Gadenin日本語Get the appTwo methods, and which one to use
Everything you propagate a ficus from needs a node, the point on the stem where a leaf joins it. A leaf on its own will sometimes make roots in water and it will sit there looking healthy for a year, but with no node it can never produce a shoot and it will never become a plant.
Beyond that, the choice is between taking a cutting, which is quick and sometimes fails, and air layering, which is slower and almost never fails. The right answer depends on the plant and on how much you mind losing the material.
| Method | Best for | Time to root | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stem cutting in compost | Rubber plant, weeping fig | Four to eight weeks | Good with warmth |
| Cutting rooted in water | Weeping fig, thin-stemmed shoots | Three to six weeks | Good, but pot up early |
| Air layering | Fiddle leaf fig, thick old stems | Six to twelve weeks | Very high |
| A single leaf | Nothing | Roots but never shoots | Not a method |
Below about 68F (20C) nothing roots. The cut surface rots before it can callus, so late spring to midsummer in a warm room is the only sensible window.
Taking a stem cutting
Take cuttings from the current season's growth, which is firm but not yet woody and gray. Very soft new tips wilt, and old hard wood is slow and unreliable.
- Cut a piece with two or three nodes Aim for four to six inches (10 to 15 cm), cutting just below the lowest node with clean pruners. That lowest node is where the roots will come from.
- Reduce the leaves Strip the leaves from the lower half and leave one or two at the top. A cutting with no roots cannot supply four large leaves, and it will dry out before it roots.
- Halve any big leaf On a rubber plant, cut the remaining leaf across to about half its area, or roll it and hold it with a rubber band. This cuts water loss without removing the leaf entirely.
- Rinse and dry the cut Rinse off the latex under water, then let the cut dry in the air for an hour. Latex on the cut surface blocks water uptake and slows rooting badly.
- Pot it up Push the lowest node into damp, free draining mix, keep it warm, bright and out of direct sun, and cover it loosely with a clear bag to hold the humidity. Air it for a few minutes daily so it does not go moldy.
Rooting in water
The same cutting stood in a jar of water roots slightly faster and lets you watch progress, which makes it much easier to judge whether anything is happening. Keep the lowest node submerged and every leaf out of the water, and change the water every three days.
Pot it into compost as soon as the roots are one to two inches (3 to 5 cm) long. Water roots are structurally different from soil roots and a cutting left in the jar for months collapses when you finally pot it. Early is better than tidy.
A cutting kept permanently in water stays alive but makes almost no new leaves. If you want a plant rather than an ornament, move it into compost early.
Air layering, step by step
Air layering roots the new plant while it is still attached to and fed by the parent, so it cannot dry out and it cannot fail through lack of resources. It is the standard way to shorten a tall bare fiddle leaf fig and get a second plant from the top at the same time.
- Choose the point Pick a spot on the main stem a foot or so below the lowest leaves you want to keep. The stem there should be at least pencil thick.
- Wound the stem Cut a ring of bark about half an inch (1 cm) wide right around the stem and scrape the green layer away underneath, down to the hard wood. Roots form at the upper edge of that ring.
- Pack it with damp moss Wring out a handful of sphagnum moss so it is damp, not dripping, and wrap it into a ball covering the wound. Hold it with clear plastic film taped at both ends so you can see inside.
- Keep it damp and wait Open one end and add water if the moss looks pale and dry. Roots appear against the film within six to twelve weeks in a warm room.
- Cut it off and pot it Once roots fill the ball, cut the stem just below it, remove the film but leave the moss in place, and pot the new plant into a snug pot of free draining mix. Keep it humid and out of direct sun for two weeks.
The parent stem, now cut back, will branch from the nodes below within a few weeks. This is how you fix a leggy fiddle leaf fig and gain a plant at the same time.
Why cuttings fail
There are only four common reasons and they are all avoidable. The piece had no node. The room was too cold. Too much leaf was left on and it dried out. Or the mix was kept wet rather than damp and the base rotted.
Take three or four cuttings rather than one, keep them in the same conditions, and you will nearly always get at least one. Note the date you took them and how long each took to root, because your own room will produce a far more useful figure than any general one.