For many hobby gardeners, the propagation of their garden and house plants is an important part of their work. Not all plants are easy to propagate or in the same way. Growing indoor palms is often time-consuming and difficult.
How can I propagate an indoor palm?
To propagate an indoor palm, you can either cut off shoots with at least four fronds and root them in growing substrate or plant purchased seeds. Please note the germination time, which can be up to two years, and the slow growth of the plant.
Some species are dioecious, with separate sexes, so there are male and female flowers or plants. The seeds are only capable of germinating if the flower has been fertilized accordingly. That's why it's safer to buy the seeds (€2.00 on Amazon) from specialist retailers. Some indoor palms can also be propagated via saplings.
How do I propagate my indoor palm?
If your indoor palm is one of the species that produces shoots, cut them off as soon as they have at least four fronds. Plant the young shoots in suitable growing substrate and water them carefully in the first few weeks to prevent their fine roots from rotting. If new fronds have formed, then the young palm trees are well rooted and can be watered a little more often.
If you want to grow your new palm trees from seeds, you will need a lot of patience. The germination period for some species is up to two years. Many palm trees also grow very slowly and it takes a few years until the tiny seedling turns into a really attractive palm tree.
Easy to propagate: the yucca palm
Botanically speaking, the yucca palm or palm lily is not a palm tree, but as a palm-like plant it is one of the most popular “indoor palms”. To propagate them you do not need to wait for seeds to form. The yucca palm can be divided, so to speak. Once it has grown high enough, cut or saw the trunk of your yucca into several pieces and plant them in fresh soil.
The most important things in brief:
- Indoor palms are generally difficult to propagate
- Seeds almost always have to be purchased
- extremely long germination period of up to two years
- mostly very slow growing
Tip
If you enjoy it and have a lot of patience, then try growing palm trees from seeds. If you want an attractive plant quickly, then it's better to buy it from a specialist retailer.
