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Propagating A Dracaena Is So Easy To Do

ByNell Foster Published on

I almost titled this short post “I Accidentally Propagated My Dracaena” because that’s exactly what happened. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, propagating a Dracaena is oh so easy. If you do it by pruning the top off the plant and letting new growth appear or by stem cuttings in water, it propagates with little or no efforts from you at all.

I had gotten a little Dracaena “Lemon Lime” in a 4” pot when I lived up in San Francisco.  I snatched it up as soon as it was introduced to the trade because fell in love with the chartreuse foliage.

Long story short, this Dracaena had gotten very leggy over the years and was much more stem that foliage.  I wanted it to remain on the smaller side so a  good ole snip snip was in order.

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A couple of months later viola, roots started to appear.  As you can see, the roots emerged 3-4” up on the stem.

I meant to propagate the top so I could give it to a friend. There was about 8” of stem in the middle I cut off and composed. I could have propagated that too but chose not to.

I stuck the pot with the roots and about 6” of the remaining stem (which you can see in the video below) in my utility room behind a large bag of cat food.  I didn’t water it because I meant to dump the soil in the garden and compose the rest.  I forgot about it until I went to open that bag 2 months later for my kitties to feast on one night.

Lo and behold, new growth was appearing despite my ignoring it.

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The nodes are sprouting off the “mother” stem that remains in the pot. You can see 2 & there’s one appearing on the backside.

So, this was an accidental propagation. Not only did I let the plant go dry for many weeks but the utility room was cool and on the darker side because it was Winter.

I figured if the plant wanted to live this badly, I’d go along with it.

If your Dracaena is getting leggy, then cut it back. It’s easy to do but it does take some time for the new growth and the roots to appear so be patient. Let me know how it goes!

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14 Comments

  1. I like very much u
    our site. One thing i want to ask you. Here in Quebec we dont sell string of pearls or creepimg jenny. There the ones I would like so much to have. Is it possible to get in touch with me be email to arrange how to mail me some Of course I will pay you the amount you ask me before sending to me. Please answer me. Thanks you very much. Monique in Quebec.

  2. Hi Monique – Thank you, glad you found our site. Would you like a plant (with the soil knocked off) or some cuttings? Nell

  3. Thanks for the info! I have a Dracena Song of India that I’ve had for probably over 5 years and the stem is quite long and leggy. I’m guessing the propagating methods are very similar and i’m eager to try it out. And great video too! I’m also from Quebec btw 🙂

  4. Thank you Catrine, & greetings to you in beautiful Quebec from California! Yes, they can easily be propagated in water or soil if the stem isn’t too big. Air layering works great on older plants. Happy gardening! Nell

  5. Hello, I believe I have a Lemon Surprise plant. I’m not exactly sure because I haven’t been able to find any pictures that look like my plant and the Lemon Surprise looks the closest to what I have. My plant is about 3 years old and it’s about 4ft. tall. I recently moved and my plants were left on the garage the first week we were here and we had a hard freeze during that time, so my plants leaves turned black and I trimmed them. Now I just have a stalk with a few leaves here and there but the top is okay. Note: my plant can’t stand up by itself. I have to put a stake in it to keep it from falling over. Anyways, I was wondering what exactly do I need to do to Propagate my plant? I love my plant and I want to save it if I can. Thank you-Jessica

  6. Hi Jessica – Dracaenas propagate very easily. You can cut off the top with about a foot of stem. Then, you can cut the stalk on the mother plant to whatever height you desire. A sprout or 2 should appear over time but maybe not until spring. You can plant the rooted top into the same pot. Nell

  7. Hi Nell – I’ve had a Dracaena for 45 years!!!!! My parents gave it to for our first house!! Alas, the original mother plant is no longer alive but the propagated plant is just fine. I’d like to know what the variety is that I have. It’s leaves are plain green. Also, the way I propagated it was by cutting the stem on an angle going upwards but not all the way through, bending it slightly and putting rooting powder and damp peat moss in the opening and wrapping it well with plastic. Are used a ruler to support the stem above and below the cut and waited a couple of months. When I took it off and cut all the way through there were plenty of roots in the peat moss. I then planted the upper part with the leaves and let the lower stem get new shirts when it was ready to. It has even flowered twice during the 45 years, something a florist told me they hardly ever do outside the jungle.

  8. Hi Kathy – You did the air layering method which I’m about to do on my ficus elastica.It works well for many plants. It sounds like you have a D. fragrans (not the massangeana) or a Janet Craig. Thanks for sharing, Nell

  9. I have a Draceana Pele or Michiko which is about to hit the ceiling. It is the draceana with thin green stalks. Can i prune the top,? It only has two stalks. I inherited it but it looks good just too tall.

  10. Yes you can Barbara. Be sure to make your cuts at an angle. Take the stalks down at least a foot below the ceiling because you want o give the new growth room to grow. Nell

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