Thinking about propagating your Swiss Cheese plant? It’s actually quite easy! While there are many different ways to do this, water propagation is great, especially for beginners. Many propagate to gift plants to others or to make their original plant fuller.
Where do I cut?
First, when propagating, you will need to take a cutting from your “mother” plant. Swiss Cheese monsteras are vining plants that have aerial roots that grow downwards from their stems. When these roots reach the ground in their natural environment, they act like little feet that take root in the soil and allow the vine to grow longer and more stabilized. These aerial roots can be found at intervals down each vine of the plant, near the leaf nodes.
On Monstera plants, the nodes are brown rings around the stem that indicates that a leaf is, or was at one point, sprouting from it. Right around this area, you will also see a brown aerial root. Use sterilized pruning shears (or sharp scissors), make a clean cut right below a leaf node and aerial root.
As long as these cuttings have one leaf, they should do well. You don’t want too many leaves on a cutting. You want to allow the plant to focus all of its energy on creating new roots instead of also sustaining a longer vine. When you cut the vine, the cells around that area actually tell the plant to grow new roots there, and the less the cutting has to sustain, the more energy can be put into it’s regrowth.
Tip: The more mature the vine, the better the cutting will do. You can judge this by thickness. New growth won’t do as well propagated, but cuttings from mature portions of the vine will take well.
After you cut.
Now that you have your cutting, you are going to want to fill a glass jar with filtered, room-temperature water (or use a propagation station). Filtered water assures that there aren’t any contaminates, such as chlorine, that can be too harsh for your cutting, as it is already in a fragile state. Also, the reason why you should use room temperature water is to make sure that you don’t further shock your fresh cut vine with water that is too hot or too cold.
Tip: Don’t let the water become murky, as this is a magnet for bacteria. Change the water regularly, rinsing the jar and roots in between, to make sure your plant (and you!) have a healthy environment.
Place the cutting in the jar and make sure the water covers the aerial root well but doesn’t touch the leaves. It will take one to two months for the roots to become established enough to be planted in soil, so when you notice the water level decreasing or getting a little less clear, switch it out. Place your plant in indirect sunlight, and watch those roots grow! You’re propagating!
Transferring to soil.
You’ve got roots! If they’re at least an inch long, you can transfer the cutting into soil. You will need a pot with good drainage, and with new soil, plant the cutting in the center of the pot, making sure to completely cover its roots.
Tip: Don’t leave the cutting in the water for too many months, as this will create a less resilient plant.
Once it’s planted, thoroughly soak the potting soil and place the plant in indirect sunlight. Water again when the soil is dry.
Congratulations! You’ve just propagated your Swiss Cheese plant.
Enjoy! -Meghan
