Plant Propagation From Leaf Cuttings | Can You Grow Croton From Leaf

Below you will find a list of plants that grow from leaf cuttings and the leaf cutting propagation steps.

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Plant propagation by layering | How to plant cuttings for propagation | How to take cuttings for propagation | Plant propagation methods, how to propagate plants

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Leaf cuttings of most plants may grow robust roots by simply putting them in water, but will not generate a new plant. The rooted leaves cuttings will never produce a new plant, even in several years and ultimately die. I kept a rooted rubber plant in soil for several years, and it never produced a stem and it then died.

To produce a new stem, the lead needs an axillary bud from where the plant can regenerate. The leaves of many plants like croton, rubber plant (Ficus). hoya plant etc. do not have the capacity to produce a bud from a leaf. Such cuttings are called as blind cuttings. Croton (Petra, gold dust or other types) and rubber plant leaves do not have this capability to produce a stem and a new plant. To produce a bud from the leaf, you need to keep just a small piece of the stem attached to the leaf. 

However, there are some plants like African violets, snake plants, sedums, streptocarpus, crassulas, echeverias, kalanchoes, peperomia, episcia, etc. which can develop a bud directly from a leaf or even from a part of the leaf or a leaf-petiole. So a new plant can be developed from one leaf of these plants. 

The plants having thick fleshy leaves like snake plant (Sansevieria, propagating snake plant from cuttings) and african violets are propagated from a leaf without a petiole.

Leaf-bud cuttings are used for  jade plant (How to grow Jade Plant from a leaf), rubber plant, clematis, rhododendron, camellia, devil’s ivy, grape ivy, dracaena, blackberry, mahonia, and heart-leaf philodendron. To propagate leaf-bud cuttings, place the bud covered in the rooting medium about 1 inch and the leaf exposed. They can grow roots even by simply placing the in water.

A rex begonia, Sinningla and Smithianthas (Temple Bells) leaves will grow by making cuts on several veins on the underside of the leaf. Common plants that can be propagated from leaf vein cuttings include:

To propagate, place the underside of the leaf in contact with the propagation medium and put a small weight on the leaf to keep it in contact with the soil. New plants will grow at the cuts in the leaf.