I like to keep a few of these growing, hopefully having one at all times that could be flowering, ready at hand for a gift. But my supply dwindled to just the one, "mother plant".
Time to begin another set. This past October, I filled a 4-cell seed starter with soil. Then I plucked 4 leaves with stems from my mother plant, and inserted into the soil. I kept the soil damp, watering a coupled of times per week. I lost one leaf entirely, but 3 remain, with one having sprouted new leaves already.
It usually takes about 12 weeks for a plantlet (the grouping of small leaves) to develop from the time of cutting. I'll be keeping an eye on the other 2 leaves, hoping for another couple of plants.
This one, with the baby leaves attached, will be ready to pot up into its own pot in about 3 or 4 weeks. I want it to become strong and healthy before changing pots, but not wait so long that the plant has outgrown it's space and water supply.
It can take 6-9 months to go from baby plant to flowering one. But I have patience.
(Some experts recommend trimming 1/3 off the initial leaf at time of cutting. I've never done this, and still have success with propagation.)
Have you experimented with propagating plants? There's a method for propagating lilacs with just leaves. But I've never tried it, and am hoping to get more information on this method sometime.
