The easiest and in our latitudes usually the only way to propagate a poinsettia is to take cuttings. What you have to consider when cutting and caring for offshoots of a poinsettia.

Poinsettias are easy to propagate from cuttings

The best time to cut cuttings

If you want to grow a poinsettia from cuttings, you need to maintain a healthy plant at home.

Even under the best conditions, propagation is not always problem-free. Many cuttings won't take root, even if you've done everything right. Therefore, always cut a few more cuttings than you actually need.

The best time for taking cuttings is spring. The plant should already have flowered.

Prepare cuttings properly

Take cuttings about eight to ten centimeters long. Place the interfaces in hot water for a short time or hold them over a candle or lighter. This closes the incision and no more toxic milky juice can escape.

Remove any lower leaves. If the top leaves are very large, use scissors to cut them in half. Then there is less risk of the cuttings drying out.

Add rooting powder to the bottom side. This increases the likelihood that the cutting will later root.

Set and maintain cuttings

Prepare pots with potting soil. It should not be too firm and should be able to store water well. Make sure that the pots have a sufficiently large drainage hole so that no waterlogging can form.

Insert the cuttings about three centimeters deep into the substrate and press the soil firmly.

Ask them

  • warm (from 20 degrees)
  • bright
  • not too sunny
  • protected from drafts

Repot poinsettia cuttings

It may take some time for the cuttings to root. You can tell that the propagation has worked by the fact that new leaves form.

After rooting, transplant your poinsettia cuttings into larger pots and care for them like adults.

tips

Inexpensive poinsettias bought in the supermarket are usually not suitable for propagating. Cuttings grown from such plants are often ailing and die very quickly.

Category:

Indoor plants