Propagating your Ficus Benjamini (commonly known as the Weeping Fig) is actually super easy to do right at home! If you love your plant and want more of them, you’re in luck. I’m going to walk you through the best ways to grow new baby figs from your existing plant.
Ways to Propagate Your Weeping Fig
Generally speaking, there are two main ways to get more Ficus Benjamini plants:
- Growing them from seeds
- Growing them from cuttings (clones)
Growing Ficus Benjamini from Seed
Technically, you can grow a Weeping Fig from seed. However, since these plants almost never produce fruit (and therefore no seeds) when kept indoors, you’d have to buy the seeds from a garden center or online supplier. Once you sow them and they sprout, you’ll have tiny seedlings that can be moved to their own pots once they’re sturdy enough.
Propagating Ficus Benjamini from Cuttings
Propagating from cuttings is my favorite method because you can do it all yourself for free! You just take a healthy piece of your current plant and encourage it to grow its own roots. The best time to do this is in the spring. Pro tip: plan your propagation for the same day you prune your Ficus Benjamini so you don’t waste any of those healthy trimmings!
- Use a sharp knife or garden shears to snip off a shoot about 6 inches long. Look for “softwood” stems—these are the green, flexible ones that haven’t turned woody and brown yet. Make sure the cutting has several healthy green leaves on it.
- Ficus plants have a milky, sticky sap that can get everywhere. Wrap the cut end in a paper towel for a moment so it doesn’t drip on your clothes or carpet. You can also place the cutting in a glass of water for a bit to let it “bleed” out. Once the sap stops flowing, strip off the lower leaves, leaving only one or two pairs at the very top.
- Fill a small starter pot with moist seed-starting mix. Poke the cutting about two-thirds of its length into the soil and gently press the dirt around it to keep it upright. To create a mini-greenhouse effect, cover the pot with a clear plastic bag and place it in a bright, warm spot (just avoid direct, scorching sunlight).
- Once you see new growth and the roots have established themselves, your little fig is ready to be moved into its permanent home in a pot with regular potting soil and some lava granules for drainage.
A Quick Pro Tip
If you have a solid green Ficus Benjamini (rather than a variegated one), you can actually just pop your cuttings into a glass of water on a sunny windowsill. It’s a fun way to watch the roots grow in real-time before you move them into soil!
