How to Propagate Giant Pentas

Within the Pentas plant genus, butterfly pentas (Pentas lanceolata) produce the largest flowers, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden spring through summer's end. The giant blooms are white, pink, red or light purple and have five petals, giving the plant its other name: Egyptian starflower. This annual thrives in hot and humid conditions, where it grows 2 feet tall in sun or partial shade. Propagate these large pentas from fall cuttings.

Things You'll Need

• Shears
• Glass
• Sand
• Peat moss
• 6-inch planter with drainage holes

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Take a 4- to 6-inch-long tip cutting after the pentas finishes blooming.

   • 2

     Place the stem's cut end in a glass of water. Replace the water whenever it begins to look milky, until the wood roots.

   • 3

     Blend 1 part sand and 1 part peat moss. Add it to a 6-inch planter.

   • 4

     Transplant the cutting from the water glass to the planter after its roots are 1/2 inch to 1 inch long. Grow it indoors or in a greenhouse through the winter. Plant the butterfly pentas in the ground after the last spring frost.