Plant Propagation Made Simple with the Plantation Porcelain Series

What do you use to propagate your plants in water?

As a self-professed jar hoarder, I oscillate between the uber-popular Bonne Maman jam jars, empty bottles of maple syrup or even the occasional mismatched coffee mug.

Does my propagation station look pretty? Most of the times, no. It does the job, but not in a “I want to stop and admire this every time I walk past” kind of way. And the inflexible sizes are an inconvenience. When I’m rooting avocado pits, I have to pierce them with toothpicks to have them hover above water. When I left pothos cuttings in water for too long, the roots grew so large and tangled that I couldn’t get them out of the bottle. The wow factor just isn’t there.

If I were looking for wow-factor galore, I’d turn my attention to this porcelain propagation station inserts by Polish artist Alicja Patanowska.

Alicja created this set of four propagation aids with hydroponics in mind. She got the inspiration for the Plantation set after the spent a month picking discarded glasses left behind by London partygoers. Early morning, she collected glass vessels from curbs, alleys, bus stops and benches. She then came up with a brilliant way to reuse the glasses as propagation stations, using ceramics inserts to turn the discarded into a green display.

How does the Plantation collection work?

You get a glass or an empty vessel of any kind, place the ceramics piece on top, add water and then add the plant that you’re rooting.

One of the shapes can even be used upside down, and turn a simple jar into a makeshift mini-greenhouse.

The Plantation collection is perfect for herbs, ornamental plants or just cuttings that you’re preparing for transfer into soil. And when you place them side by side, you get a nice plantation effect on your windowsill.