How to propagate Norfolk Island pine and asparagus fern ?

Question

How do I propagate two of my house plants or in other words how can I give this plant to someone else who wishes to grow it?

Photos of them are given below:

Plant 1: Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla)

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Plant 2: asparagus fern (Asparagus setaceus)

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Can you split this to ask about propogating each of them seperately? The methods may not be the same across the plants. — wax eagle, Mar 07 '13 at 03:45
funny you would pick these 2 plants, one very easy, one very difficult to propagate vegitatively. — Grady Player, Mar 09 '13 at 06:39

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 06 '13 at 12:30

Araucaria heterophylla

It is propogated by seeds.

Asparagus setaceus

It can be propogated by divisions i.e. cutting a stem and plant it at other place. You can place it in water bottle for few days till it's roots grow.

Other method: Asparagus setaceus gives birth to it's offsets (baby plants) near main stem which can be transplanted to new pot. Ensure that you carefully detach the offset from the mother plant to prevent it from any harm.

References:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31757/#axzz2MlEiNWTY http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2575/#ixzz2MlEwhdO5

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:36

Yes, Norfolk Island Pines are propagated from seed. Practically speaking you need a mature specimen to get seeds. This species is a hardwood tree that grows to 50 to 65 feet tall and is hardy in USDA zone 10 to 11.

This site has a great description about growing a close Arucaria relative from seed which can be summed up as:

The seeds of Araucaria araucana must be fresh to germinate, but when they are fresh, they germinate readily. In literature different methods for germinating the seeds are mentioned, but the safest way to achieve a 85 - 90 % germination is the following:

Soak the seeds for about two days in water, then carry out a short cold stratification (put the seeds into a refrigerator for about 10 - 15 days in humid sand), and then plant them at 20º C or more. The seeds begin germination after 10 days, and by day 30 almost all of the seeds will have germinated. Because the seeds are quite big, the initial growth (10 -12 cm.) is very quick - it takes less than 90 days from the time you soak the seeds till you obtain the young plants of this size.

You can also propagate from tip cuttings but the literature indicates that only a cutting from the top of the tree will develop symmetrically.

Take 6-8 in (15.2-20.3 cm) cuttings of the terminal leader in summer and treat with rooting hormone. Caution, cuttings from lateral branches will produce irregularly shaped trees.

Trees are grown commercially from seed but you need a mature tree.

I would like to add that rooting gymnosperms just doesn't usually work. — Grady Player, Mar 09 '13 at 06:37

How to propagate Norfolk Island pine and asparagus fern ?

2 Answers2