Natural+Layering

Natural Layering Sometimes layering occurs naturally, without the assistance of a propagator. Runners and offsets are specialized plant structures that facilitate propagation by layering. A runner produces new shoots where it touches the growing medium (Figure 6). Plants that produce stolons or runners are propagated by severing the new plants from their parent stems. Plantlets at the tips of runners may be rooted while still attached to the parent or detached and placed in a rooting medium. Examples include strawberry and spider plant. Plants with rosetted stems often reproduce by forming new shoots, called offshoots, at their base or in the leaf axles. Sever the new shoots from the parent plant after they have developed their own root systems. Unrooted offsets of some species may be removed and placed in a rooting medium. Some of these must be cut off, whereas others may simply be lifted from the parent stem. Examples include date palm, bromeliads, and many cacti.
 * Natural Forms of Layering**
 * Figure 6.**