7 house plants that keep multiplying: Buy them once and grow your collection for years

Why keep buying new plants when some can give you more plants for free? Several popular garden plants naturally multiply through offsets, runners, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers or division. Once established, a single healthy plant can produce new plants that can be separated and grown elsewhere in your garden. From spider plants that send out baby plantlets to aloe vera that produces offsets, these are seven plants that can keep expanding with surprisingly little effort.

Spider plant

Spider plants are among the easiest houseplants to multiply. A mature spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum, produces long stems called runners, along which small plantlets develop. Once a baby plant has developed roots, it can be separated from the mother plant and placed in its own pot. Alternatively, the plantlet can initially be rooted while still attached to the parent plant.

With a healthy mother plant, these little offshoots can keep appearing, giving you a steady supply of new spider plants without repeatedly buying them.

Aloe vera

Aloe vera is another plant that can effectively multiply itself once it becomes established. Mature aloe plants commonly produce offsets, often called pups, around their base. These young plants can eventually be separated from the parent and grown in individual containers. The Royal Horticultural Society recommends propagating aloe through offsets. The young plants can be removed when they are sufficiently developed and replanted separately.

A single established aloe can therefore become several plants over time, making it particularly useful for gardeners who want to expand their collection without constantly purchasing new specimens.

Snake plant

Snake plants, now generally classified under the genus Dracaena, can produce new growth from underground rhizomes. These horizontal stems spread beneath the soil and can send up new shoots near the mother plant. When the new growth is sufficiently established, it can be separated and potted independently. Snake plants can also be propagated from leaf cuttings, although division of established plants is a straightforward way to create new plants while retaining their characteristic form.

This makes a mature snake plant capable of gradually turning into a collection of plants.

Mint

Mint is famous for spreading, and that can be useful if your goal is to multiply plants. The herb spreads through underground stems called rhizomes. It can also root readily from stem cuttings, allowing gardeners to create new plants from existing growth. Because mint spreads aggressively in favourable conditions, it is often better grown in containers if you do not want it taking over garden beds.

Buy one healthy mint plant, give it suitable growing conditions and you can potentially produce many more plants from it.

Strawberry

Strawberries have one of the most obvious natural multiplication systems. Many strawberry plants produce runners, also called stolons. These long stems grow outward from the parent plant and develop small daughter plants at their nodes. Once a daughter plant establishes roots, it can be separated and transplanted. This means a productive strawberry plant can gradually produce new plants around it. Gardeners can use the runners to expand a strawberry patch or replace older plants.

The process also explains why strawberry beds can become increasingly crowded as the season progresses.

Spiderwort

Spiderwort, belonging to the Tradescantia group, is another plant that can be remarkably easy to propagate. Many Tradescantia varieties root readily from stem cuttings. A section of healthy stem can be placed in water or suitable growing medium, where it can develop roots and become a new plant. Once you have an established specimen, regular pruning can provide plenty of material for propagation. The result is a plant that can be multiplied repeatedly from existing growth rather than requiring a new purchase each time you want another pot.

Daylily

Daylilies are perennial flowering plants that can be multiplied through division. As a daylily grows, it forms a larger clump of shoots and roots. The established clump can be divided into smaller sections, with each healthy division replanted separately. The Royal Horticultural Society recommends division as a propagation method for established daylilies. Dividing a crowded clump can also help rejuvenate the plant while giving you additional plants for other parts of the garden. Instead of purchasing several da ylilies, one established plant can eventually provide material for multiple new clumps.