Cardboard paper palm, lucky feather The popular houseplant Zamioculcas zamiifolia has many names. The attractive plant comes from East Africa and belongs to the arum family. Like almost all members of this widespread plant family, the Zamioculcas is also very propagative, so that cut leaves and shoots quickly form new roots.
How do you propagate Zamioculcas through cuttings?
To grow Zamioculcas cuttings, remove individual leaflets or petioles with multiple leaves from the he althy mother plant. Insert pinnules into growing substrate and leaf stems into water. Rooting takes place in several months, patience is required.
Only use he althy mother plants for propagation
However, you should not take cuttings from sick or ailing mother plants for propagation, because these will not be he althy either - after all, vegetative propagation is a kind of creation of clones: the offshoots obtained have exactly the same properties like the mother plant.
Place leaf cuttings in growing substrate
The Zamioculcas is usually propagated by leaf cuttings. This procedure has proven successful for rooting:
- Pluck off one or more leaflets.
- You can also cut these off, but then they will root more poorly.
- Dip the leaf with the severed edge into a rooting powder (€12.00 on Amazon).
- Now put it about two centimeters deep in a pot with potting soil.
- Keep the substrate evenly moist.
- Put a cut PET bottle or similar over the cutting.
- Place the pot in a bright, but not directly sunny location.
Now it's time to be patient, because it can take up to 12 months for the new plant to take root.
Rooting cuttings with multiple leaves
In addition to individual leaves, you can also use entire petioles with multiple leaves as cuttings. However, unlike leaf cuttings, these should be rooted in water.
- Cut a petiole with four or five leaves.
- Place this in a dark container with fresh, warm water.
- Place the container in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight.
- An east or west facing window is ideal.
- It should also be consistently warm.
- Change the water daily to prevent fungi from growing.
After a few months, small tubers develop from which the roots eventually emerge. Now you can plant the Zamioculcas in normal soil, although you will have to wait a while for the first real shoots.
Tip
If you want the leaf cutting to root more quickly, you should water it with self-prepared willow water instead of tap or rain water.
