Three easy ways to breed Fittonia
Fittonia is one of the brightest decorative deciduous indoor plants. This herbaceous perennial looks very beautiful in a room interior, bringing an exotic fresh touch to it thanks to its unusual coloring. A lush bush with many painted leaves of a wide variety of colors is easy to grow at home, and its good survival rate will allow you to create a whole collection of plants.
How propagate fittonia? This can be done by applying one of the following options:
- cuttings;
- layering;
- dividing the bush.
In addition, Fittonia is still propagated by seeds, but of all the methods, this one is the most time-consuming and laborious, so we will consider the first three methods.
Rooting cuttings
Fittonia propagates very well by cuttings. This procedure can be combined with rejuvenating pruning of the bush so as not to throw away the cut tops of the shoots.
For plant propagation, you should choose cuttings no more than 8 cm long, on which there are at least three pairs of leaves.
There are two ways to root cuttings:
- in water;
- immediately in the soil.
In both cases, for successful and fast rooting, the container should be placed in a bag. When the apical shoots form their own root system (after about a month), they are transplanted into separate pots with nutrient soil. To give the bushes a compact shape, the tops are pinched.
How do I lay down?
Fittonia has creeping shoots, which, when growing plants in wide pots, often put out additional, their own, roots.
If this does not happen, you can sprinkle some of the stem with earth, but no further than at a distance of 5 cm from the top of the branch.
When he starts up the roots, carefully separate the cuttings from the main bush with scissors and leave them in one pot for two weeks so that the young bush gets stronger. After this time, dig out the layering and plant it in a separate flowerpot.
Features of dividing the bush
In the spring, during an adult transplant fittonias, you can also divide an oversized bush into fragments and use them to propagate a flower.
Each section should have its own roots and at least two healthy shoots.
Delenki are immediately planted in pots and, thus, get an already formed young bush. Often, flower growers practice the simultaneous planting of several sections in one bowl to create a fluffy bush.