When I got to work one Friday a colleague had kindly placed a bag of soft cutting on my desk. Without an option, I was given a quick 5 minutes lesson on how to propagate. This is what I did and it worked like a dream. Plants propagated on the 6th Feb 2010.
- Cut below the node (ie. where the stem branches) and remove some of the branches above it. The cutting should be slanted to maximise root growth.
- If the leaves are large, cut them in half to conserve energy for the task of regrowth (rather than photosynthesizing).
- Dip the tips into some root hormone to stimulate growth. I used Yates Clonex rooting hormone gel. See picture below.
- When planting place some sand at the bottom to improves drainage. Hopefully this reduces the likelihood of root rot.
- Lightly water in.
Tip: Try using cutting where the stem is still bendable / soft as the likelihood of this striking is higher. Having said this there is no harm in trying it all to ensure no wastage
Oyster Plant, Korean Buxus, Propagated plants called Plectranthus nico
Plectranthus Nico - Day 4 since propagation
Plectranthus Nico - Day 4 since propagation
I was told that a strike rate of 70-80% is good. Its been 1 week and so far all cuttings except for 1 looks good. I’ll have to update you later on how I go. It was only this weekend that I discovered the name of the plant I was trying to propagate is called “Plectranthus Nico”. For a few days I thought they looked like some Vietnamese herbs on steroid Below is a picture of the mature plant.
Plectranthus Nico found at Garden R US Kingsford
