Why Your Propagation FAILS ( Reason #1 LIGHT )

Reasons why your propagations are rotting or not rooting. I did a small experiment to see what kind of effects light has on Pothos when propagating. I receive a lot of questions asking why your cuttings are not rooting. Or why the roots are rotting. There are a few other reasons I am also investigating and experimenting with but this ones main focus is on light and how it effects propagation.

As you can see, good consistent light makes a massive difference for your cuttings when it comes to healthy roots and new growth!

Go To Gardening Stuff ( Amazon Affiliate Links )

Lights_________________

200 True Watts
For High Yield Fruiting and Vegetable Plants

40 True Watts
Houseplants/leafy greens ( great for shelves )

36 True Watts
Works great in light fixtures

Random Necessities_______________________________________________

Materials________________________________________________________

Fungus Gnat Removal (leverages a bacteria that kills only fungus gnats and mosquitos)

[cubby]

What was a small hobby has turned into absolute obsession. I really don’t have the time to stress about these, daily. It really is like having a child.

[sisterslothington]

Adding a little fresh water every few days and adding that oxygen helps for water propagation too. Man I've killed a lot of water propagations but that has been a saving grace for me.

[weareorigin]

Short version: don't root anything in low light. Single-leaf ZZ took months to form a bulb, with a high root rot rate among the single leaves. One of my snake plant took 8 months to grow a single root due to low light.

[kittypryde]

I just noticed that you dont miss when it comes to liking and leaving a reply on all the comments on your videos. Thank you for your videos and for appreciating your viewers!! Hope you get more subscribers!

[Miorn]

This is exactly what I always wanted to do but was always too lazy! Thank you, more videos like this would be great!

[conansredbowtie]

My mom has been failing miserably with propagating her pothos and she doesn't know why. I think I'm gonna get her a grow light. Thanks for the Christmas gift idea!

[ifsdabduaub]

Your production quality, photography, dedication, and patience are all sublime. I hope you get to millions of subscribers.

[HerebutNot]

Love this. Totally agree—and think this largely applies to all stages of aroid growth, not just cuttings. Light is key for good growth 👌🏻

[thewittyusername]

Honestly water propagation is by far the worst method for pothos. I've probably propagated over a hundred cuttings of my marble queen pothos by this point and I've never had a cutting abort in soil. They also grow much more vigorously much earlier compared to water. Plus you don't have to deal with transplant shock; they grow different kinds of roots in water and the plant can starve to death before it has a chance to adapt.

This has proven true in my experiments with most philodendrons, maranta, cane begonia, and ceropegia woodii. The only time soil prop didn't work was with a raphidaphora tetrasperma I was sold with no roots. After a few weeks no growth, but I'm gonna try your moss technique and see how that goes.

I know it looks cool to see the root growth but the plants do sooo much better and so much faster in soil to the point that it's my default for everything now.

[robertbrawley]

The most eye opening point of your numerious videos is that light is good for root propagation I haven't considered that in my attempts and will definitely start implementing that in my own attempts..
Thanks so much

[gwendolynmoyer-wilkes]

Thanks for this. I love and tech about propagating. I have filled my classroom and home with plants. This is an excellent example of how the scientific process can be performed in everyday life to help understand the world around us. Way to be awesome and helpful!

[christinebeames]

You are the teacher we have been waiting for,
No waffle
No Acting cute
Just really good info,

[oliviasheets]

you should do an experiment with a dark colored vase vs the clear, and an espically warm area like above the fridge vs a normal area! Those are other things i've heard that effect the root growth but I haven't seen any experiments about it just people saying to do it.

[johnbernetmega]

A good video, I tried rooting cuttings of Thai basil but failed many times until I came to this video. I tried putting my Thai basil cutting in water to a brighter spot, and it works. Thanks a lot for your video

[splashyreacts]

This video is really helpful. I have just put my cuttings under my grow light so they get strong roots.

[ilap]

Thank you so much for this video! I am currently propagating pothos on an east facing window and the roots are sprouting pretty slowly so this information really helps! I also wanted to mention that some people think a dark environment is better for the roots to grow (I have never really believed that myself) and this experiment proves that to be wrong.

[zainabmousa]

Mine just died and I couldn’t find a way to revive it! Now at least I know how to avoid it in future.

[hartfordboothe]

Very well done, it's a great comparison. Thank you for the time and effort. FWIW: near the end, that mister/sprayer you're using looks like a Flairosol unit. Febreze used to be sold as Febreze One in a Flairosol sprayer (branded clearly on the unit when the sprayer was removed from the bottle, not a knock-off). I was buying them for fireworks (light misting of black powder compositions) around 3 months before you posted this video (so near the beginning of Spring 2020). I've not been able to find them now that I'm into growing stuff, but I still have those from 2+ years ago. They're awesome. Just a helpful tip for anyone looking for a super-fine misting sprayer. Flairosol sprayers can be purchased still...just can't find the Febreze product with the sprayer (the Febreze product was cheaper to buy with the sprayer than the empty sprayers).

[jeffreygamble]

I was debating on putting my cuttings in soil or not. Once quarantine hit they just kinda stayed in water... 😅 but now they're in soil and are doing great. I've never had any issues with pothos in water. It's my favorite method

[tinybird]

I had the same feeling that light helps root plants and that's weird because many sites I've gone through say things like "keep cuttings in a cool low light place" I've lost a lot of snake plant cuttings this way. I put a couple in a sunny spot because it was the only spot left and they got roots so much sooner!