Pilea Propagation in Water – Let’s Grow 10 More Pilea The Easy Way!
Pilea peperomioides planted in hypertufa for the summer has turned out to be pretty successful. I found no problem with them growing outdoors though I did take them out of full sun.
The hypertufa’s excellent drainage may have helped them thrive during their stay outside, but now in order to keep them alive, I need to take the steps to bring them inside.
If you remember the small section of roots that I separated in my planting, those have developed into a great small new Pilea baby plant, so I think I will separate her from her Momma.
In fact, there are quite a few that I need to separate at this time, including the ones that have been inside all summer. Look how many new sprouts I have!
But this time I am choosing to do my pilea propagation in water. I will put the new babies in water just for a week or so to grow new roots prior to planting them in their own containers. I think they will look great in some small water bottles that I have used to water propagate in as you have seen in other posts.
In my experience, water propagation is really easy and it seems to me that this is the best time of year to do that type of propagation since I wouldn’t be planting them in soil that may start up a new generation of fungus gnats coming inside.
Easy Propagation in Water for Pilea
Update: I shot the video and images on 8/19,
and this image is taken on 8/23 (4 days later).
I am amazed at how quickly roots grew so I will
plant these in soil right away. Kim
Truly I would like for my Momma Pilea to get really big and I feel that her babies drain a lot of her energy and nutrient levels, so I will separate them as they “arrive.” Of course, I will wait for them to get big enough, but I think some experiment is called for to see just how early I can water propagate those tiny pileas.
I got a set of tiny jars at IKEA on my last trip there but I have seen a cute set of tiny vases from Amazon which is a cute wooden stand with included water bottles. Here is a link.
I have these cute Propagation Station tubes and I love them. They work perfectly and are slim enough for a window sill. Bulb-shaped are great too.
These bulb-shaped propagation station bottles may be a little big for these tiny pileas, but would be great for any pothos, inch plant, Swedish Ivy, or anything else you have around that needs to be rooted. Meanwhile I will use my tiny bottles.
Here’s My Method for Pilea Cuttings
First of all, I will dig around in the soil next to the Baby Pilea and find a base root or stem where it is growing from the Momma. Using a sharp knife or pruners (sterilize them first), cut her away from the base with a sharp quick cut. Don’t use something that will “crush” the stem as you cut it. Not Good!
If there are any roots already forming, that’s good. But no roots on that stem means that I will just need to wait patiently and let it grow some. Hopefully I will have them in just a week or two. I don’t like to keep them in water long since I want them to establish soil roots as soon as they can.
I made a video of the whole process showing how I have cut the baby Pilea sprouts from the large Pilea. Reaching into the soil is the easiest for me because I can feel whether or not the sprout seems to have enough stem.
The roots will grow out of that stem so any piece of stem attachment should be a good start. The bottles are easy to watch and care for. Use just enough water to allow the stem to dangle a bit in the water. As you see in the video, I have to adjust my water levels to meet the size of the pilea cutting.
I am going to have so many Pilea Pups soon. I expect that there will be enough roots to plant them into soil in a few weeks. If I forget to update you, just give me a little reminder.
I will soon have a Pilea Jungle!
