Starting From Cuttings – Propagating Your Favorite Plants For Free
Plant propagation is an enjoyable way to expand your indoor gardens or share them with others. Many flowers, fruit crops and shrubs can be propagated using cuttings.
Begin by cutting away a section of a healthy stem. If your plant features flowers, trim them before beginning this step to focus energy on root development.
How to Make a Cutting
Propagating plants from cuttings can be an enjoyable, straightforward, and economical way to expand your garden. Some plant varieties that can quickly be established through rooting from cuttings include herbaceous perennials, woody shrubs, woody plants, and fruit crops like apples, berries, and pears.
Success when taking cuttings lies in selecting an optimal time and place to take them. Herbaceous plants should be rooted throughout the growing season; woody species tend to thrive before going dormant in the fall. Spring and summer are typically ideal times for soft-stem cuttings in most climates.
When taking cuttings, look for healthy green growth that is at least 3 to 6 inches long and disease-free. Make sure it has at least one node (a bump along the stem from which leaves or flower buds emerge), as this will facilitate root formation. Use either pruning shears or a knife with sharp blades to cut through this node, removing any flowers or buds growing on it before burying this portion in the developing medium to ensure successful root formation.
Prep a planting tray or small pots with soilless potting mix or vermiculite. If using a soilless potting mix, add a pinch of hormone rooting powder to help your cutting establish roots more quickly. When working with soil medium, poke a hole using a pencil, insert your cutting so its lowest pair of leaves are just above the medium, and firm around its base to secure its place.
Once your cuttings have rooted and reached the desired size, they can be moved outdoors or into individual containers for frost protection. To reduce risk, slowly introduce them to outdoor conditions over one or two weeks by setting them outside for only short periods, returning them indoors when finished, and repeating this cycle as necessary.
Rooted cuttings may also be planted directly into the garden once the frost threat has passed; however, this method may prove less successful for various reasons. If rooting processes are interrupted during growth, the plant may struggle with survival in its new environment and eventually die out altogether.
How to Care for a Cutting
Coleus, geranium, and annuals like impatiens tend to root easily in water containers such as jars or vases. When propagating these plants with soft stems such as coleus, geranium or impatiens, it’s essential to have 3- to 6-inch lengths from their stems before placing them in containers needing ongoing refilling.
Woody plants can be more challenging to root successfully. It would help if you took your time and worked during appropriate seasons. For instance, roses and honeysuckles thrive with softwood cuttings taken in early summer, while gardenia and boxwood thrive from greenwood cuttings in midsummer through fall.
Once your cutting has taken root, it is time to transplant it. A container that drains well is essential; try using a seed starting mix or one with drainage holes, as these will facilitate faster root growth than their natural counterparts would allow. Adding rooting hormones such as Clonex may also speed up new root development by acting like the plant’s own natural hormones and encouraging faster root development than they would naturally.
Be sure to use hot water when cleaning pruning shears and gardening tools before taking cuttings from plants to avoid transmitting diseases onto them. Also, consider placing them in a moisture-retaining sleeve to keep moisture levels constant until you can transplant the cutting.
Check with friends, neighbours or co-workers who garden to see if they have plant cuttings they no longer need or seeds they would be willing to share. This is an easy way to build your garden for free while meeting fellow gardeners in your community. Additionally, this may lead to joining a gardening club which hosts plant or seed swaps: members bring plants they have extras of, such as portions of perennial clumps they want divided, as well as seeds from which they wish to acquire something else in exchange.
How to Root a Cutting
Stem cuttings are one of the easiest methods of propagating plants, simply snipping off a portion of a plant stem, burying it in an appropriate growing medium and nurturing it until roots develop and it’s ready to transplant. Ideally, select a healthy, green parent plant when selecting cuttings – avoid diseases or those with many drooping or dead flowers, as these could compete for energy needed by new stems to form roots. Also, try searching out branches with at least one node (bump along a stem where leaves or flower buds form), then dip these branches in rooting hormone before placing them in containers filled with rooting mix.
Every species has its ideal growing medium for taking root, though peat moss or vermiculite often serves well. An excellent soilless mix should drain well while providing suitable moist conditions to develop a new root system. When selecting your growing medium, it is wiser to opt for something without garden soil as this could potentially harbour pathogens that compromise your efforts.
Once your rooting mix is prepared, place your cutting in a plastic bag with straws or wooden sticks around its edge to hold it at bay from its stem. This ensures the rooting mix remains moist while slowing water loss from its wound. Place it somewhere bright but out of direct sunlight so photosynthesis continues, producing food for root formation.
After several weeks, your cutting should begin showing signs of roots. To be specific, gently tug on the stem to see if there is resistance when pulling it out; if this is the case, your cutting has taken root, and you have created an entirely new plant!
When transplanting a new plant, gradually introduce it to outdoor temperatures and light without creating shock by placing it outside for one or two hours a day over one to two weeks. Doing this gradually allows your new plant to adjust without shock!
How to Transplant a Cutting
Plant propagation is an inexpensive and simple way to add to your collection without spending the expense of purchasing new plants. By simply cutting off the stem of an existing plant and nurturing it until roots form, propagation allows you to create an entirely new plant without spending a penny! This technique works for virtually every plant–houseplants like String of Turtles or Rex begonia and perennial flowers such as Coleus or Heuchera can all be propagated this way! Although many plants can be propagated from root or woody cuttings, leaf cuttings work best.
Stem cuttings may be planted in water or soil, depending on the plant species being propagated. Soft-stemmed species like spider plants, coleus and pothos, thrive when planted directly into the potting mix. At the same time, others like clematis, lilacs, rose of Sharon trees, forsythia weigela, and hydrangea benefit more from being embedded into the potting mixture.
A small cup or bowl filled with clean water should suffice for both plant cuttings. You could also opt to use a mixture of potting soil, sand, vermiculite, or any other rooting medium to ensure rapid root development. A potting mix containing organic matter like manure or compost may promote quicker root development than an ordinary soil mix.
When taking stem cuttings, choose a plant free from disease with green solid growth that has no nodes (bumps along the stem where leaf or flower buds attach), then cut from its top using clean scissors or a sharp knife – taking care not to remove too much stem below its node as this could result in rot.
When using a potting mix, ensure it contains plenty of organic matter and drains well. Water the mix until slightly damp before adding your cuttings; ensure that their bottom remains securely encased within the growing medium and that a lid protects it from drying out.
Most plants require warmth and humidity for root development. To create this environment, place the planted cutting in an environment offering equal shade and dappled sunlight. To keep its growing medium moist, store it inside a plastic bag or wrap the entire plant in clear plastic wrap – keeping this method up until roots have taken hold and your cutting can be transferred into its container or soil.