If you want to get to know your house plants on a deeper level, propagate them. You’ll learn their inner workings, and along the way create extra plants to use as back-ups when things go wrong, gifts for friends and family, and material for swaps as you expand your collection.
Spring and early summer are the easiest times to root cuttings, but you can try these techniques out at any time of year, although growth will be slower. Chopping up your precious plants can seem daunting, but starting with species that are generous with their offspring will help you catch the propagation bug. From spider plants producing baby plants on the ends of long runners to Chinese money plants (Pilea peperomioides) putting out abundant baby plants, there are lots of ways to get started.
Most plants can be propagated in two ways – growing from seed, or by rooting fragments of the plant. The advantage of this second technique
