My trusty old copy of Success With Houseplants (Reader's Digest) says Difenbachias may be airlayered or cut and put into a peat based soil. I don't think the water will root them.

Nancy

It's good to know the roots will come but I sure hope I don't have to wait years!

Diefs root great in potting mix. Adjusting water roots to potting mix works well if you're careful about how you water. In water, plants grow water roots. In soil, plants grow a different type of roots. I dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone (not really necesary but it speeds up the process), and stick it in well-draining potting mix. They'll be growing roots fairly quickly.

Diefs are beautiful plants but I rarely see ones which are well-grown. When grown in proper lighting and conditions, these are tall plants with large showy leaves. One of my favorite Aroids.

This cutting is the top 2.5 feet off a six foot plant. :-)

I checked today and I see one root emerging from the base of the cutting.

I root Diefs in water all the time. When I transfer them to soil, a few outer leaves die off, but then they come back like crazy.

Actually, one of the best ways is to simply chop the plant off, stick it in the dirt next to the old stem, and walk away.

Recently I chopped a fat dief stem into pieces about 3 inches long, stuck each one in the dirt after letting it harden off for a few days, and they are now growing. I sent one to sharon in KY today. Hope it arrives in good shape!

:)

My main plant had died off, so I rescued the root and stalk from the dirt and placed it into a container of water. This is then placed in a sunny window, mine is in the window of my laundry room. I have a sprout from the main stalk, and from the stalk previously cut off and a sprout coming underneath the water. If they are in water, please put them in a window and walk away. All of the suggestions previously viewed, except that they cannot root in water, are well stated. I have placed almost every flower I have in water for a time, and sure enough they will make roots.
Also if the stalk is stuck back into the pot as someone previously mentioned, it will take root under the soil as well as a new sprout will also come from the area where the stalk is cut or broke. Either way, you will now have two plants. As the dief grows, they become very top heavy, which will cause the stalk to lean to the side if not break entirely. If this happens, either prop it up with some ordinary sticks, or cut it about 6 inches over the top of the pot, and the stalk will pop out another bud. Also if your stalk is bare of leaves, simply cut the stalk around six inches from the top of the pot, then take the cut stalk and dice it into several pieces, stick the individual pieces into dirt about halfway, and behold you will now have several plants instead of one. The leaves do not come back, and they continue to drop off as the stalk goes up. Do not be afraid to cut the plant to make more, etc...........But I have not heard anyone say, so I will that the sap from the dief is poisonous, one drop on your tongue and it will swell up and cause you to die. This is a beautiful plant, but is poisonous. Please keep children and pets far away from it - or simply explain to children that it is poisonous and they will stay away like my daughter. Also noteworthy when the dief is watered, if you look closely at the tip of the leaf, the plant appears to be crying. Be careful of this liquid also, because it is part of the sap and will iritate the skin. When working with the dief, be careful and wash all utensils used with soap and water since they may contain the poisonous sap.................What do you think...FreddeB

I have had a dief for about 8 to 10 yrs. I just water it once a wk. sometimes once every 2 wks. It has grown to the ceiling 4 Xs, the leaves at the bottom (4 ft.) die off, I cut it and place in water, roots appear in 6 to 8 wks., place in soil and plants continue to grow VERY well. Reach ceiling again and I just repeat. This is a very low maintanance plant, it makes my house look great, everyone loves it and want a piece of it.

my dieffenbachia has gotten vey weak and cannot stand by it`s self .. wondering what to do with it ?? should I try rooting a slip of the plant and forget about the rest ?? any suggestions will be helpfull

I have rooted dieffenbachia many times in water, takes a bit of time but it works. I just found out by accident another way to do it. I had an dieffenbachia that was tipping over so I staked it. To protect the stem from the wood stakes I wrapped the stem in paper towels, not too tight. I noticed today when I unwrapped it to cut it down that there were numerous nodes, roots starting. It had been close to 2 yrs it was wrapped and the nodes had dried but I'm sure this is another way to root. I have put the cuttings with the dried nodes in water and will see if it does work.

Many years ago I had a diff that I cut the top off whenever it grew above 3 feet. I stuck the top in water until it rooted, then planted it beside the parent plant, which by then had sent up a new shoot. After many repetitions, I had a magnificent houseplant the won a blue ribbon at the Floyd County Fair in Rome, GA. I gave that plant away when I moved abroad for work, but now I have another straggly diff on my sun porch on Long Island. After reading these comments, I think I'll wait until spring before I cut it. It probably won't root very quickly in 50F temperatures.

When I do cut it, I think I'll try cutting it into 3 inch sections and putting outdoors in potting medium, except for the leafy top, which I will put in water. .

Dieffenbachia will root and grow well in water, if you don't want to leave it in water long term, repot it in soil soon after the roots start to develop. This will allow for an easier transition to soil.

When growing in nature, Dieffenbachia seguine (which is what yours probably is) snake along the ground with only the last couple of feet pointing up. The stem lays on the ground and is green, leafless and as firm as a garden hose so they will almost always flop over once they get somewhere around 4 to 6 feet tall. Sometimes roots and new stems will pop out of the nodes, sometimes they're just bare stems. They don't climb, they don't stand up like trees. You can easily tie them to a stake, you don't have to protect them from the wood, just make sure the pole is secured to the pot well because a big Dieffenbachia is gonna get very heavy.

I just put my first Dieffenbachia cane cutting into water a bit over a week ago, and it has 8 decent root nubs, plus a few more potentials. It could be doing this so quickly due to the lighting: it resides 2 feet below a 25 watt grow bulb, and the main plant has been growing like crazy as well: it has more than tripled in size in a little over 3 months, and I will probably need to cut another cane soon. I'd never had one of these plants before, and it seemed sensitive to too much or too little light, so the first couple of months were experimental.

What's the 25w bulb? If it's a standard 25w incandescent, that's not enough light for anything.

If its cfl or led, that could be sufficient.

Good question. It is a 'grow bulb', so it's not incandescent. I bought it at a plant store, because I was so frustrated with finding good lighting. I threw out the box, so I've now unscrewed the bulb to gain more information. It says it is flourescent, and it seems to be actually 26w not 25, if the print is correct on the bulb portion (the box and the cashier who took me to it said otherwise).

6400k. This is the colour spectrum and temperature rating, which makes it important for plants. They definitely respond better to certain frequencies.

It is working wonderfully, as I said. My Dieffenbachia is thriving like mad, and I did just pot that first cutting, as well as cut a new stalk. I suppose if the plant was larger to begin with, it would need more light. Mine started as a 5 inch baby, and, without the 2 stalks I just cut (which were quite a bit higher), the leftover bushy part now standing is 11.5 inches. Considering this poor baby not only had lighting problems due to my lack of experience, but also arrived with spider mites, plus had to be re-potted later due to a fungus problem (complete with fungus gnats), I am stunned with its recovery.

Just to clarify on my earlier post, the cut stalk in the water was 2 feet below this grow light. The top of the main plant currently is a foot below, and has nice, broad, healthy leaves. One stalk reached to around 5 inches below the same light. The other got too heavy, and was drooping over, so it ended up about 1.5 feet from the light source. Two of the seven leaves on the top stalk which was still straight seemed to be burning a touch, and the leaves were much smaller than the bent over one, but, otherwise it seemed happy.

I just rooted a few cuttings off of a plant my grandmother gave me. I put therm in water and they rooted a few weeks later. I plan on some going to my aquarium and others going to Coco to get bigger plants. I have this one that grows as a vine and propagate that one.

I had 4 Dieffenbachia plants (separate pots) that died... I live in WI (zone 5a..I think), had them all outside before winter, one night it froze outside without me realizing it, (these were in my garage, they spent all summer outside)... When I brought them in the next morning they were obviously cold, but then they started looking like this, first turning yellow then brown, then getting softer and finally mushy. (I had rooted one of the plants last year in water...(brother accidentally snapped about 2 feet off the top))

Now I'm doing the same with some of these that didn't completely die, from the freezing... Do you think they will still root, even tho they were/are sick? (I'm not sure if they still are, I got rid of most of the nasty stuff)

This picture is 1of the Diefs that came in a few nights before it froze. Its in a pot with 2 others.

Also can you propagate a stem with no leaves on it??

"Also can you propagate a stem with no leaves on it??"

Probably, Okay, perhaps, maybe. I would lay sections with joint nodes horizontally, half covered with soil.

Cane Cuttings ... involve taking bare stems and cutting them into 8 to 13 cm long pieces and either sticking them vertically into pots of compost or pressing them horizontally into the surface of the compost to root.

I have tried twice to root my very last stalk in water and the end just keeps getting brown and soft. This is from a funeral and I HAVE to save it. Help please!

I have a dief that is about 3 feet now and is falling over (staking isn't working as well now). The top is full of huge health leaves, while the bottom 1.5 feet is bare (with nodes). The base portion is also very thin while the top is thicker.

Is it better to cut the top couple feet and plant next to my existing plant or root it in water and then plant? The pot is only a 10" planter on a counter with good light

it took my dieffenbachia 3 weeks to root but once it started it really took off with roots all over the stem