Zebra plants are incredibly nice tropical plants that have become very common in North American households. People really enjoy caring for zebra plants and they can be found being kept as houseplants quite often.
If you have a few zebra plants right now, then you might want to have even more of them. Propagating plants is a great way to increase the number of plants that you have in your home.
You can certainly propagate zebra plants if you know what you’re doing. If you’ve never done this before, then you might not really know where to start.
Read on to learn exactly how to propagate a zebra plant to get consistent results. This will allow you to make a new zebra plant from a cutting of your original plant, and it’s not going to be difficult to do overall.
Take a Healthy Leaf From the Original Plant
To start, you’re going to need to take a healthy leaf from the original plant. Take your time to find a leaf that looks really good and healthy before making a cutting.
When you’re cutting the zebra plant, it’s going to be best to use a very sharp and sterile knife. You can sterilize a knife using rubbing alcohol or bleach.
Simply wipe the blade with rubbing alcohol before you take the cutting. Doing this prevents you from transferring bacteria to the plant when cutting it.
With everything sterilized, you’ll be able to take the cutting without having to worry. Cut a healthy leaf and stem from the zebra plant and you’ll be ready to move on to the next step.
Find an Appropriate Container
Next, you’re going to need to find an appropriate container that you can use to root the stem. Ideally, you should use a glass jar of some sort that will be tall enough to comfortably hold the stem in place.
You don’t want the glass jar to be too tall or your cutting might move around too much. Find a glass jar that makes sense to use for this and then take the time to clean it.
It’s a good idea to scrub the glass jar with soap and hot water. While you’re rinsing it out, it’s going to be imperative to remove all traces of soapy water.
Don’t rush the process and be sure to wipe the glass jar down well. Allow the glass jar to dry properly and then you can fill it with water.
Understand that it isn’t generally a good idea to fill the container with tap water. Tap water often contains chemicals that can be harmful to plants, so it’s best to use distilled water.
Luckily, distilled water is easy to purchase at any grocery store or department store. After you’ve filled your glass jar with distilled water, it’ll be time to root your plant.
How to Root the Stem
Rooting the stem isn’t going to be difficult, but you will need to approach things the right way. Take the time to pull any leaves from the bottom portion of the stem since you don’t want them to go into the water.
When this is done, you’re going to want to find yourself a piece of wire mesh. The purpose of this is to try to hold the cutting in place.
You use a rubber band to secure the wire mesh to the glass jar. After you’ve done that, you can put the zebra plant cutting in the glass container by having it go through the wire mesh.
This ensures that it will stay in place well enough so that you won’t have to worry. It’s easy to do this and it’s definitely worth your time.
If you did everything right, then the wire mesh should be holding the zebra plant leaf above the water. You have successfully taken the first real steps toward rooting your zebra plant cutting.
Continue Caring for the Cutting
Your work isn’t done when you place the cutting into the glass jar of water. It’s necessary to keep caring for the cutting to ensure that things go well.
You should try to find a sunny window where you can place the glass container. Ideally, you should place the cutting near the sunny window and not directly on the windowsill.
Too much direct sunlight would be harmful to the cutting. It needs sunlight, but you don’t want the glass container to get too hot.
Keep checking on the stem each day to see how it’s doing. It’ll be necessary to add water from time to time to keep things at the proper level.
After a few days have passed, you should notice that the zebra plant cutting will start forming roots. Just be patient and this should occur so long as you’re doing things right.
When to Plant the Stem
You’re going to have to wait to plant the stem until it has grown roots that are at least one inch long. Once you think the roots on the stem are long enough, you’ll be able to plant it in a container that is filled with potting soil.
It’ll be best to use a plastic container as a planter, and you should try to find one that is three inches. It’s also necessary to use a plastic container that has a drainage hole or else the stem won’t survive.
You can use basic potting soil that you purchase from the store to plant the stem. Potting soil can be purchased at a nursery or garden center.
Place the stem in the potting soil so that about half of the stem is in the soil. Ensure that the leaf is not touching the soil at all.
Keep Caring for the New Plant
You’ve successfully propagated a zebra plant now if you’ve been following along. It’ll be necessary to keep caring for the plant to ensure that it survives, though.
Find a good place to put the container so that the zebra plant will get the indirect sunlight that it needs to thrive. Try to keep the soil a bit moist, but avoid getting the foliage wet.
Watering from the stem of the plant should make it easier to avoid getting the foliage wet. You can fertilize the zebra plant once each month to help it along, too.
Just be sure to use an all-purpose fertilizer that is diluted to half-strength if you decide to do so. Going overboard with fertilizer can have a negative impact on the plant.
Final Thoughts
That’s everything you need to know about propagating a zebra plant. You can keep doing this to get as many zebra plants as you want for your home.
Propagating plants is something fun that you can keep doing over and over again. Many people do this so that they can have more plants without having to go out and spend money.
If you love zebra plants, then this is truly an excellent idea. You’ll have more aesthetically pleasing plants to place around your home, and you’ll feel accomplished because you propagated the plants yourself.
Let your friends know how simple it is to propagate zebra plants when you know what you’re doing. So long as you approach things carefully, you’re always going to be able to get good results.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.