Pilea Love : How to propagate your Pilea

March 21, 2017

//Photography by Katerina Dima

I am so happy to see my little pileas grow. I propagated them from the only pilea peperomioides I have and since it was my first time I really did not know what to expect. It turns out it was quite easy : with a sharp knife cut the new pileas that naturally grow around the plant, then plant them in a new pot (I found a useful video here). Water when the dirt dries and keep in a sunny window. After a while the pilea baby will start to grow once its new roots take in the new soil. It took about two (maybe even a little more) months before the two that I propagated started to show any growth though. There are many techniques as far as I read, one suggests putting the new pilea in water until it grows roots, another that states the pot must have a drainage hole, and another that suggests using a pot without it. I used pots with and without drainage holes and the baby pileas show the same growth, in fact the pilea without the drain takes longer for its soil to dry so it needs less watering thus making it easier to maintain.