Cutting Off All the Babies on the Pilea Peperomioides

Mackenna Rowley | 11 December, 2018 | 2 Comments

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pilea propagation and sharing! We love propagating our Pileas (it's how we started our business, after all!), and we want everyone to be able to share them as easily as possible! We've even got free Christmas and Holiday Gift Tags for you to download! So here goes!

The Babies

Pileas should start to grow babies within 3-6 months. The babies will look like mini-Pileas and can sprout directly from the mama plant's stem (Offshoot Babies!), or from the potting mix around her (Rhizome Babies!).

Harvesting Offshoot Babies:

Once they're about 2" tall, use a small knife or our snips to cut them off at the base of the baby as close to the mother stem as possible. Root them in water for 1-3 weeks, until they've developed about .5" of roots, then plant them gently in moist potting mix.

Harvesting Rhizome Babies:

The Rhizome Babies should have a small root system by the time they're 2" tall and you'll want to save as much of that as possible. The Rhizome Babies are connected to the Mama by a rhizome, which you can think of like an umbilical cord. You want to gently remove the soil around the base of the baby until you see the "umbilical cord" root, then snip the cord about .5" inches back from the baby, toward the Mama. Gently loosen the baby's existing root system, then plant it directly in moist potting mix! If you lose a few roots in the process, it should still be just fine! Allow the babies to grow in their new homes for 2-4 weeks before sharing them with friends to ensure they've had time to develop a strong root system!

Pilea Baby Care:

Pilea Babies are still developing a strong root system, so you'll want to keep the potting mix moist for the first few weeks. We recommend bottom watering all plants, but especially these Baby Pileas! To bottom water, place the pot in a bowl or tray or even the sink, then add enough water so the pot is sitting in at least 1". Allow the potting mix time to wick up the water. You'll know it is perfectly watered when the top of the potting mix is moist again. You may need to add more water if you have lots of plants in the same tray. The babies will also need lots of bright, indirect light, and humidity helps keep them happy as well!

Mature Pilea Care:

Once a Pilea has a strong root system (2-4 weeks post harvest), you should let them dry out between watering. We still highly recommend bottom watering for the mature Pileas! Bright indirect light, moderate levels of humidity, and regular feedings of fertilizer are all they need to thrive and produce lots of new babies! You can always check out our Top 5 Pilea Peperomioides Care Tipsblog post for more info as well!

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And that's it! Now go get sharing!

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Cutting Off All the Babies on the Pilea Peperomioides

Source: https://www.piep.co/blogs/houseplant-university/pilea-propagation-and-sharing

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