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I'm pretty sure someone has answered this question for me before, but I can't find my old thread. Anyway, I have an aglaonema that is very old and tall that I would like to take cuttings from in the spring. I had originally thought it was a dumb cane, and knew I could take cuttings from it and from what I understood the original plant would also sprout new growth after I cut the top off for cuttings. Now that I know its an aglaonema, I wasn't sure if the original "mother" plant would sprout new leaves after cutting off the top, or if I would have to throw it away. Any help is appreciated, and I promise I'll remember this time! I have searched over and over to find out if the mother plant will have new growth, but I can only find information about getting the stem/cane cuttings to sprout...no mention of what happens with what is left of the original plant. Thanks again!
Hi Krisie. I happen to know quite a bit about this. First, if the mother plant has gotten leggy and has long stems, take 4 inch pieces off the stems rather than big long pieces. In fact, if the leggy stem is 12" or longer, you can cut several 4 inch pieces from that and root each one (even without leaves.) And, yes, the mother plant, or the remaining old stems will sprout at least one new head of leaves. Use clean potting soil to root the cuttings, and you can let them harden off a little (24 hours will be fine) before sticking them in the dirt, but that is not necessary. Aglaonemas are tough and easy to root, so hopefully you shouldn't have too much trouble. Good luck, F4F.
Thanks so much for the response! It is quite leggy, I'm guess its about 18-24 inches tall...possibly a little more. I've been itching to take cuttings since spring is getting closer. Oh, and do you recommend putting them vertically in the soil or half-buried horizontally? I took a small cutting last year and did one horizontally. It never did anything, so I put it vertically and it eventually got a little leaf bud. Also, this winter it lost some leaves, so now each stalk only has two leaves on it. Would that be enough leaves for a tip cutting? They're quite large, I'd say 6-8 inches long and the stem the leaves are on is quite long too. Are they perhaps too big to take a tip cutting with? I'll try to post an older pic I have of it...And, if there is a way of stimulating more leaf growth, I'd like to know. I fertilize it during the growing season, and it did well in the summer, but still didn't have a lot of leaves. I think at most each stalk only had 5-6 leaves at a time. Is this just because its so tall? Ok, I'll stop asking so many questions and go find my pic of it to post! Thanks again for the help!
That looks like Aglaonema "BJ Freeman" I would make 2 cuttings out of each stalk. 5 to 6 leaves per stalk is excellent for that variety- it is a bigger leaf than most other Ags. Definitely stick the cuttings vertically, and if you want to have a beefier plant overall, stick them in that same pot and increase the amount of total stems that you have. What do you mean by tip cutting? I would just take 3 to 4 inches of stalk not counting the leaves. Have fun!
When I say tip cutting I mean the end of the plant with the leaves on it. Do I keep the leaves on the end or cut them off? BJ Freeman? I will google it, I have been searching for the exact type it is, I thought it was some sort of "silver queen" or "silver queen". It will be nice to know for sure what it is! Thanks!
Ok, sounds good! I'm excited now! And, I just looked up the BJ freeman, and I think you're right! I thought I had 'Cory' or one of the Silver king/queens, but BJ Freeman looks just like mine! Thanks so much!!
