We talk about propagating plants from seed but rarely about taking cuttings.
There are several ways to take cuttings - from stems, tips, roots or propagate by division.
Please share your methods and let's all grow more free plants.
Today I've taken the following cuttings:-
Blackcurrant, Jostaberry and Red currant. Lots of new growth on fruit bushes now and, if left to grow, will make the bush tall and straggly so I like to remove some to keep the bushes more compact. I cut off the new shoots (9-12"), back to the brown, fruiting wood, remove the bottom couple of leaves, make a hole with a dibber where I'd like the bushes to grow, and drop in the cutting up to half its length.
I planted these near the boundary fence where I'm growing an edible hedge - 9 mixed cuttings. If they all germinate, I'll dig some up and move them to another spot.
Used the same method for
Broom cuttings (3) and
Variegated Weigela (3). I like to plant in groups of 3.
Removed 2 shoots from a
Plum rootstock and jabbed those in the hedge. No idea what they'll turn into!!
Took a side shoot from a
perennial kale and, you've guessed, poked it in the ground near its parents.
Rosemary - cut the top 4-5" off the stems to keep the plant bushy, stripped the lowest leaves (for the kitchen) and planted them in a pot of compost (11 cuttings).
Apple Mint - cut the top growth from 3 long stems, stripped the lowest leaves (for the kitchen) and put the stems in water on the windowsill.
That's 32 potential free plants from half hour in the garden.
I knocked the top off (accidentally) a busy lizzie seedling, so poked it in a bit of hormone rooting pdr and bunged it in a pot, that's the nearest I got to striking cuttings today.
I'm going to keep a running total of cuttings taken and successes............not on here though or you'd be bored witless.
I took some cuttings this morning
. Some hydrangea (colour unknown), fuchsia ( colour unknown, probably the pale pink one), bugle, a red rhododendron, an unknown, a sedum of some sort.
Just dumped into water. I had to be sociable this afternoon
.
I’d be very interested how you take all your cuttings.
I'm lazy with cuttings - they either go in a bucket of water or a jam jar, dependent on size or into the soil in the garden or a pot, again size matters.
Don't bother with rooting powder and always take more than I need as insurance.
Just potted up 4 Vietnamese Coriander and 2 Cuban oregano (the furry one) - all rooted in jam jars.
I’ve never had a lot of luck with the stick’m in water approach. I usually pot them up. With rooting compound. I’ll be doing that with my new one tomorrow.
I keep buckets of water dotted around the garden. All the prunings go in the bucket and I forget about them for months. Its always a nice surprise when I find the buckets again - found some jostaberries in one last week with wonderful roots.
Think I fail because I don’t forget about them
. I’m checking every 5 minutes . Think I might try the water & forgetting. It would save compost, not potting up things that aren’t going to take.
The good thing about starting in water is that you can see if there's life - in compost you don't have a clue but you still have to care for them.