How To Root My Node
Some of us are foolhardy and jump straight into something we have no idea of what we’re doing and others have tried a method or two, found success and stick to it. Whatever group you might be in, I respect the endeavor you take when rooting a node. Especially an expensive node!
Currently, I’m seeing tons of nodes getting sold for insane prices. Pink Princess Philodendron Nodes that sell for over $100. Then there are anthurium and philodendron conks that people are selling for over $100. With the most standard being the monstera albo node.
Monstera albo nodes are incredibly difficult to root, primarily because of their susceptibility to rot. This is something that all hobbyist fear when purchasing a node.
However, I’m here to share with you the several types of successes I’ve had with rooting and growing plants from nodes.
Rooting Nodes in Terrariums
This is a really easy strategy for rooting nodes. Basically, get a glass container, I used a giant jar with a cork lid. Then I filled the base with sphagnum moss (or LECA), misted it till it was all wet, threw in some sticks, and after a few months, the nodes rooted and plants began to grow.
Lighting for this strategy is going to be medium to low light. I discovered plants really struggled with bright indirect light, even if that was the ideal lighting situation for when they are adults. However, growing from nodes, low to medium lighting will be ideal.
One unique circumstance that I experienced was that nodes that weren’t fresh or was enduring stress, did not have a great success rate at surviving. Healthy and fresh cuttings always seemed to root.
Rooting Nodes in Water
You have probably rooted clippings in water, so why wouldn’t it be the same for some nodes? Well, it is. I have rooted nodes in straight water. You do not need to be afraid. This is a very tried and true method.
Remember, lighting is medium to bright here. Bringing it lower really makes it tough for the stick to grow roots. I have rooted several fiddle leaf fig trees and I have had a 100% success rate with rooting. The only time I thought I was going to lose one was when I placed the cutting in a north facing open window. It was cold and it barely got any light. The leaves stayed a healthy deep green, but it hadn’t grown any roots for two months. Then I decided to put it in front of a west facing window and it began to root the next day.
It works, but if you only have short nodes you’ll want to use a flat bowl and have the water covering the node 2/3 the way up. You might see the growth point, if you do, face it upward. This method can be a bit tedious, because you’ll have to watch the water and make sure it doesn’t evaporate entirely. Unless of course you have a long stick, then just put it in a cup of water and watch the roots grow.
Also, if you want your plant to have more support. Just add some clay balls, LECA.
Rooting Nodes in Soil
This is the ideal method. When your plant is rooting in water, it creates roots specific for that. Those same roots do not work the same when they’re in soil, so there’s a bit of shock from when you transition plants from water to soil. Sometimes you’ll even the plant die back and stop growing for a time. You can ease the shock by transitioning them in sphagnum moss, but in the end if your plant is going to ultimately be in soil, grow it in soil.
I only recommend this method if you can provide it with high humidity. Such as in a green house. I have found that rooting is incredibly quick with this method and plants grow so much faster than in any of the other methods.
To determine whether this or water propagation was better, I decided to root one fresh rhaphidophora tetrasperma cutting in water and the other in soil. After a month, the plant in water grew 1.5″ of roots, while the one that rooted in soil almost filled its 3″ pot, the longest root extending beyond 5″.
However, I would not have achieved this success without a greenhouse. I find that plants rooting in soil struggle in my home and have a very high mortality rate versus in the greenhouse where the success rate is incredibly impressive. So far, I haven’t lost any plants.
I hope this blog was helpful! If you have any questions, please reach out to me at my IG.