How To Take Cuttings

Cuttings are portions of the plant that can be induced to grow roots and develop into a new plant. All cuttings are ‘a chip off the old block’ so to speak; exactly the same as the parent plant. Unlike growing plants from seed, where all the ‘babies’ will be slightly different, taking cuttings is an excellent way of reproducing an exact replica of the parent plant.

There are different types of cuttings and different times of the year when they can be taken. Here we will look at cuttings that can be taken from spring to early summer, known as soft wood cuttings. This time of year provides the best chance of being able to root cuttings even from those plants that may be difficult at other times.

Equipment required

Plant pots or trays

‘Seed and cutting’ compost

Hormone rooting powder

Dibber

Sharp knife

Plant labels and marker

Prepare everything in advance

Fill a pot or tray with some proprietary ‘seed and cutting’ compost or equal quantities of peat and sand then firm gently. Have everything ready to hand as the quicker you pot up your cutting the better chance of plant survival, and your success. As soon as you take a cutting, it will start to lose moisture so gather the material in the morning while it is still relatively cool. Have a plastic bag at the ready so you are immediately able to pop in your cutting.

Collect appropriate plant material

Look for a suitable, current year shoot, large enough to cut about 10-15cms down from the tip. Cut through the stem cleanly and quickly using a sharp knife. Put it in a plastic bag to keep the humidity high.

Prepare cuttings

Once back at your potting table, trim the shoot by cutting the stem just below the second or third set of leaves.  Aim to have between 5-10cms of length and remove the lower set of leaves carefully to provide a length of stem bare. Pinch out the growing tip.

Pot up

Dip the cut end of the stem into hormone rooting powder and shake off the excess. Make a hole in the compost with a dibber and insert the base of the stem. Firm around the cutting and make sure that there is good contact between the cutting and the compost. Most cuttings like to be positioned around the rim of the pot and as long as the leaves of each cutting do not touch then insert as many as appropriate. Water gently with a fine rose and cover the pot with a propagator lid or inflated plastic bag held on with an elastic band. Place it in a warm, light position. Remember to label the pot.

Aftercare

Check your cuttings each day and remove any that have died or look as though they are starting to rot; unfortunately you can expect to lose some. Ensure the compost is kept moist but not waterlogged. Cuttings can take up to 12 weeks to root, even longer; others root in a matter of days so keep inspecting the pots. Are small roots growing through the drainage holes?  Are healthy new leaves appearing? Un-rooted cuttings will look very sad and unchanged, rooted cuttings, on the other hand, will look healthy and producing new foliage. Once nicely rooted, transplant the cuttings into individual pots and after acclimatising them to the outdoors for a couple of weeks, you can plant them in their final positions in the garden or container.

Plants for soft wood cuttings

You can increase many plants by softwood cuttings, and it doesn’t cost anything to try different varieties. Herbaceous perennials are usually very easy to propagate by this method as are some shrubs and trees.

A few easy ones are: – fuchsia, pelargonium, dahlia, hydrangea, anthemus, campanula, Shasta daisy, delphinium, dicentra, erigeron, gypsophila, helenium, lupin, lythrum, mallow, nepeta, phlox, and pyrethrum.

Published March 19th, 2015 by Jordan. Article ref 3685

Tags: cuttings

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