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Materials and Tools

How to take a cutting

Georgia Whyte

Georgia Whyte

May 27, 2013

My general impression of taking cuttings has always been that to make it work you had to cut a bit off a plant, stick it in water on a windowsill until it grew roots and then chuck it in a pot. Except that never, EVER worked for me (except with succulents, which you have to be seriously trying to sabotage for them not to grow). So I decided that growing things from cuttings is a skill that only magicians can do, and every time I wanted a cutting from a plant I got my personal magician (Grandma) to do it for me. My Grandma is 84, and I am 25. I decided it was high time I learnt how to do this myself. Plus, who doesn’t love FREE PLANTS.

some good plants to use as cuttings

You will need:
Secateurs or scissors
Potting mix
Small pots
A chopstick (trust me)
A cutting**

[**From Catherine: Some plants will strike from cuttings much more easily than others. Good ones to try are pentas, plectranthus, geranium (properly called pelargonium), begonia and salvia. Cuttings will also strike more easily during warmer weather]

Get prepared:
Water the plants you intend on using the day before
Fill your pots with potting mix and water the mix so it’s really moist

This is the leaf node you need to cut underneath

This is the leaf node you need to cut underneath

1. Once you have picked your plant, take a good chunk off it (roughly 20 centimetres) with your secateurs. Try to take the healthiest, happiest looking bit of the plant.
Getting the next bit right is all about the knobbly bits, otherwise known as leaf nodes. No matter what kind of plant you are using they will all have knobbly bits and this is what you use as the guide on how to shape your cutting.

Cut just underneath the knobbly bit

Cut just underneath the knobbly bit

 

 

2. Make your first cut UNDERNEATH a knobbly bit as shown.

This will become the base of your plant where the roots will come from.

 

Scrape the stem to expose the cambium layer

Scrape the stem to expose the cambium layer

3. To help the roots to sprout, take your secateurs and slice diagonally along the side of the cutting at the bottom.

This works because…….[Catherine: Just under the surface of the leaf node is a layer of cells called cambium. Cambium cells are a bit like human stem cells in that they can turn into other types of cells, like roots, in different environments. If you gently scrape the bottom of the cutting next to the leaf node, you expose more cambium so that it will more easily grow into roots]

Remove any flowers and some extra leaves

Remove any flowers and some extra leaves

4. Trim your cutting. If your cutting has a flower, chop it off (devastating I know, but at least you can put it in a vase).

Cut the leaves back so there are only a few sets remaining. Make sure you leave at least two or three knobbly bits, and chop the rest. Your cutting will now be about half its original size.

 

[Catherine: you need to chop of some of the leaves so your cutting doesn’t lose too much moisture. Plants lose water from their leaves, and it hasn’t got any roots yet to suck up more]

Use the chopstick to make a hole in the mix

Use the chopstick to make a hole in the mix

5. Using the chopstick, make a small hole in the potting mix about 5 centimetres deep and pop the base of your cutting into the hole. Use the chopstick to press the potting mix around the base of the cutting so that it is firmly wedged in the soil.

Then use the chopstick to firm up the mix around the stem

Then use the chopstick to firm up the mix around the stem

 

 

If you don't have many pots, you can strike several cuttings in the same pot

If you don’t have many pots, you can strike several cuttings in the same pot

 

 

 

 

6. WATER, WATER, WATER. This, as I am slowly learning, is the key to keeping things alive. Water your cuttings as soon as they’re in and position somewhere in part sun and part shade.

Water the cuttings in well with a a gentle spray

Water the cuttings in well with a a gentle spray

7. Keep an eye on them. Cuttings are like newborns – they need constant attention. You need to water them and check them every day. They may need less sun. Or, like mine, they may get slugs on them (eeeeeeew)! Slugs like dark, damp places, so move them into a lighter, brighter area. They also hate caffeine, so putting used coffee grounds around the base of your cutting will help to get rid of them (thanks Elizabeth Swane for that cheap and natural trick!).

Get excited over your cuttings

 

8. Get excited….if you are patient and dedicated enough you will end up with beautiful free plants! The jury’s still out on whether I will ‘make the cut’ (ha!) – stay tuned.

 

 

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Julie Thomson
10 years ago

Great post Georgia. If I can add just one cutting remark ….. I also find dipping the cutting stem in honey before you put it in soil also helps stimulate root growth. Honey is a natural rooting compound, anti fungal and creates a seal on the end of the stem and helps retain moisture.
Good luck.

Lorraine Paterson
Lorraine Paterson
4 years ago
Reply to  Julie Thomson

Thanks Julie. I would rather use honey than purchase a hormone enhancer.

Peter Greenstone
Peter Greenstone
10 years ago

Loved the read… xxx