Love your houseplant and looking to get another? With the right propagation technique, you might not have to buy your next one. Propagating – starting new plants from old ones – is a fun and rewarding way to develop healthy plants from aging specimens and to replace hard-to-find favorites. What’s more, houseplants can be easily propagated at home any time of the year.
Root division separates plants at the root zone so you end up with two or more plants.
Photo Credit: CREDIT
There are different types of propagating techniques. The method most often used for houseplants is by cuttings. With this technique, a cutting is taken from a main (or “parent”) plant and encouraged to form its own roots. But another way to propagate plants is through root division – separating plants at the root zone so you end up with two or more plants.
You can actually divide your houseplants any time of the year, whenever you’d like to split them up. But a particularly good time to do it is when your plant has outgrown its pot, or when its growth slows or the plant has gone dormant.
Plants that can be propagated by root division are ones that typically grow in clusters, those with fans of foliage and those that have low tufts of leaves after they bloom. (African violet, cast-iron plant, asparagus fern, Boston fern, peace lily, Sansevieria, spider plant and zebra plant are a few examples.) So gather a hand trowel, two hand forks, a garden spade, leather gloves and a sharp knife, then take the easy steps shown in the following pictures and described in their captions to propagate your houseplants by root division – because two houseplants are better than one!
Root Dividing a Houseplant
Root Dividing - Step 1
Carefully use a sharp knife to free the edges of the plant’s root ball from the pot. Carefully invert the container, supporting the root ball with your open palm.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Root Dividing - Step 2
Gently slide the plant’s container from the root ball, avoiding tugging on the plant, its foliage or stems. Divide the plant by choosing one of the next three options.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Root Dividing - Step 2 - Option A
For fibrous-rooted plants, use two hand forks to pry the individual plant clusters apart, making separate sections that each contain a complete root, crown and leaves.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Root Dividing - Step 2 - Option B
For rhizomatous plants, use a sharp knife to divide each rhizome into V-shaped pieces, each with at least two growth points.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Root Dividing - Step 2 - Option C
For large plants with thick, heavy roots, use a trowel or spade to carefully cut between complete plant sections.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Root Dividing - Step 3
Replant your divisions, each in its own container. Water with liquid fertilizer diluted to half the package-recommended rate, settling the soil. Give your newly transplanted plants ideal growing conditions for the next 6-8 weeks.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
