How to Propagate Ficus Plants

Ficus plants are difficult to propagate because of their woody stems. Attempting to root cuttings from the plant can result in failure. However, a method called air layering has been developed which allows propagation of ficus plants with a reasonable chance for success.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rooting powder
• Paint brush
• Plastic sheet
• Sphagnum moss

1. Select a section of stem as wide in diameter as a pencil or wider. Pick an area right below a leaf node and remove all leaves 4 inches below this point and 4 inches above this point.

2. Score two marks on the stem with a sharp knife, one just below the leaf node and the second one half an inch lower than the first. With the knife, cut the bark away in between these two scores.

3. Apply a light coating of rooting hormone powder to the bare portion of the stem with a thin paint brush.

4. Tie the bottom of a sheet of plastic around the stem with string 4 inches below the bare stem. This should form a cup.

5. Moisten some sphagnum moss and fill the plastic with it. Moisten the sphagnum moss by soaking it in water and then squeezing it out. Secure the top of the plastic with string to hold in the sphagnum moss.

6. Take off the plastic when you see roots poking through the sphagnum moss. Your new ficus plant propagation is ready to be separated from it's parent.

7. Cut the stem directly below the root ball and place the new plant into a pot. Resume regular care of the new plant at this point.

8. Remove leftover bare stem from the parent ficus and it should sprout new growth.

Tips & Warnings

• Propagate ficus plants with air layering that have lost most of their lower leaves or that have overgrown the space you have for them.
• If the sphagnum moss wrapped in plastic is exposed to direct sun, protect it from moisture loss by wrapping aluminum foil around it.
• If roots do not appear in the moss after a month, discard the moss, apply more rooting powder and a fresh batch of moss.
• Sphagnum moss and rooting hormone powder can be purchased at most garden centers.