Fittonia Cutting Propagation Methods and Sowing Time

Fittonia is surely familiar to many people, and it is currently extremely popular on the market. Because of its high ornamental value, many people like to buy it. Precisely because of this, many people are now growing it too. Before planting, surely what everyone cares about most is its growing techniques and timing!

Fittonia Cutting Propagation Methods

1. The best time for cuttings is spring and autumn. First, choose a robust mother plant; not just any one will do. The fittonia you pick should ideally have branches that spread out flat and creep along the ground. Then select branches with terminal buds, about 5 cm long, with 3 to 5 stem nodes. Remove the leaves from the stem section that will be inserted into the soil, or cut off half of each leaf, to reduce nutrient consumption.

2. Insert the prepared branches into the flower pot as cuttings. A pot of about 10 cm needs 8 to 10 cuttings, then carry out small-pot cultivation. After cutting, place it in a cool, ventilated spot and give it appropriate light; it can take root in 2 to 3 weeks. When the leaves gradually revive and grow small tender leaves, apply a small amount of slow-release fertilizer and carry out appropriate pruning and pinching. You should know that sufficient sunlight and nutrients can make the young cuttings grow quickly.

3. Fittonia needs sufficient sunlight to grow; otherwise, the stems and leaves easily become leggy and lose their ornamental value. Once fittonia becomes leggy, it is very hard to restore. In addition, fittonia is afraid of cold, and when the temperature is too low, leaf drop easily occurs. The cuttings you worked so hard to take in spring and autumn should not be left to struggle blindly in winter.

When to Sow Fittonia

Fittonia can be sown all year round under suitable temperature conditions, and sowing is most effective from May to September when the temperature is slightly higher.

How to Grow Fittonia

1. When choosing a flower pot for growing fittonia, we should consciously choose a relatively shallow pot, and it is best to line the bottom of the pot with a waterproof layer, so that its drainage performance is better. After preparing the flower pot, we need to prepare the soil.

2. The soil can be mixed yourself; it needs good drainage and sufficient fertility. To achieve this effect, we generally mix peat soil, leaf mold and river sand together.

3. After preparing these, you can pot up the fittonia cuttings. When transplanting, be careful not to damage the roots of the fittonia. Contact with fertilizer can easily burn the roots, so when transplanting fittonia, be sure to avoid fertilizer.

4. After planting the fittonia into the soil, water it immediately, and water the soil thoroughly, so that the roots of the newly transplanted fittonia blend with the new soil; after that, normal care can be carried out.

Management After Planting Fittonia

1. Light: Fittonia likes medium-intensity light and avoids direct sunlight, but it also has fairly strong shade tolerance. Indoors, it is best placed by a bright window.

2. Watering: You must be careful when watering fittonia. If the potting soil is allowed to dry out completely, the leaves will curl up and fall off; if it is too wet, the stems easily rot.

3. Fertilizing: For vigorously growing fittonia plants, apply a nitrogen-based compound fertilizer at half the normal concentration once every half month.

4. Temperature: Fittonia likes warmth, and the suitable growing temperature is 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. Fittonia has poor cold resistance; when the temperature is below 12 degrees Celsius, the leaves will suffer cold damage, and at about 8 degrees Celsius the plant may die.

5. Diseases: Common diseases of fittonia include leaf rot and root rot. For leaf rot, spray 25% carbendazim wettable powder at 1000 times dilution for control; for root rot, soak the roots in streptomycin at 1000 times dilution to sterilize them.

6. Pests: The pests of fittonia include scale insects, red spider mites and snails. For scale insects and red spider mites, spray 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution to kill them; snails can be caught by hand or lured and killed with methaldehyde.

The planting time for fittonia can be determined according to the local temperature. When planting, first do the soil mixing work well, then choose an appropriate time to plant. If you want it to grow better, you can choose the cutting method to propagate it, and after that just strengthen management.