Q.Making a Cutting
I’m about to move my Monstera deliciosa to a bigger pot – possibly plant it in the ground because it is SO big! A friend wants a cutting when I do this. I looked on your site for directions and did not understand this statement: “Cuttings should be taken just after a leaf node, removing the bottom-most leaves.”
I understand what a leaf node is, but the bottom-most leaves start to brown and do not look good for starter plants. I obviously don’t want to do any damage to the growth of the plant, and would like to give my friend’s plant a best possible start. Any suggestions for my situation?
If you look at the stem of a philodendron, right around the leaf node, below where the leaf stem is emerging from the stem, you'll see several little bumpy or stringy things. These are what become roots. To make a cutting, take a stem with some nice big fat leaves and some new growth coming out. You're going to cut your stem so that you have 2 big leaves at the end, and 1 or 2 nodes with baby roots below that. Cut the stem just after that last node. Then remove the leaves from those lower nodes, so that you can put the rooty parts into the soil, and they will happily begin to grow. Just to be sure you get a cutting that roots, root 3 cuttings if possible, because cuttings don't always root.
