Hi there, I have a small dracena 'colorama' that due to some neglect, became very "leggy" and grew quite crooked. I basically cut the plant in two and potted the original stem while placing the top in water to root. The top did indeed form roots and is producing new growth. I'd like to propogate the top again since there is still a lot of stem. My question is: should i pot the plant in soil first and allow it to get stronger or would it be okay to take another stem cutting as is?
Question on stem cutting/propogation of dracena colorama
- Thread starter suzyq77
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This plant is very easy to propagate. If the first cutting is still very leggy I would pot it up very carefully first, water it in and leave it to settle for a few days at least. Cutting the top off then to make another plant will be fine. It should give the ready rooted bit more energy for it's new root as well as produce yet another plant for you.
Generally, cuttings will grow roots quite readily by sitting in water, but it's not always the best way, as the new roots tend to be a fair bit weaker than those you might get with a cutting in compost.
Generally, cuttings will grow roots quite readily by sitting in water, but it's not always the best way, as the new roots tend to be a fair bit weaker than those you might get with a cutting in compost.
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I got the best of both worlds by potting a tomato cutting in an expanded polystyrene cup with a hole in the bottom and then floating that in a bigger cup of water. once it had rooted I took it out of the water. It was late last season, so I have not experimented further, but I got proper roots with the ease of water roots.
If the roots formed in water I don't think a polystyrene cup would make a lot of difference. In many years of working in propagation, the water versus compost theory has been very well tested and confirmed. This is one thing I know a bit about.
Thank you for your help!
