Rooting a Dracaena Branch

Cuttings

• Always use a knife washed in hot, soapy water to cut the branches and canes. Start by trimming the parent stem back to the desired height. The top of the trimmed cane will sprout two branches. Trim the removed section of branch into pieces at least 3 inches long. Only the piece with the original top will look the same as the original cane, because the rest will grow a split top.

Handling

• Handle the cuttings with care. Place a mark on the top of each piece with a permanent marker to indicate to top of the cane and lay the sections out on a piece of clean paper towel. Use a well-draining rooting mixture made up of equal parts of coarse sand and peat moss. The sand creates the drainage while the peat moss absorbs the moisture. Fill plant pots with the mixture.

Planting

• Dipping the bottom ends of the sections in rooting hormone speeds up the rooting process, but dracaena plants do not need the rooting hormone to produce roots. Create a hole in the center of each plant pot and slide the cuttings into the holes. For short canes, just push the cuttings halfway into the soil. If the branches are long, then push the cuttings into the soil so they touch the bottom of the containers. This gives the cuttings enough support so they don't fall over.

Rooting

• The cuttings root best when the temperature is between 75 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep them in indirect light, because placing them in direct sun will dry the cuttings out. Water the soil whenever the top begins to dry out so the rooting plants do not have to struggle for moisture. Filling a tray full of pebbles with water and placing it under the cutting containers increases the humidity around the plants. Do not let the cuttings dry out while they are developing roots. New growth on the tops of the canes signals the formation of new roots.