Roots should start to develop within a month, if you want to you can now position the crown of thorns cutting where it will receive direct sunlight or somewhere outside.
The crown of thorns can be propagated and grown in two different ways:
- Growing from seed, or
- Propagation from a cutting placed in either potting medium or water.
Growing from a cutting is the easier method of the two and the method to do that will be explained below.
Safety
Before I explain how to propagate these plants, here is some safety information for you.
- The white sap from the crown of thorns plant can be toxic to some people, so to be safe if best that you wear gloves to protect your hands and glasses to protect your eyes.
- Just from its name, you can tell this plant is covered in thorns. This is another good reason that you should wear gloves when handling this plant.
With the safety stuff taken care of, lets get into how to propagate a crown of thorns.
Steps On Propagating Crown Of Thorns From Cutting
Crown of Thorns Propagation from a cutting
Time to grow roots 28 days
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The Cutting
Ideally, your cutting will be new growth from a crown of thorns plant. New growth will more likely propagate successfully.
New-growth can be identified by the following characteristics:
(1) Stems/branches will be a light to dark green colour.
(2) New growth branches are skinnier than old growth.Old-growth can be identified by the following characteristics:
(1) Stems/branches will be a dark black or brown colour.
(2) Old-growth branches are thicker than new growth.The ideal cutting length should be between 4 to 6 inches. You can use either a pair of secateurs or a utility knife to get your cutting.
And also, don’t forget to wear safety gloves to prevent any toxic white sap from irritating your skin. Safety glasses will also remove the risk of the sap flicking into your eye.
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Prepare The Cutting
The cutting will need to sit between 3 to 7 days before you plant it. This is so the end of the cutting can dry up and callus over. If you don’t do this the chances of the cutting rotting are higher.
Place the cutting on a tray lined with a paper towel, then position the tray out of direct sunlight, but somewhere it will get indirect sunlight for up to 6 hours a day.
The cutting will only need 3-4 leaves left on it, you can pull off any excess leaves anytime between now and when you plan on potting it. Pulling the leaves off will release more white toxic sap, so wear gloves when doing this.
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Pot & Potting Medium
The crown of thorns prefers a cactus/succulent potting medium mix. This type of potting mix is more porous than regular potting mix so it won’t stay wet longer than it likes.
You can use any type of pot you have on hand as long as it has drainage holes in the bottom. I used just a regular 100mm black grow pot which was a good size.
Fill up the pot with the succulent/cactus potting mix and gently compress down, and fill again to the top of the pot.
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Plant The Cutting
Use your finger or a stick and make a hole in the potting mix about 1 to 1.5 inches deep.
Place the crown of thorns cutting to the holes and press the soil around the cutting so it is sitting firmly in the pot.
I don’t use propagation power when propagating crown of thorns, I’m not sure if it would work or have any benefit on this plant.
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Watering The Cutting
Water the cutting so all of the potting medium will get wet and let all excess water flow out of the pot.
The crown of thorns plant cutting will only need to be watered once a week. Before each water, check the top inch or so of soil for moisture, and only water if the top inch of the potting soil is dry.
Supply:
- Cactus potting mix
- Water
Tools:
- Secateurs or sharp knife
- Plastic grow pot
- Safety gloves
- Safety glasses (optional)
Cutting Progress After 8 Weeks
I recorded a video of my crown of thorn cutting growth after 8 weeks, watch it below.
Below is a photo of my crown of thorns after 8 weeks after the initial cutting.
With this root growth, it will be able to support itself now if moved outside into the full sun.
Final Thoughts
The crown of thorns plant is a very easy plant to propagate provided you have the right conditions. I hope my guide has been useful to you and if you want to check on my video on YouTube on how to propagate the crown of thorns plant.
FAQs
Can you propagate crown of thorns in water?
No, you cannot propagate a crown of thorns cutting in water. Roots will not develop and there is a chance that the cutting will rot. Watch my video about this below, my cutting didn’t grow roots after 3 weeks sitting in water.
Can you grow a crown of thorns from seed?
The crown of thorns does produce seeds, but it is notoriously difficult to plant and the timeframe is tight from when it is produced until when it can be planted. Propagating this plant by using cuttings is a much easier method.