How To Use A Pool Noodle To Successfully Propagate Plants

There are countless ingenious hacks for incorporating pool noodles in different ways around the house, including helping both small plants and tall plants grow. TikToker @anti.antropology shared her brilliant trick for propagating cuttings using pieces of the aquatic foam tubes. Plant propagation is the process of growing new plants from existing plants. 

This pool noodle DIY uses a method known as grafting and budding, which places different pieces of plants together so that they grow as one. According to Love the Garden, this helps them to cultivate better root systems. Foam tube slices offer a great means for helping cuttings to grow together as a single vegetation.

For this hack, you'll need one pool noodle, water, and a vase. @anti.antropology uses a narrow, short, rectangular vase that is somewhat shallow. Make sure it has enough room to put several tube slices in and that you can easily pull those pieces in and out.

Take your pool noodle and cut it into slices so you have several foam rings. Next, make a cut through one side of each piece from the inner circle to the edge. This will help you remove the plant without damaging it once it's grown. Take several small cuttings (this uses three or four) of stems piece with attached leaves and group them together. Place inside the ring. 

Fill your vase with water and place the foam slices inside so that they float with the leaves sticking out on top and bottom stem pieces in the water. Love the Garden reports that this method of asexual propagation is typically faster than sexual propagation, so, you should have new plants with their own root systems in a few weeks. @anti.antropology advises that the water should be changed at least once a week while you wait for your cuttings to grow before being transferred.

The Sill recommends waiting until the roots look thick and are about one inch or longer before you plant them, which could take a month or more. Select a good size pot that isn't too big or small and has proper drainage. 

Fill it halfway with soil and tenderly place the roots on top before you cover them with more soil. Make sure the soil is firm around your cuttings but allows for water to pass through it. It's important to keep the soil very moist during this time so your plants get used to the transition from water to earth.

@anti.antropology's fans found this tip to be incredibly helpful. "Love it. Think I might try some more tanks as hydroponic setups," one commenter wrote. This hack was so popular it's been viewed more than 35,000 times. You can check out the TikTok page for more pool noodle and propagation hacks.