concerned about how to propagate your houseplants, then always speak to a member of our team who will be more than happy to help guide you through the right process.