In this time of isolation and general slow-down, many of us are spending an unprecedented amount of time at home, among the inanimate objects and living beings that add texture, sound, and color to our daily existence. Perhaps we’ve started cleaning more out of boredom, or rearranging our books, or trying new recipes. We may be cuddling with pets or kids like never before. And we may be looking at our houseplants and feeling the urge for more. Luckily, you can materialize and multiply plants like Jesus with his loaves and fishes. An avocado plant will grow out of a pit, an onion can easily become a source of green shoots, and scallion root tips can yield a new bulb garden. Every plant can become more plants, often from nothing more than one of its leaves or tendrils. And luckily, it’s spring, the optimal time for propagation, as the temperature warms and daylight grows longer.
Though Nickles sometimes propagates in water, his preferred method is to plant cuttings in a pot of soil and seal them in a gallon-sized ziplock bag. The bag functions like a greenhouse. “You don’t even need to water it that much,” he says. “Similar to a sourdough starter, I do like to burp the bag. I open it up and get some fresh air in there every three or four days.” Once the roots have developed and the plant has grown somewhat, the plant is ready to molt out of its plastic cocoon. Whatever the growing medium, Nickles recommends keeping propagating cuttings out of direct sunlight.
