Cuttings of your favourite plants can help you get more plants for free.
General Tips
- The day before taking cuttings give the host plant a good watering.
- Choose strong healthy stems.
- Remove the lower leaves and trim to just below a leaf joint.
- Place cuttings in a pot of cutting compost or soil with some sharp sand added.
- Keep humid and add bottom heat where possible.
Tips for Soft Fleshed Plants eg. Pinks, Penstemon & Geraniums
- When cuttings are rooted pinch out the growing tip to get a bushy plant.
- Keep cuttings out of direct sunlight.
- Cuttings should be taken in spring and summer.
- Cuttings should be 2″-5″ long depending on variety and available material.
Tips for Hardwood Cuttings of Trees and Shrubs
- Cuttings taken between July and October for semi-hardwood cuttings, and between September and March for hardwood cuttings produce the best results.
- Cuttings take between two to twelve months to root well.
- Hardy plants should be rooted in containers outdoors or in cold greenhouses.
- Select mature sections from the current growth at the base of the stem without flowers, fruit or seedheads.
- Cuttings can be 5-15″ long with at least two leaf joints attached.
These general tips are about stem cuttings but you can also take cuttings from leaves, roots, and buds for some plants. Check links to specific plants for special requirements.
You can use a rooting hormone to encourage cuttings but I don’t and have tended to take more cuttings to compensate for failures.
A heated propagator will be useful if you intend taking a lot of cuttings see
Thompson Morgan
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