My fiddle leaf fig is having babies!
If you’ve been following for a while you’ll know that one of my most proud moments has been growing, and then transplanting, our massive FLF onto our back deck. She is truly a beauty, but recently has had a few ups and downs and I’ve felt like she was getting too big, so I wanted to finally propagate some of her leaves. This process is basically about taking a section of plant and rooting it so that it creates a whole new plant. Magic! I wanted to create a propagation wall so that I could do some water propagation, so set about putting one together on the back deck. Read on for more.
You need
- Glass or plastic jars
- Wire
- Picture hangers
- Nails (that are smaller than the hole on the picture hanger) and a hammer
- Gardening scissors
How to
- The first thing I did was cut a section of my large fiddle leaf off at the end. It’s important not to cut too much, so as not to shock the plant, so stick to less than 30% of the plant.
- I then cut that section into smaller parts, leaving one leaf and a section of branch on each part.
- I dipped each section into Rooting Hormone.
- Then I set about making the propagation wall. I took each jar and wrapped the top rim in wire so there was a secure collar to hang from.
- To that I attached a picture hanger by folding over the end onto the wire.
- I hammered a nail into the wall, and then inserted the nail onto the hole in the picture hanger so that the jar hung onto the wall.
- I then filled each one with water.
- Finally, I put the stems and branches into the water.
It’s important to note that you can grow a full tree if you use a branch, rather than trying to propagate a single leaf. A leaf will sprout roots but won’t be able to grow into a plant. It’s been about 6 weeks and I’ve started to notice roots! It’s been colder weather and took a while but I noticed that once they start growing they seem to grow quite fast. I’ll share an update about how it goes over time!
