What Are Some Ways to Plant Indoor Flowers From Cuttings?

Stem

• Many types of indoor flowers propagate well from stem cuttings. Take the cutting from a healthy-looking stem. Avoid using cuttings from older stems. A section of stem about 1 to 3 inches long with two or three of the leaves attached gives best results, according to the University of Rhode Island. Make the cut about one-quarter below the a lowest leaf. Remove the lowest leaf and plant the cutting with the bare leaf node covered in the growing medium.

Leaf

• Certain flowering plants, such as begonias, propagate well from leaf cuttings. You can grow flowers from leaves using two methods. One involves taking a whole leaf and placing it in the potting medium. Keep 1 inch of the leaf stalk when removing the leaf from its host. Place the stalk but not the leaf blade in the medium.

  You can also propagate some flowers, such as cape primrose, by cutting the leaves into pieces and placing the pieces in a potting medium. Make sure the veins come into direct contact with the medium. When a seedling grows from the cutting, carefully remove it and place it in a small pot with a fresh potting medium.

Plantlets

• Several types of flowering plants, including strawberry begonias, produce miniature young plants on the stems or leaves or even the flowers of the parent plant. You can carefully cut the "plantlet" from the host and nurture it to maturity. Leave about 1 inch of stalk when making the cut. Insert the stalk in a potting medium leaving the plantlet uncovered. Wait for the plantlet to form roots, which typically takes a few weeks. Then remove the plantlet from its medium and place it in a container with a fresh medium.

Water

• You can successfully root stem cuttings from some plants, such as geraniums and impatiens, in water rather than soil or a medium. Make a clean cut on a 4- to 6-inch stem, cutting directly above a leaf node. Remove the lower leaves and make a cut just below the last node. Place the cutting in a jar of water. Use a wire mesh so that the upper part of the cutting stays out of the water. Put the jar in a warm, sunny area. Place the cutting in a container and potting medium when roots start to develop.