How To Make An Easy Hanging DIY Propagation Station

Thank you to DAP for sponsoring this DIY propagation station! All opinions are entirely my own. This post also contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly. Read my full disclosure here.

I’ve been propagating my indoor plants pretty casually for about a year. At first, I was super intimidated by this gardening technique, but once I tried it, I realized how easy it was to make my own new baby plants from stem cuttings! 

In the past, when I wanted to give it a go, I snapped a small cutting from my plant and threw it in a bud vase or one of my many mason jars, put it on a windowsill that gets plenty of sun (indirect is preferred) and waited patiently. 

Eventually, the little baby plants grew little baby roots and then I either threw them back into the same pot with the mature plant or if I have enough cuttings with roots, I created a brand new potted plant.

I’ve successfully created a whole new second plant for both my prayer plant in our master bathroom and my big pothos plant in our living room, which I have hanging in the corner of our master bedroom. 

This whole process has amazed me every time it works. I’m so proud of my new plants! There’s nothing wrong with this method of propagating plants, but I wanted to make it a little more official with a propagation station so we have a dedicated place for the plant cuttings to grow their roots! 

Whether you want to propagate your favorite plants like a spider plant, ZZ plant, golden pothos string of pearls, prayer plants, or more, the small test tubes in this propagation planter are the perfect size for a small cutting and water. The only plant that I don’t think I’ll be able to use the test tubes for is snake plants because they are so wide, they won’t fit. 

How To Make A DIY Plant Propagation Station: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1. Cut wood down to size

The woodworking plans call for a 1×2 piece of wood, but we raided our scrap wood pile and found a good piece of 1×4 birch that we ripped down to 1 1/2″ wide with the table saw.

Since this uses such a small amount of wood, you could probably use something from your scrap wood pile, as we did. Get inspired with more scrap wood projects here! 

Next, you’ll cut the wood for the propagation station down to size using a miter saw to cut the lengths. Since this only requires a couple of straight and easy cuts, this is definitely a woodworking project that is great for beginners! 

If you want to follow along and build your own propagation station just like this, you can grab the detailed woodworking plans here.

Step 2. Drill holes in the top piece

The test tubes are held up by holes drilled in the top piece of the propagation station. One quick and easy way to drill the holes nice and straight is to use a drill press with a hole saw bit. If you order the same size test tubes that we used, the 7/8″ size hole saw works perfectly. 

If you don’t have a drill press, you can use a drill with the hole saw. Just be sure to hold the drill as straight as you can while you make the hole.

For the spacing of the holes, follow along with the exact measurements that we share in the woodworking plans.  We spaced out the 5 holes evenly on the board. You can totally customize this project to have more or fewer holes for your new cuttings! 

Step 3. Sand

Before assembling, lightly sand all pieces of wood with an orbital sander and 80-grit sandpaper moving with the direction of the grain of the wood. 

Step 4. Assemble

Use a small amount of wood glue on the joints and hold the joint together with one hand while nailing using a brad nailer with the other hand. Let the glue dry for 24 hours before moving on. 

Curious what the difference is between a brad nailer and a finish nailer? Check out our guide here!

Step 5. Fill holes

Fill all nail holes and gaps with Plastic Wood X. The great thing about Plastic Wood is that it goes on pink and will turn white when it is ready to sand. 

Wondering what the difference is between wood filler, wood putty, caulk, and spackle? Check out our full guide here all about filling gaps and holes!

Step 6. Sand again

Once the wood filler is dry, you can sand everything down again with an orbital sander. Start with 80-grit sandpaper and then move on to 150-grit sandpaper to smooth. Wipe away all sanding dust with a tack cloth or slightly damp rag. 

Step 7. Stain

Now you can move on to staining your propagation station. We used a gray interior stain. I love the gray tint, which is a bit unique. We applied two coats of the stain with a staining rag. Let the stain dry fully before sealing.

Step 8. Seal

Once the stain is dry, you can seal the whole thing with Polyurethane. Given the gray tint to the stain that we used, we went with a Crystal Clear water-based poly sealer that won’t be yellow on the surface, as traditional polyurethane does. We applied two coats of poly with a foam brush. 

Since water is used in the test tubes, I’d recommend not skipping the sealing step. There’s bound to be some water that gets on the surface from time to time. The polyurethane will help protect the wood from any damage. 

Step 9. Hang on the wall

Find a place on an empty wall in a sunny area and hang it up. We added a small sawtooth hanger pushed into place on the back with a hammer. This makes it easy to hang it up on the wall with a nail.  

Step 10. Fill with plant clippings and water

Just fill the test tubes with room-temperature water and put your plant clippings into each tube. If not sure where exactly to cut the plants, it varies based on the type of plant you’re propagating.

Usually, I just Google “how to propagate ______ (insert type of plant here)” and you can very easily get a visual of exactly where to cut the plant to get the best chance of new roots to grow when planted in the water. It is important that you use nice and sharp and clean scissors. 

Keep the tubes filled with water as it evaporates. The most important thing is to make sure the node where the roots will grow from is covered with water all the time.

If the water gets grimy or cloudy, you can replace it. Don’t let the water get too gross because the plant will have trouble growing roots in water that is full of bacteria and doesn’t have enough oxygen for the plant to thrive. 

Once the roots are about an inch long, you can carefully take the new plant babies and plant them in high-quality soil in a pot. 

Each plant is a little different in how long it takes to grow roots. It will also depend on the quality of water, temperature, and humidity of the room and the amount of sunlight it is getting. Sometimes it takes a few weeks and sometimes it will take a couple of months.

Once the roots are long enough (1″ or so), don’t let them continue sitting in the water for too long because they will be less likely to take to the soil. 

Once the baby plants are in the soil keep them watered, but not soggy until the roots are established. 

It is one thing to be able to successfully keep indoor plants alive, but it’s another to be able to literally make more baby plants! With this cute propagation station, you’re on your way to becoming a proud plant parent. 

How to Make an Easy Hanging DIY Propagation Station

Active Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Intermediate

Estimated Cost: $20

Discover how to create your own wooden hanging DIY propagation station for propagating plants at home! Learn step-by-step instructions and tips on building a propagation station to help your plants thrive. Download the woodworking plans for this DIY propagation station and watch your plant collection grow!

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Materials

• DAP Weldwood Original Wood Glue
• DAP Plastic Wood X Wood Filler
• Test tubes 
• 1x2 piece of wood at least 28" inches long
• 80 grit sandpaper
• 150 grit sandpaper 
• 1 1/2" brad nails
• Stain 
• Staining rag
• Polyurethane 
• 1-inch sawtooth hanger

Tools

• Drill press
• 7/8" hole saw
• Orbital sander
• Brad nail gun 
• Putty knife
• Foam brush
• Hammer

Instructions

1. Cut wood down to size
2. Drill holes in the top piece
3. Sand
4. Assemble
5. Fill holes
6. Sand again
7. Stain
8. Seal
9. Hang on the wall
10. Fill with plant clippings and water