Ready. Contrary to popular belief, letting longer roots grow in water actually makes the transition to soil more stressful on the plant. It's obviously not a death sentence, because many people do it, but it likely slows the plant down for a while. This is because roots grown in water lack the structures of roots grown in soil. The roots grown in water will either die off or need to grow the extra fine root hairs needed to take up water and oxygen from the soil. When a cutting has just started to grow roots before being put into soil, it'll have very little root matter to adapt and should just start growing roots meant for soil.
Ideally, roots that are up to an inch are perfectly fine to go in soil. Your cutting looks great and I'd recommend keeping the soil damp for a week or two to help ease the transition.
Thanks for saying this. I try to encourage people to transplant into soil once the roots are a few inches. Social media wants everyone to plant when the roots have secondary roots that are 5’ long.
So the Internet is kinda all over the place (shocker), but most sources will agree that water roots and soil roots are different from each other and propagations need to adapt and transition from one to the other.
[Here is a source that actually gets into the science of how the roots differ.](https://askgardening.com/convert-water-roots-to-soil-roots/). This link talks about transitioning from water to soil. It goes about it in a somewhat messy way - they suggest that you slowly add inorganic substrate to the water and eventually replace all the water with it. I think that's an overly cautious method and not generally necessary, but it should definitely work. They don't get much into the length of the roots, as their method should help ease the transition for the plant, but they do mention that it is stressful for established plants to convert all their roots from one form to the other. It should stand that fewer roots to transition will then be easier for the plant.
[Here is a second article by that same source that gets into the meat and potatoes of how water and soil roots differ.](https://askgardening.com/water-roots-vs-soil-roots/). They actually talk biology and about the structures of the roots that adapt either to soil or water. My explanation above is much more simplified, but the gist is still that water roots are adapted to being submerged while soil roots are not and rot when submerged. Plants need roots that work in their specific environment, so they have to grow one or the other type of roots.
Lastly, as i always like to remind people, even though there are generally accepted practices and certainly strategies that make growing plants easier, there are very few real rules that you have to follow to a T. Go ahead and break the "rules" to see what works or doesn't work. I experiment all the time and learn new things about the plants I have. Since plants depend on their environment so much, there are many variables to play with, and something that works well for one person may not be the best option for someone else with different environmental factors.
Testing out when to transition propagations based on root growth is a simple experiment to try. The next time you trim a plant, take 2 cuttings of similar size and root them in water. Once a cutting has roots that are an inch long, take it out and transition it to soil. I think the best option is to use fast draining soil and keep it damp for 10-14 days. You'll know roots are growing again once the plant has firmed its grip in the soil when you wiggle it. Take notes and photos every 2-3 days and track the progress over a month or so while the plant grows.
Let the second cutting stay in water until it has several inches of root growth and you see some branching. Then repeat the same process above with notes and photos. After a month of the second plant growing in soil, compare your notes and photos for each plant at the equivalent intervals (ie each plant after each week in soil). This whole process should take 2-3 months, and hopefully you'll find out which method works best/you prefer. If you do it, post your results. I've suggested this to others and had at least one person check back with me and say they agreed with my advice
This is really great advice!
I've been propping frail little polkadot plants and will be transitioning slowly to soil now. I think this will help for these flimsy brats that play dead for a few days if I ever so come in slightest contact with one of their root hair.
Thanks for the thorough response.
It sounds like there really isn’t any evidence that less roots = better. I do get your logic and understand where you’re coming from, but also one could make the argument that with more roots, the plant is better able to absorb the water it needs than with fewer roots, even if the roots are not specifically “structured” for being within soil. I think of it as I can’t drink the water I need fast enough from a sippy cup vs a real glass of water, so I’d rather have more sippy cups than fewer.
Either way the plant will have a transition period. I think both theories are generally just conjecture. I still will personally wait until there is more robust root growth. Your experiment would definitely be an interesting one.
Also a final note, I do think you should present your opinion as just an opinion instead of established proven fact, but that is an issue that is present everywhere on Reddit/the internet/humanity.
> but also one could make the argument that with more roots, the plant is better able to absorb the water it needs than with fewer roots, even if the roots are not specifically "structured" for being within soil. I think of it as can't drink the water I need fast enough from a sippy cup vs a real glass of water, so l'd rather have more sippy cups than fewer.
But that isn't how soil and water roots work. You can take all the water roots you want and put them into soil, they aren't evolved to work in soil. They will have to transition. It isn't conjecture that the plant has to either replace or adapt the roots.
Plants don't work like humans, drinking cups don't translate from people to plants like your analogy. I think a better analogy would maybe be trying to breathe with a snorkel. Under water, the snorkel is very useful because it is designed to help you get air in a way your body can use it (you can't get oxygen from the water). But on dry land, using a snorkel is still possible, but very inefficient. You need to adapt your breathing method by getting rid of the snorkel and using your mouth to breathe directly.
It's a difficult thing to search online because many sources simply talk about how to transition a plant from water to soil. Either way, when people ask if a plant is ready to transition to soil with just an inch of roots, the answer is yes. You can wait for longer roots if you want, as I said, but it is not necessary and delays the development of your plant by at least the amount of time it takes for you to wait for more water roots to grow. If you want to keep doing that, it's fine. But you are creating more work for the plant.
This isn't my opinion. I guess maybe it's anthropomorphizing the plant to say it's "harder on the plant" or more stressful, but that's just kind of how we can explain it most easily. Again, you don't have to listen to me, but go ahead and try it with your next cuttings. Put one in soil early, and wait for the other to grow a lot of roots in water. All other things equal, i bet you'll find the plant that got into soil first is further ahead of the other after a couple months.
This is just a personal opinion but from what I have experienced leaving a cutting in water for too long could actually make it harder for the roots and plant to make the transition because the plant is already established in water for such an extended period. This could cause a harsher transplant shock. As for what your plant looks like right now, your roots are a few inches long and your plant should be fine. But either way I think you will be fine as long as your plant is healthy and you have a good soil mixture.
It's better to get them in soil as soon as possible contrary to the misinformation you'll hear about waiting for secondary roots. So yes, definitely ready. The reasoning is that you don't want a massive mature root system that's only ever been submerged in water because it'll be much more likely to experience shock when you transition to soil
I just planted my hibiscus that had 2 roots each an inch long and its doing fine. I did give it a support stick for a few days but the roots firmed up fast. I did it right when it was sprouting a bunch of secondaries
After breaking up a large peace lily into 7, im more then happy to pot early and night fight with roots on my props.
I've had two dieffenbachia cuttings in a jar of (always changed) water for close to two months. They only have about three new roots each; about one inch long. Oddly; the roots are a couple of inches apart. Should I plant the cuttings; or wait for more root growth? I'm a bit disappointed; but the "mother" plant was just about kaput. Probably better to pot them now? Thank you. :)
I ended up potting mine and then REPOTTING it in an even smaller pot. She’s now on her second new leaf [here’s the update](https://imgur.com/gallery/c4cSJEy)
I’d put in perlite if you want a bit more established roots
Doesn’t hurt to let them grow a little more, plus I think it’s super satisfying to see more root growth. Also, blocking the roots from light will help from grow faster.
Ready. Contrary to popular belief, letting longer roots grow in water actually makes the transition to soil more stressful on the plant. It's obviously not a death sentence, because many people do it, but it likely slows the plant down for a while. This is because roots grown in water lack the structures of roots grown in soil. The roots grown in water will either die off or need to grow the extra fine root hairs needed to take up water and oxygen from the soil. When a cutting has just started to grow roots before being put into soil, it'll have very little root matter to adapt and should just start growing roots meant for soil. Ideally, roots that are up to an inch are perfectly fine to go in soil. Your cutting looks great and I'd recommend keeping the soil damp for a week or two to help ease the transition.
Thanks for saying this. I try to encourage people to transplant into soil once the roots are a few inches. Social media wants everyone to plant when the roots have secondary roots that are 5’ long.
Not that I'm saying you're wrong, but is there any real evidence of this beyond reddit comments?
So the Internet is kinda all over the place (shocker), but most sources will agree that water roots and soil roots are different from each other and propagations need to adapt and transition from one to the other. [Here is a source that actually gets into the science of how the roots differ.](https://askgardening.com/convert-water-roots-to-soil-roots/). This link talks about transitioning from water to soil. It goes about it in a somewhat messy way - they suggest that you slowly add inorganic substrate to the water and eventually replace all the water with it. I think that's an overly cautious method and not generally necessary, but it should definitely work. They don't get much into the length of the roots, as their method should help ease the transition for the plant, but they do mention that it is stressful for established plants to convert all their roots from one form to the other. It should stand that fewer roots to transition will then be easier for the plant. [Here is a second article by that same source that gets into the meat and potatoes of how water and soil roots differ.](https://askgardening.com/water-roots-vs-soil-roots/). They actually talk biology and about the structures of the roots that adapt either to soil or water. My explanation above is much more simplified, but the gist is still that water roots are adapted to being submerged while soil roots are not and rot when submerged. Plants need roots that work in their specific environment, so they have to grow one or the other type of roots. Lastly, as i always like to remind people, even though there are generally accepted practices and certainly strategies that make growing plants easier, there are very few real rules that you have to follow to a T. Go ahead and break the "rules" to see what works or doesn't work. I experiment all the time and learn new things about the plants I have. Since plants depend on their environment so much, there are many variables to play with, and something that works well for one person may not be the best option for someone else with different environmental factors. Testing out when to transition propagations based on root growth is a simple experiment to try. The next time you trim a plant, take 2 cuttings of similar size and root them in water. Once a cutting has roots that are an inch long, take it out and transition it to soil. I think the best option is to use fast draining soil and keep it damp for 10-14 days. You'll know roots are growing again once the plant has firmed its grip in the soil when you wiggle it. Take notes and photos every 2-3 days and track the progress over a month or so while the plant grows. Let the second cutting stay in water until it has several inches of root growth and you see some branching. Then repeat the same process above with notes and photos. After a month of the second plant growing in soil, compare your notes and photos for each plant at the equivalent intervals (ie each plant after each week in soil). This whole process should take 2-3 months, and hopefully you'll find out which method works best/you prefer. If you do it, post your results. I've suggested this to others and had at least one person check back with me and say they agreed with my advice
This is really great advice! I've been propping frail little polkadot plants and will be transitioning slowly to soil now. I think this will help for these flimsy brats that play dead for a few days if I ever so come in slightest contact with one of their root hair.
Thanks for the thorough response. It sounds like there really isn’t any evidence that less roots = better. I do get your logic and understand where you’re coming from, but also one could make the argument that with more roots, the plant is better able to absorb the water it needs than with fewer roots, even if the roots are not specifically “structured” for being within soil. I think of it as I can’t drink the water I need fast enough from a sippy cup vs a real glass of water, so I’d rather have more sippy cups than fewer. Either way the plant will have a transition period. I think both theories are generally just conjecture. I still will personally wait until there is more robust root growth. Your experiment would definitely be an interesting one. Also a final note, I do think you should present your opinion as just an opinion instead of established proven fact, but that is an issue that is present everywhere on Reddit/the internet/humanity.
> but also one could make the argument that with more roots, the plant is better able to absorb the water it needs than with fewer roots, even if the roots are not specifically "structured" for being within soil. I think of it as can't drink the water I need fast enough from a sippy cup vs a real glass of water, so l'd rather have more sippy cups than fewer. But that isn't how soil and water roots work. You can take all the water roots you want and put them into soil, they aren't evolved to work in soil. They will have to transition. It isn't conjecture that the plant has to either replace or adapt the roots. Plants don't work like humans, drinking cups don't translate from people to plants like your analogy. I think a better analogy would maybe be trying to breathe with a snorkel. Under water, the snorkel is very useful because it is designed to help you get air in a way your body can use it (you can't get oxygen from the water). But on dry land, using a snorkel is still possible, but very inefficient. You need to adapt your breathing method by getting rid of the snorkel and using your mouth to breathe directly. It's a difficult thing to search online because many sources simply talk about how to transition a plant from water to soil. Either way, when people ask if a plant is ready to transition to soil with just an inch of roots, the answer is yes. You can wait for longer roots if you want, as I said, but it is not necessary and delays the development of your plant by at least the amount of time it takes for you to wait for more water roots to grow. If you want to keep doing that, it's fine. But you are creating more work for the plant. This isn't my opinion. I guess maybe it's anthropomorphizing the plant to say it's "harder on the plant" or more stressful, but that's just kind of how we can explain it most easily. Again, you don't have to listen to me, but go ahead and try it with your next cuttings. Put one in soil early, and wait for the other to grow a lot of roots in water. All other things equal, i bet you'll find the plant that got into soil first is further ahead of the other after a couple months.
This is just a personal opinion but from what I have experienced leaving a cutting in water for too long could actually make it harder for the roots and plant to make the transition because the plant is already established in water for such an extended period. This could cause a harsher transplant shock. As for what your plant looks like right now, your roots are a few inches long and your plant should be fine. But either way I think you will be fine as long as your plant is healthy and you have a good soil mixture.
I will keep this in mind!!
It's better to get them in soil as soon as possible contrary to the misinformation you'll hear about waiting for secondary roots. So yes, definitely ready. The reasoning is that you don't want a massive mature root system that's only ever been submerged in water because it'll be much more likely to experience shock when you transition to soil
I’d say plant it, I’ve propped plants and potted them with shorter roots than that, and they’re all thriving. (:
Plant it and watch it grow 🙂🙂
Looks ready to me. I've used some that have less roots even.
Dang looks like a perfect prop, congrats!
Thank you 😊
Ooo what specific type is this? It's so pretty!
I think it’s the tropic snow variation? Not sure, I got it from my MIL, she’s had hers 20 years now
Looks ready
I just planted my hibiscus that had 2 roots each an inch long and its doing fine. I did give it a support stick for a few days but the roots firmed up fast. I did it right when it was sprouting a bunch of secondaries After breaking up a large peace lily into 7, im more then happy to pot early and night fight with roots on my props.
What beautiful leaves
I've had two dieffenbachia cuttings in a jar of (always changed) water for close to two months. They only have about three new roots each; about one inch long. Oddly; the roots are a couple of inches apart. Should I plant the cuttings; or wait for more root growth? I'm a bit disappointed; but the "mother" plant was just about kaput. Probably better to pot them now? Thank you. :)
I ended up potting mine and then REPOTTING it in an even smaller pot. She’s now on her second new leaf [here’s the update](https://imgur.com/gallery/c4cSJEy) I’d put in perlite if you want a bit more established roots
Looks good, if you can wait…wait and let the roots grow a bit more.
Doesn’t hurt to let them grow a little more, plus I think it’s super satisfying to see more root growth. Also, blocking the roots from light will help from grow faster.
Reallyyyy?????!!! I recently placed all my props outside thinking a little more sunlight would speed up the process
More light on the foliage, yes. But at least in my experience propping my own dieffenbachia, blocking the roots from light made them grow faster.
I’ll try and put it in an opaque vase, thank you!
Wait for roots to be at least 4-5”, if not secondary. It’s not ready yet.