I think that, for all plant lovers, the most dangerous thing in the world is propagation. Propagation, in its simplest form, is just taking a plant and making more of them. How many more? As many as you can manage. It's fairly simple and entirely too easy to do at home... technically, you don't even need soil for it.
Let's talk about it -- starting with an introduction to my Inch plant.
So I bought a fully grown, super duper healthy Tradescantia zebrina (Inch plant) from a plant sale my university was hosting... and then I knocked off half the stems in the car ride home. Well, okay, only three, but boy did I feel bad about that. I was just going to throw them away, but I figured well, I learned how to do this in class and people on the internet made it seem easy... lets give it a go. I stuck the three broken pieces in some random glass jars filled with water, and then I waited. Like, not even that long. Two weeks, max, and I checked on those suckers to find that they'd grown multiple roots!! Stubby little things, but roots!
Here you can see the two that rooted, one at the bottom and the other at a higher up node. Since then I've moved them to soil (since I've learned that's actually better!) and they seem to still be doing pretty well.
So what's the deal? Yeah okay I've now got three Inch plants. One big mama and two stumpy little plants. Maybe a fourth if it ever decides to root. Why would I ever want that many Inch plants (why wouldn't I?)? How does this actually work and how can you actually do this? Glad you asked.
In the horticultural world, vegetative propagation is the process of 'breeding' plants by using the 'parent' plant -- think cloning. The plant you propagate will produce a genetically identical plant. Propagate a Fittonia? You'll get a Fittonia. Philodendron? Philodendron. And so on and so forth. Whatever plant you propagate will yield the same plant. It's the best way to get more of your favorite greenery without breaking the bank.
There are four ways to vegetatively propagate plants. By cuttings, layerage, division, and grafting. I'll explain the last three, and then give some step by step instructions on how to propagate your own plants using the cutting method, since propagation by cuttings is definitely the most obtainable method of propagation. It requires nothing more than a plant, some pruners, and a cup of water/soil. And patience, I guess. You also need to understand nodes and internodes for successful propagation, which my 2 second answer is 'the places on the stems leaves grow(nodes), and the spaces in-between(internodes).'
Layerage is a lengthy process of vegetative propagation where you stimulate root growth on a parent plants stem before you cut it. You can do this through the ground, through a mound, or in the air. Ground layerage involves just bending a stem down, hooking it to the ground, and covering it with soil. Then waiting. Mound layerage involves covering up the stems to stimulate root growth. Air layerage is a little more complicated, but basically, you wound a part of the stem (with a knife!!) cover the wound in sphagnum moss, and then wrap that in a polyethylene bag (a ziplock baggie, since it's impervious to water but not to air)... and then, eventually, it'll sprout roots and you can cut that piece off! Then you've got two plants! Wow!
Each layerage option takes about 3 months, which is considerably longer than just taking a cutting, but it's far less risky. Hear me out, I know we haven't talked about cuttings just yet, but when you place a cutting in soil/water... there's no guarantee that it will root. The cutting may just die and that means that you've lost a valuable piece of your plant. Its especially scary if you're trying to save a plant, if your cutting dies then your whole plant is dead. Whoops. With layerage, the stem you're propagating is still connected to the parent plant, meaning it still has roots. No, not where you want them, but still. The plant has established roots giving water and nutrients to the entire plant... even the stem you're trying to propagate. Photosynthesis is still happening, respiration is still happening, translocation is still happening... literally all of it. You're just also growing roots.
Cool.
Division is a super straightforward method of propagation. Take a big ole plant from your garden, dig it (and its roots) up, clean it's roots off, and then just... cut it up. Divide it into sections. That's it. Granted, the roots must be established, and it must be the right time of year (spring), but it's pretty simple. Typically, this method works best with perennials.
Grafting is a RIDE, let me tell you. I think this is more common/necessary with outdoor plants than with house plants, but grafting is the method of attaching two plants together... well, basically, it's way more complicated than that. Basically, cultivars don't come true from seed. It's in their definition that they must be vegetatively propagated. But... what happens when their root system is weak? Or refuses to form? What now? Grafting happens. Duh.
For example, roses are in just about every garden in America. There are LOTS of cultivars of roses, I won't even guess how many. Lots. But apparently, rose breeders are so focused on how they look that they totally skimp out on root strength. That means roses have really weak root systems that can't actually support the plant. So, instead of breeding in good root systems, cultivars are grafted onto the cut stem of a wild rose. The two stems (Stock being the base and Scion being the grafted top stem) will fuse together, and you'll have some pretty cultivar of rose growing. Takes a little bit of fuss, but definitely worth it in the end!
Grafting only works on plants of the same kind. So you couldn't graft a petunia to a rose, but you could graft a rose to a rose, or a redbud to a redbud. This is a great way to get lots of different cultivars that otherwise wouldn't grow on their own, but really difficult. Chances are, the everyday home gardener wouldn't be running around grafting their own plants. But hey, maybe you'll learn, who knows.
Finally, to the (in my opinion) good one. Cutting. If I could somehow manage to do this, so can you. So can literally anybody. That's not a joke.
Cutting is, as the name suggests, when you take a cutting from your plant. The end. No, but actually, you cut a plant right at a node, take off the bottom leaves, and then stick it in some water or soil... then you wait. Depending on the plant, it could take as little as a week or two to start rooting. Just takes a little patience! Not nearly as long as layerage though. Now you have two (or three or four or five) of the same plant, genetically, in different pots. You can give them to your friends or family or to yourself, since you absolutely deserve 15 of your favorite plant.
Since I think this is the most obtainable means of vegetative propagation, I'm going to walk through the steps (with photos!), so you have a solid idea of how to go about doing this yourself.
These photos will show water propagation, because I am very antsy and want to see the roots as they grow to make sure it's actually rooting, of course. But I've learned that cuttings that are propagated in water as opposed to soil have weaker roots... so I'd recommend soil.
Step one, pick a plant!
I chose my Hypoestes phyllostachya (Pink Polka Dot Plant) because it is one of my favorites, by far, but also because it had this crazy stem growing out of it. I mostly did this just to make the parent plant look prettier, but if it the cutting ends up rooting... who am I to complain?
This is the node I decided to cut at. Since, like I said, you have to cut it at a node. I cut it at a 45 degree angel (to encourage root growth) and then left the parent plant be. She's all done, and with a cute new (less crazy) look.
After I cut it, I took off the two bottom sets of leaves.
And then I stuck it in water! (But you should stick it in soil!) Easy peasy. If you're worried, you could add a rooting hormone to stimulate root growth. Make sure to stick the cutting in a bright, warm place, preferably somewhere humid, and then all you have to do is wait. Will it root? Maybe! Who knows! But if you've done everything right, then there's nothing else you can do but wait.
There you go, there's your introduction to propagation. There's definitely more to be said about propagation, and different people have different ways they approach each of these methods. No matter how you do it, I think it's pretty universally agreed upon that anything that yields more plants is a good thing.
You grow girl!