It’s official. I’m running out of glass containers in my house to propagate baby plants in.
So naturally, I did some hunting for cute propagation station ideas, and found this cute little guy that I wanted to take a stab at DIY’ing! Because you know I love a good ol’ plant-themed DIY… remember this easy macrame plant hanger?!
Here’s a quick break down of what we used for the propagation station project:
Ten 1-inch glass test tubes (or a few less if you want to make your station smaller)
One piece of maple (ours was 2 ½” x 3 ¼“ x 18”)
Minwax Wood Finish stain in Natural 209
I used these specific test tubes because they work well for propagation for a few reasons:
- They’re 1 inch in diameter, which allows enough space to have a couple stems in each tube without crushing anything
- They hold enough water so you’re not having to top them up every day
- They’re glass, which has always worked better for me than plastic
That being said, you could absolutely change up the dimensions of the project based on what you have available, because the project is really quite simple.
We (and by we, I mostly mean my dad, who was the workhorse on this one!) took our piece of maple and smoothed out the surfaces on a planer (but fine grit sandpaper would work as well).
We then mapped out where we wanted each tube to sit in the wood. I recommend leaving a minimum of ¾ of an inch between each tube. That will allow you a bit of space for the leaves on each stem to sit without crowding each other, and just ensure the spaces are equidistant, so you have a uniform look for the whole piece.
Once we have everything mapped out, we used a 1-inch Forstner bit on a drill press to make the holes for each tube. The 1-inch bit allows the 1-inch tube to sit snugly inside, so there’s no wobbling once the tubes are full of water! Note: you could also do this step with a regular drill, you’ll just need to be careful to ensure the holes are drilled at 90 degrees, so the tubes sit upright.
After the holes were drilled, I used some Minwax Wood Finish stain in Natural just to bring out the grain in the wood. I chose not to seal it with anything, but if you’re overly concerned about water drips, you could always add a clear coat on top as well!
Then slide in your test tubes, fill them with your favourite plant clippings, and propagate your heart out in your brand-new propagation station!
