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Plant Propagation From Leaf Cuttings | Can You Grow Croton From Leaf

Propagating plants from leaves is an interesting project, can you grow croton from leaf. Some plants can be propagated from leaf cuttings, while most plants are grown from stem cuttings and seeds. Leaf cuttings are used almost mainly for propagating some indoor plants. There are several types of leaf cuttings to grow new plants. The types of leaf cuttings may be 
 Single Leaf or a Section of Leaf, 
 a Leaf with a Petiole and 
 a leaf with bud.
Roots on Rubber Leaf
Rooted Rubber Plant Leaf

Below you will find a list of plants that grow from leaf cuttings and the leaf cutting propagation steps.

Single Leaf Cutting Propagation

Can You Grow a Croton or Rubber Plant From a Single Leaf?
Leaf cuttings of most plants may grow robust roots by simply putting them in water, but will not generate a new plant. The rooted leaves cuttings will never produce a new plant, even in several years and ultimately die. I kept a rooted rubber plant in soil for several years, and it never produced a stem and it then died.

To produce a new stem, the lead needs an axillary bud from where the plant can regenerate. The leaves of many plants like croton, rubber plant (Ficus). hoya plant etc. do not have the capacity to produce a bud from a leaf. Such cuttings are called as blind cuttings. Croton (Petra, gold dust or other types) and rubber plant leaves do not have this capability to produce a stem and a new plant. To produce a bud from the leaf, you need to keep just a small piece of the stem attached to the leaf. 

However, there are some plants like African violets, snake plants, sedums, streptocarpus, crassulas, echeverias, kalanchoes, peperomia, episcia, etc. which can develop a bud directly from a leaf or even from a part of the leaf or a leaf-petiole. So a new plant can be developed from one leaf of these plants. 

The plants having thick fleshy leaves like snake plant (Sansevieria, propagating snake plant from cuttings) and african violets are propagated from a leaf without a petiole.

Leaf-Bud Cutting Propagation

Leaf-bud cuttings are used for  jade plant (How to grow Jade Plant from a leaf), rubber plant, clematis, rhododendron, camellia, devil’s ivy, grape ivy, dracaena, blackberry, mahonia, and heart-leaf philodendron. To propagate leaf-bud cuttings, place the bud covered in the rooting medium about 1 inch and the leaf exposed. They can grow roots even by simply placing the in water.


Leaf Vein Cutting Propagation

A rex begonia, Sinningla and Smithianthas (Temple Bells) leaves will grow by making cuts on several veins on the underside of the leaf. Common plants that can be propagated from leaf vein cuttings include:

To propagate, place the underside of the leaf in contact with the propagation medium and put a small weight on the leaf to keep it in contact with the soil. New plants will grow at the cuts in the leaf.

Video of how to Grow Croton Plant From a Leaf


Can you grow croton from Single leaf ?
croton propagation from cuttings