Can You Grow Dieffenbachia From Cuttings?

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Can You Grow Dieffenbachia From Cuttings

Dieffenbachia plants are native to Brazil. They have been around for a while, and as much as they’re great to plant indoors, they have certain requirements. These requirements are strict regarding the plant’s need to be fulfilled to stay alive.

It is beautiful to see how plants can heal within themselves. This trait has given them the strength to fight harsh climates and still propagate.

The answer to this question is: yes. You can grow Dieffenbachia from cuttings.

How Can I Grow Dieffenbachia From Cuttings?

There is more than one way to ensure that happens. You can grow Dieffenbachia from stem cuttings or air layering.

Let’s see how we can implement these methods to grow Dieffenbachia from cuttings.

Stem Cuttings

You can grow your Dieffenbachia in soil by using cuttings. Get your hands on a razor or shear before you trim the stems. Ensure you have sterilized your use of razor or shear. This is important because you must ensure that you don’t make way for an infection the plant can potentially capture.

You can begin propagating by using stem cuttings. Now, dieffenbachia plants are hard, and with continuous growth over time, they can become stubborn too. When you try to cut them off, you may face difficulty but fret not! Do it carefully since it is important to extract the stem securely for re-growth.

Balcony Garden Web recommends ways you can utilize stem cuttings. However, it first explains to go about the process of stem cuttings.

Start by cutting the lower sections from about 3-4 inches, and begin using them. Those stems can be further utilized for re-growth. Using cuttings is a good idea because this way, you’re propagating by using the already existing plant.

If you are taking cuttings measuring 3-4 inches, take them from the lower section of the plant.

However, if you are measuring longer cuttings, do so from the middle section. You can get your hands on about 5-6 inches worth of stem cuttings.

While taking stem cuttings, we must consider the plant’s health. The middle section of the Dieffenbachia plant can relatively grow stem tips much faster.

Ward off any leaves attached to the stem cuttings. Dry them overnight or keep them in light via an indirect source so that it gets time to heal. Once the stem cuttings have healed, they will be in great shape for growing again and forming a plant of their own.

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Propagating Dieffenbachia In Soil

For propagating Dieffenbachia, dip the tips of your cuttings in the rooting hormone. Simultaneously, prepare your potting mix that is not too rich in plant nutrients.

Ensure you water the soil mix to elevate moisture. Once your soil is all set up, plant your stem cuttings inside the pot. Wrap some soil around the cuttings to ensure they are adequately placed. The room temperature for this plant should be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit but below 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Your stem cuttings will form roots in about a month or two. Once they have, you can transplant them into different flowerpots.

Check out: Houseplants That Like Wet Soil

Air Layering

The second method of growing Dieffenbachia from cuttings is through the process of Air Layering. Through this process, you can begin root production first.

The process is quite efficient and smart if you think about it. You will essentially be playing a trick on your plant and making it think of something other than reality. At the same time, you go on with the process of propagating Dieffenbachia through air layering.

This method works smoothly with Dieffenbachias that are tall. Before you remove the plant from its source, you will witness root production for re-growth as it begins.

Dieffenbachia plants have nodes. Nodes are parts of the stem from where leaves emerge. You can use a knife or a razor for this process. Ensure you sterilize your cutting tool for the process. Mark an incision angled upward into the stem but slightly below the node.

The task here is to slice the plant’s stem but not cut it through. Keep it slightly open. To maintain the open space, place a toothpick or a rooting hormone.

Do the same process for every stem section you intend to transplant. Re-growth will occur from these cuts, so ensure that you’re making these cuts at the bottom of the stem.

After repeating this process for every stem you need, get your hands on your rooting medium and moisten it. The rooting hormone needs to be moist but not completely wet. Add this rooting medium to every cut you’ve made and wrap it with plastic to tighten it.

The Healthy Houseplant recommends if you are using a bottle instead of plastic wrap, you can cut holes at the bottom of the bottle to fit your Dieffenbachia’s stalk. Next, cut your bottle from one side to have an opening that will make it easy for you to slide the bottle around the trunk.

Tighten the bottle around the cuts you made on the stems and fill them with your moist rooting medium. After this, you ought to wait.

With the plastic wrapped around, the cuts in the stems will stay moist, and the plant will begin growing roots. Some weeks later, you will begin seeing a bunch of roots piercing through the plastic.

Once you observe a healthy bunch of roots emerging, remove the coverings and slice your Dieffenbachia. Then you can plant the cutting. Now that you already have your roots, all you need to do now is grow Dieffenbachia and take good care of it.

Also check: How to Transport a House Plant During a Move?

Supplies

To propagate Dieffenbachia, you must have a few mandatory supplies. You will require all cutting tools. You can use different tools to assess which works best for you. Use a knife or a razor if you’re going with the air layering process. Or, if you’re using stem cuttings, then a pair of shears or a razor can work well.

With air layering, we don’t slice the stem through the stalk. This is why you don’t need something extra sharp to complete the task.

You will also need to get your hands on a disinfectant or cleaning medium to sanitize your cutting tools. We want to ensure that we don’t give way to any infection, especially from our end.

An infection can harm the plant since it can be potentially fatal.

You will also need a rooting medium since you’ll be filling some in every stem you cut. Get some plastic bottles to fit your Dieffenbachia’s stalks in. To secure the stalk, you will need duct tape or twist ties according to the healthy house plant.

Propagating Dieffenbachia

Propagating Dieffenbachia is easy because there is no hard and fast rule. The plant is not just easy to grow but also grows back fast. If you cut stems to re-grow them into a different pot, the dieffenbachia plant will recover soon and grow even taller.

Over time, after you go through many different methods during different seasons, you will begin to understand what works best for which type of Dieffenbachia variety. There are many different types of Dieffenbachia plants, and each has its own specifications that make them unique.

You can grow Dieffenbachia plants from cuttings because the plant is always growing. Since it grows in height, it uses the already cut area to re-grow and ultimately grows tall and taller.

Gardener’s Path suggests simply providing the plant with soil, water, and the sun to give it adequate nutrition and space to grow.

Cloning the Dieffenbachia plant is easy. However, you cannot do so with leaf cuttings. With stem cuttings, what happens is that with every cut in the stem, re-growth begins taking place. With time, you will begin to understand what works with Dieffenbachia plants according to their age.

There are different sections of the plant that also play a role. Ensure the plant is healthy, you are sanitizing your tools, and not giving direct sunlight to the plant. Don’t expose the plant’s stem-cut side to direct sunlight.

You will also have to watch over the plant for a few weeks after you’ve placed them for replanting. Transplantation is about patience and waiting for the plant to find time within itself to grow. You cannot force a plant to grow. With proper health, Dieffenbachias grow with ease and finesse.

Takeaways

At the end of the day, it is all about how you treat the plant you’re working with. Once you understand the plant’s essence and what it needs to boost its growth, you will find adequate resources to help boost its growth naturally.

Be gentle with the plant. Be gentle with its stems, its leaves. Talking to them is one of the best ways to boost plant growth. Plants understand conversations and especially ones that humans are having with them. This is a sure way to boost plant health. If you follow the instructions above, you can grow Dieffenbachias from cuttings effortlessly.

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