How to take plant cuttings

Why am I covering how to take plant cuttings in this week’s blog?

Well, I was chatting to my neighbour Desi on the weekend and she mentioned that plant prices are expected to go up next year. She’s a professional gardener so she should know! I was alarmed. After all, I feel they already went up pretty steeply this year.

So, there couldn’t be a better moment to ‘gen’ up on all those ways we can increase the stock of plants in our garden, without having to head to our wallets or the garden centre. Especially as September is such a good time to take cuttings of a number of plants.

How to Take Plant Cuttings – First Up Know Your Plants

It really isn’t complicated to take plant cuttings but you do need to think about the plants you are taking them from. This is because the technique varies between tender perennials, larger shrubs and hardwood plants.

Not sure what your plant is? Don’t panic, I didn’t either when I started out gardening. You do get the hang of it, the more you do.

How to Take Plant Cuttings – Tender Perennials.

Tender perennials are things like penstemons, salvias, fuchsias, pelargoniums and verbenas.

As the name suggests, while they broadly come back year after year, they can be tender and suddenly die on you, if the winter is too harsh.

However, the good news is that all of these beauties root really easily and quickly.

Step 1

one of the secrets of how to take plant cuttings is having a 50:50 mix of compost and grit or perlite

First, prepare the pots or containers that the cuttings will go into. You need a gritty compost or compost mixed with perlite. The ratio should be about 50:50. Having a mix like this provides drainage and aerates the soil. As the big killer for cuttings is rotting!

Step 2

how to take tender perennial plant cuttings is pretty easy - just make sure you cut the cutting below a leaf node

Take your cutting. You want non-flowering side shoots. So these will typically be growing at 45 degrees on the plant. Cut them off with sharp secateurs (or I use scissors) just below a leaf node (where leaves are growing from the stem). This is where the plant hormones are really concentrated apparently. You want your end cutting to be about 8-10cm long.

Step 3

Remove the lower leaves of the cutting carefully – you don’t want to damage it. Just leaving a pair of leaves at the top.

Step 4

one of the secrets of how to take plant cuttings is to use rooting powder. To make it stick on the cutting I dip it in water like this first

Dip the base of your cutting in water then into rooting compost.

Step 5

Use a knife or a pencil to create a gap in your compost mix then quickly pop your cutting into the hole and firm the compost gently around it.

How to take plant cuttings isn't complicated, but take care when putting the tender cutting in its pot. Use a knife like this to create room for the cutting

Water it well letting the spare water drain away and the foiliage dry. Again you don’t want soggy leaves as that will encouraging rotting. If I’ve lots of time and patience I sometimes let the pot soak up water from below, so that the cutting itself doesn’t get disturbed too much.

When thinking about how to take plant cuttings don't forget to water your cuttings well but don't keep them so wet they rot — *These cuttings are soaking up water from below*

I typically use a large-ish pot and put several cuttings in each. Taking care that their leaves don’t touch. This is a good idea as otherwise you are devoting a lot of compost to one cutting – and not all of the cuttings will necessarily take. Well mine don’t!

Step 6

The experts say you should then place the pot in a propagator, or put a clear polythene bag over the pot – taking care that the bag doesn’t touch the cuttings. I’m not very good with the polythene bag malarkey so I have a propagator type pot. But I have also successfully raised cuttings without a bag or a propagator. So as with most aspects of gardening I’d suggest if you don’t have a propagator or bag you still give it a go.

Pelargoniums in particular don’t need a bag or a propagator to thrive. So if you’ve some gorgeous specimens like those below, what are you waiting for, take some cuttings.

Step 7

*Salvia Cuttings* *in my small propagator pot*

Put the cuttings in a well lit spot but not in direct sunlight. So a bright windowsill is fine. If you’ve put a bag around your cuttings remove it each day to shake off the spare moisture and let the air in. Otherwise it will become a damp fug and yes, you guessed it, you’ll encourage the dreaded rotting!

Step 8

In about 6-8 weeks your cutting should have rooted. Hurrah! Then pot them on to larger containers. Overwinter them in the greenhouse, conservatory or keep them on that window ledge (poor Mr F-W is permanently surrounded by my cuttings). Then harden off in spring ready for planting out.

How to Take Plant Cuttings – Shrubs

Hebes like this one are good contenders for gardeners wanting to learn how to take plant cuttings — *Hebes root well from cuttings*

There are lots of shrubs you can take cuttings from. Hebe, choisya, lavender, hydrangea, rosemary and philadelphus all root well. This is good news as with the erratic weather we’ve had in the past year I think a lot of my shrubs – especially the hebe, and lavender are a bit vulnerable. So having cuttings is a good insurance policy.

The technique is exactly the same as I’ve described for perennials. Just make sure you choose a healthy cutting from a strong stem and make sure it hasn’t flowered.

Although the technique is the same, I’ve found that lavender and rosemary in particular are tricky to get going. For these some people suggest you take a heel cutting. All this means is that you again choose a side shoot that is growing from the main stem. But instead of cutting you carefully tear it off. You need to make sure it retains a small sliver of bark from the main stem. That bit is known as a ‘heel’.

Everything else in terms of handling the cutting is then as before. It works well. I’ve replaced a few of the lavender plants in my line of lavenders above, through growing my own cuttings.

How to Take Plant Cuttings – Hardwoods

*My Honeysuckle Rhubarb and Custard – a prime candidate for cuttings*

Hardwood cuttings are best taken from September to mid-winter, just after leaves have fallen.

Good candidates for cuttings include roses, cornus, jasmine, deutzia, buddleja, viburnum, weigela, forsythia and honeysuckle, plus fruit bushes like fig, black, red and white currants, blackberry and gooseberry.

Wow…imagine all the plants you can create for yourself – or your friends. And all the money you can save.

However, the process is slightly different than for perennials.