Can You Root A Dracaena In Water? (Yes, If Only)

Most people want to know if they can root dracaena in water?

I ask the same question when me and my wife move to our new house in Ohio. The prompt for research came when we needed an indoor plant that grew inside a transparent container filled with water only.

Likewise, plants that grow in water with low maintenance. Then I discovered the dracaena plant. Let me share my findings with you on how to root dracaena in water.

You can easily root a dracaena marginata in water especially during propagation. The canes (also known as the stems) can reach and twist towards the light source when growing. Rooting Dracaena in water provides essential hydroponics essentials, which the plant requires to bloom.

A research carried out by Radek Jupa and Roman Plichta from Pubmed of National Library of Medicine, they found that efficient water management is an essential way to speed up dracaena growth.

Yes! You can root dracaena in clean water with fertilizer and change the water once a week. Expose the plant to the right growing environment when using water to root dracaena.

One of the easiest ways to root a dracaena is water. Using water to root dracaena helps to speed up the growth rate. Dracaena is an ornamental and harsh weather resistant plant that you can grow both indoors and outdoors.

Dranaeca are low maintenance plants that’ll not break your account when you cultivate them both indoors or outdoors.

Here is how to root dracaena in water.

Use Knife Or Pruner To Cut Dracaena From Node

It’s important that you know why you use a pruner or knife to cut the dracaena stem. Because if you don’t you’ll cut it with your hand and hinder or delay its growth.

Pruner will cut the stem in such a way that’ll make it develop roots easily.

Don’t pluck dracaena stem with hands rather use knife or pruner to cut. Pruner will not damage the cell that’ll make it grow roots.

Rooting dracaena in water is the short method to grow healthy dracaena both indoor or outdoor.

However, dracaena that’s cut with hands will spend more time to develop roots than the one cut with a pruner or knife.

The way you cut dracaena is what will determine its growth rate. Cutting affects dracaena roots sprout especially when using water to root it. A Prune or knife will help you to avoid such problems.

Scissor or knife will not destroy the base when growing it in water. The cuttings are important if you want to grow healthy dracaena.

Cut The Dracaena Stem ¼ Inch Below The Node

The most important part of rooting dracaena in water is the cuttings. Knowing the exact place to cut and how to cut matters a lot.

The first time I tried root dracaena in water there was a bit of delay in the growing process. The delay was as a result of knowing where to cut and how to cut the stem.

When you cut the dracaena stem at the exact node, it will take more time for the plant to root irrespective of where you cultivate it.

Cuttings from just below the node will make dracaena to root easily and faster. If you want your dracaena to grow root faster, you need to cut it just below the node.

When you cut at the exact node, the plant will still root but take more time than when you cut ¼ below the node.

The exact node is a strong stem that takes an extra few days to grow root compared to when you cut below. The stem below is a bit soft to grow roots faster than when you cut at the exact node, therefore you need to cut below.

Remove 2 – 3 Most Bottom Leaves and Tendrils From The Stem

Some people make the mistake of not removing the most bottom leaves before sticking the plant inside water.

When rooting dracaena in water, you need to remove at least 2 leaves. The leaves will prevent the plant from developing roots easily.

Also, affects the health conditions of the plants. Remove at least 2 most bottom leaves from the stem.

The essence of removing most bottom leaves is to enable the stem to absorb water and nutrients easily without any disturbance.

When you dip a stem with leaves inside water, the leaves will affect the growth rate of the plants and make the stem rot.

But when you grow dracaena without leaves the stem will germinate easily and grow healthy.

Air Dry Dracaena Stem Cuttings For 2 – 3 Days To heal The Cuttings Wound

Air drying dracaena stem cuttings will help to heal the wound.

Planting dracaena stem without healing the wound will lead to stem rot. Once the stem touches water without proper air dry, it will cause the stem to rot.

Air drying is very important because it helps to get rid of chemical substances that’ll cause stem rot when it comes in contact with water.

The weather conditions of your area most times determine the number of days you’ll air dry dracaena.

However, you shouldn’t air dry a cut dracaena stem for more than 3 days. Hence, the stem will not be able to germinate.

At the base of the dracaena stem when you cut it, it has a chemical substance that comes out from the stem, you need to dry it.

Air drying of a cuttings dracaena stem reduces the risk of stem rot and also makes the plant grow healthy.

Air drying helps to speed up the growth rate. The roots are able to sprout out easily and develop as soon as the stem touches water.

Air drying of dracaena stem is as important as the water and fertilizer are important to the development.

Dracaena are in a better position to grow and germinate when you air dry it for days. Don’t plant fresh cut dracaena in water without not air drying the root.

Get 4 – 10 Diameter Container And Pour Room Temperature Water To Cover The Node

The size of the container is also very important. Don’t use a shallow container that’s not deep enough to contain water before dipping the dracaena stem.

Container that is 4 or 10 diameters deep has enough space to contain water that the dracaena node will enter.

The water will be enough to cover the node. Until water covers the node, it will not develop roots nor will it be healthy.

Let the container’s top surface have a shape so that you can hang your dracaena step when you dip it inside water.

When you dip dracaena stem inside water, don’t let much of the stem enter water. The part of the stem that doesn’t have leaves should be inside water.

Dipping the stem with leaves inside water will affect the growth rate and also cause stem rot. Even though you air dry dracaena stem, don’t dip the part with leaves inside water.

Use containers that allow submergence of only a few inches of the lower end of the cutting stem to grow dracaena plants both indoor and outdoor.

Use Rainwater Or Distilled Water to Root Dracaena

Rainwater or distilled water has the necessary components that allow dracaena to grow both indoor and outdoor.

Some people make the mistake of using tap water to grow dracaena, unknown to them that tap water lacks the right components for rooting dracaena.

Tap water contains a lot of salt and mineral substances that delays or hinder dracaena from absorbing the necessary nutrients from the water.

If you want to grow healthy and faster dracaena, don’t use tap water. Tap water doesn’t offer the right medium to grow dracaena.

When rooting dracaena in water you need to be careful about the type of water you use. When it comes to soil, you can use any clean water.

Because the soil acts as a filter that filters the water from the soil. Soil filters off the salt and mineral substances that delay or affect the growth rate.

But when dracaena is cultivated in water it’s directly exposed to mineral substance and salt without any filtration process that can prevent the plant from developing roots.

Rainwater or distilled water is a good medium to root dracaena compared to tap water and any other water that contains salt, acid, and mineral substances.

Change The Water Every Week To Prevent Algae And Mold Growth

Dracaena that is rooted in water doesn’t need much maintenance compared to when grown on the soil.

Water eliminates most of the disease that affects dracaena when grown on soil. Most importantly, dracaena roots in water are most indoor or outdoor at the balcony.

Such an environment prevents dracaena from contracting diseases.

However, the only maintenance dracaena root in water needs is the regular changing of the water.

When the water stays long it will grow algae and mold that affect the health conditions of the plants.

Preferably change the water every 4 days especially when you add fertilizer into it. Regular changes of the water will prevent any external growth like algae or mold.

Also constantly supplying fresh water will make dracaena grow healthy and remain greenish.

Water is the most conducive environment that dracaena plants need. Therefore you should ensure you supply fresh water on a regular basis.

Leaving the water for too long will hinder or delay the rooting process of the dracaena plant and make it not germinate.

Dracaena In Water Develop Roots Within 60 Days

If you use clean rainwater or distilled water with fertilizer and expose it to the right environment, your dracaena can develop roots between 30 – 60 days.

How fast the roots are able to develop will depend on how much care you offer the plant.

Once the plant lacks necessary care, it will definitely delay or hinder the roots’ developments.

What hinders dracaena plant roots’ development most time is the nature of water you supply. Changing the water on a regular basis helps the plant to grow roots faster.

Why Rooting A Dracaena In Water?

One of the most benefits of cultivating dracaena in water is that it helps to prevent disease and pest infection that damage dracaena since there is no soil to host them.

Rooting dracaena in water helps to lower maintenance requirements. The only maintenance you need to provide dracaena is interval changing of the water.

The clean water (rainwater or distilled water) inside a transparent container will enable you to monitor the root development. You can easily see any root deformation and quickly provide solution.

Rooting a dracaena in water enables you to decorate your indoor according to the way you want it to be.

Cultivating dracaena in water enables you to control its foliage density and the growth rate.