How to grow a new Split-leaf Philodendron from cuttings (with pictures)
This one is huge – I can’t help but to want my own!
I got bored. I decided to go ahead and start up another split-leaf philodendron from the one that’s growing so well at the restaurant that I work in. I kind of regret not taking photos of the actual cutting process, but I’ll walk you through the process to the best of my ability. Here we go.
Two cuttings from the delicious monster growing in the restaurant
I took these two cuttings from the plant you see above — The picture is actually from about two months ago, taken right before I took three cuttings to make the other one that I have to the right of my couch already. I put the cuttings in some water to keep them from drying out – I was dragging ass and it took me a few minutes to get to my apartment. Each one of the cuttings branches off into two stalks, each with their own leaf, which is why it looks more like four.
The root looks like a nubby little thorn. Cut directly below.
The stalks should be cut directly below the root to get growth going as efficiently as possible. If you look closely at this picture, you can see the root right at the bottom. It looks like a little dull thorn. I used a decent pair of scissors to get this task accomplished. I did not, however, use a decent camera for this picture. You can see it in the direct foreground of the upturned plastic cup, though. I cut it at a diagonal, for no specific purpose other than I just feel that it’s the right thing to do. Putting them in water was another thing that wasn’t truly necessary, but I’m just being cautious. I don’t want to fuck this all up – even though there is very little effort involved in this project, there should be a lot of care taken!
Of course you need a pot. This one is asstastic. Yes. Asstastic
I got out a pot big enough to support the massive root system these plants are known to have. I’m actually using the same pot that housed the dracaena massangeana (corn plant). I really like this one because it’s pretty ornate, and it happens to have a drainage dish attached to it. I did clean it out thoroughly awhile ago, and used it to sit under the repotted corn plant so it didn’t stain my carpet… but that was hella tacky, and a waste of a perfectly good pot. Wasting pot is horrible.
I actually ended up filling the pot more, then digging this little hole.
I filled the pot about 4/5 of the way up with the Miracle Gro® potting mix that I have sitting around for purposes like these, and I patted it down a bit so everything wouldn’t sink and displace once I watered it in the last step. I dug out a little hole in the middle of the pot, just big enough to stick both cuttings in. They’re only supposed to be stuck about an inch or two into the soil, but they still have to be sturdy – the stalks grow in “V” shape, so this causes a little instability when planting. I was going to use a shoestring to tie them together, but they actually look like they’re going to be fine the way they are!
Finished project. They aren’t too wild looking from the start. We’ll see where this goes…
Once you have the cuttings positioned exactly as you want them, hold them into place and grab a few fist fulls of the potting mix and top off the pot. You’ll want to pat the mix down, especially in the area of the stalks, to make sure they’re secure. Once you’ve done that, give the pot a light shake to make sure the cuttings don’t move around. You definitely want this wild fucker to be stable from the start!
Me and my new beauty. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
Congratulations! You now have a new monster for your place of residence! These things apparently will bear fruit under the right conditions, although I must say – I really don’t care. I’ve never even seen the fruit produced from one of these, and if it happens, it does… if not, oh well – I have a beautiful addition to my indoor green scene. One of the leaves looks like it wants to “grow” a hole in one of the leaves, but to be completely honest, it looks more like leaf burn… Or abuse from one of the restaurant’s customers. I actually witnessed one of those fools pouring what looked like iced tea into one of the ficus pots… Some people.
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Gardening indoors - because you can 
I’ve rooted these before too and they usually take really well. Will be interested to see how it grows!
hopefully all creepy-like! I just wish I had something for it to climb!
Nice propagation technique! I’ve been wanting to try this but could never find a cutting of this plant. I’m still looking. Great directions too.
Great little tutorial, I have successfully cut and regrown numerous other philodendrons, but all were smaller-stalked, viney varieties and I wasn’t sure how to do this one exactly. Thank you, very helpful- and there are a few people who will be very glad I know how to do this now, since I have a huge one that will make some very nice cuttings for friends:) Your story of a patron pouring iced tea into a ficus brought back a memory of a summer job I had caring for plants at offices around my town. People would put the craziest things in pots, then get angry with me because their plants died. I had to explain to a number of office managers that plants should NOT consume the following: coffee, pencil shavings, used tape, skittles, donut leftovers, yesterday’s 32oz diet coke, etc- and that once an employee added these ingredients to my carefully prepared potting and drainage mix, my company was no longer responsible for the plant’s life or death, and that the office in question would also be charged full greenhouse retail for the sad benefactor of this idiocy. Many were quite shocked, mostly at the fact they would be charged, but one guy actually voiced surprise that coffee was not good for plants. He said his mother always gave her plants coffee. I told him that was a nice try but his company would still be charged:)