If you’re a gardener who loves Watermelon Peperomia as much as we do, then there’s no doubt that you want to learn how to propagate this wonderful plant. Then, whether you keep it in your garden or your balcony, you can always have plenty of Watermelon Peperomias that you can give away for free or sell.
To propagate a Watermelon Peperomia, follow these steps:
- Make stem cuttings from an existing peperomia plant.
- Dip the stem cuttings in a vase filled with warm water
- Keep it under indirect bright light and change the water once a week
- Repot your cuttings to a pot with soil once they have 3-inch long roots
Alternatively, you make also make leaf cuttings, place them in a pot with soil and water the soil once it dries out.
Propagating a Watermelon Peperomia is not rocket science, but it takes some careful attention to the growing requirements for ensuring a healthy offspring you can showcase.
And even if you don’t have any Watermelon Peperomias yet, the information in this article will be helpful for those of us with more than one because it offers two different ways to propagate watermelon peperomia plants.
Read on and find out all about these techniques.
Materials
In the first place, you will need to make sure that you have all the tools you need to propagate Watermelon Peperomia successfully. Here’s the list:
Shears or a sharp knife for rooting cuttings: Make sure that you sanitize them properly as you don’t want to transfer any diseases from one watermelon peperomia to another or leave any bad bacteria in the soil.
A vase of water: ideally, it should be at room temperature. You should always avoid putting the cuttings in very hot water or water that is too cold. The main reason for this is to prevent the roots from shocking, which might prove harmful to the plant.
Mild rooting hormone solution. Using it is optional, but it can help root watermelon peperomia cuttings faster and improve water retention.
A Watermelon Peperomia plant with green leaves or cuttings: you can use leaf or petiole (the stalk that attaches the leaf to the stem) cuttings.
A pot with soil (optional) in case you want to plant the leaf cuttings and don’t root them in water. Regular potting soil or compost should be fine for Watermelon Peperomias. You can use a mixture of perlite and the soil-based growing medium to help water uptake in this type of plant.
Watermelon Peperomia Propagation in Water
So, the first step is to analyze your plant in detail. When it comes to deciding which leaves or stalks to cut for rooting water, some gardeners prefer to use old limbs from the plant.
The main reason for this is that Watermelon Peperomia plants that are not blooming have higher levels of water-like sap on their leaves. Therefore, you will have a better chance of success if you make water cuttings from older water shoots instead of young ones.
Go ahead and cut off a leaf stalk from your plant using the shears or knife. Make the cut clean and at least one to two inches of length left in the stalk. Immediately place the cutting in the vase of water.
Do not let the leave remain floating or touching the water for a prolonged period. Ideally, it should be held as you see below.
Once the leaf stalks are placed properly in the glass of water, you can use a mild rooting hormone liquid to increase your chances of success, but this is optional.
Also, we recommend changing the water in the vase every week. This will prevent any harmful bacteria or pathogens that might be present in older water from hurting your watermelon peperomia’s cuttings.
After a couple of weeks, you will see that roots start coming out of the base of the stalk in the water, as you see in the picture below.
Please note that the roots are very delicate and thin at this stage, so be careful when changing the water in the vase so you don’t damage them.
After the cuttings have developed healthy roots of about three inches long, you can remove them from the water and plant them in a pot with soil. Make sure that you water them gently and the leaves remain dry. Water accumulation on leaves can cause your baby Watermelon Peperomia plants to rot.
After a week has passed and you noticed that the cuttings are adapting well to their new environment, feel free to follow the basic caring guidelines described below to grow a healthy Watermelon Peperomia.
Watermelon Peperomia Propagation in Soil
To propagate watermelon peperomias in soil, the steps required are very similar to what we described above. The main difference lies in placing the stalk or leaf cuttings directly in a pot with moist soil. Therefore, this method will not require the water vase, rooting hormone, and water change step.
When making the leaf-cutting, some gardeners prefer to cut a leaf in half above the petiole, so it’s easier to place it in the soil. This also helps to keep it firm and upright while it starts rooting.
It is very important that when watering the cuttings placed in the soil, you ensure that water does not accumulate on the leaves, as rotting could cause your precious cuttings to die.
After three to five weeks, you will start noticing how small baby plants start sprouting at the base of the leaf or in the petiole.
If you would like to give them some extra care by increasing their humidity levels and accelerating their growth, you can place a plastic bag or cover over the pot, just make sure to leave some space at the top open, so it can breathe.
The only caveat here is that you should check the soil in more detail as the plastic can get fogged and it’s hard to tell at the distance if the soil is moist or not.
After another five weeks, your baby Watermelon Peperomias should be big strong enough to stand a repotting if you would like to give them more room to grow or a bigger pot so they can keep on blooming.
Which Propogation Method is Better for Watermelon Peperomias?
The water propagation method tends to be better because it increases your plant’s chances of survival. This is because the water facilitates water flow in the stalks and keeps them hydrated while indirectly speeding up the rooting process.
Watermelon Peperomia Caring Basics
Caring for your baby plant is not much different from caring for the adult watermelon peperomia plant. The main caring tasks can be broken down into the following:
Light Care
Always keep your Watermelon Peperomia plants under indirect but bright light. Their leaves will scorch if you overexpose them to direct sunlight. So ideally, keep it next to a window or on a balcony where it can get some sunlight, but not too much.
Water Care
As mentioned before, Watermelon Peperomias will thrive if their soil is moist but not soggy, especially during its propagation period. So make sure to water them only when you notice that their soil is dry. Also, make sure to check that water excess drains away from the bottom of the pot to prevent root rotting.
Temperature and Humidity Care
Keep your Watermelon Peperomias between 65 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit (18-25 degrees Celsius).
Peperomias are jungle plants and love high humidity levels like other tropical jungle trees. Make sure to mist your Watermelon Peperomia’s leaves every couple of days to ensure that its jungle home environment is mimicked.
Pest Prevention
Peperomias are not prone to many pests, but if you see ants crawling around on your plant’s leaves, it may be an indication that your plant is infested with mealybugs. To make sure it doesn’t get worse, give the leaves a good rubbing while misting them regularly with soapy water.
We hope this article has helped you learn more on how to propagate watermelon peperomias and why we recommend water propagation over soil methods. Keep in mind that you can use the methods described in this guide to propagate other similar species like the Peperomia Frost or Peperomia Polybotrya.
Feel free to share the knowledge with your gardener buddies. Also, if you have questions or comments, feel free to submit them in the comment section below.
