Propagation is a popular term in the gardening community, and for good reason. It’s one of the best ways to grow your garden, and grow more of your favorite plants. In this article, we’ll look at some of the top reasons why every gardener should consider propagating their plants.
At the end, I’ll also provide some resources to get you started and further reading to help if you’d like to learn more. Most plant articles on this site also include a section about propagation which should give you more specific information if you have plants for a particular plant.
What Is Propagation?
Propagation is the act of taking a piece of an existing plant and growing a whole new plant from it. You’ll often hear it referred to as a “cutting” or “taking a cutting”. These terms generally refer to the same thing when talking about plants.
Propagation is great as it allows us to grow more of what we already have. Using our existing plants, we can grow completely new but identical ones. It’s a great way to grow our gardens, save money, and have fun. It’s also a sustainable way to grow your garden as you don’t have to purchase any new plants.
Reasons To Propagate
There are a lot of great reasons why people propagate their plants. Here are my top reasons that are hopefully enough to convince you to do so yourself.
1. Affordable Way To Expand Your Garden
Compared to buying new plants, propagation is a more affordable way to expand your garden. Since you’re using existing plants, you can get new plants without spending a dime; assuming you have planters and soil of course.
This makes propagating great for those on a budget looking to expand their garden. Take cuttings from your plants, and grow brand new ones, all without having to spend any money.
2. Identical To Parent Plant
One of the great things about plants grown through propagation is that they are identical to their parent plant. This means that any unique characteristics, like foliage patterns, for example, are going to be present in the child plant as well.
This fact is often used in commercial grows to keep each plant consistent. For us, it means we can grow more of the plants that we love. For all intents and purposes, the two plants are identical.
3. Quick Growth Time
Growing from cuttings also has the benefit that you’ll have a full-grown plant quicker than starting from seeds. Since you’re starting from a partially grown plant, you skip the whole process of germination.
This can also make it a bit easier to grow. Germination and starting from seeds are often viewed as one of the trickier parts of gardening. By using cuttings, you skip this step and don’t have to deal with any of the common issues that come up.
4. It’s Fun!
This one is a bit of an extra since it’s more subjective, but I find propagating to be a load of fun. I get a lot of enjoyment from seeing my new plants grow and being able to sustain my favorite plants. There’s something neat about seeing a tiny cutting blossom into a full-grown plant.
I’d definitely recommend giving it a try and seeing for yourself.
Propagating Plants
If you’re interested in learning more about propagating your plants, then check out our full guide and how-to here. It goes over the process of how to take and care for your plant’s cuttings.
You can also check out the individual articles for specific plants for more details. We give plant-specific tips on how to propagate, so check them out if you’re looking for details on a specific plant.
