This is how you take cuttings from plants
A good idea all year long, but most fun when it is cold and bleak outside: making babies from your plants! Nice and sustainable, affordable and a wonderful way to clear your mind. Sort of, because you have to pay just a little bit of attention. You can make cuttings in several ways and it can be done with many plants. How? This is how you take cuttings from plants.
If you have beautiful summer bloomers and you want to be sure to have them again next summer, you can take cuttings in the fall. Summer bloomers obviously cannot withstand frost. But you can also take cuttings from roses, herbs, shrubs or perennials! They can overwinter outside.
You cut shrubs in the winter. You can make cuttings for other plants all year round, except in winter.
Cut off a head section from a healthy shoot (i.e. a piece of plant with leaves) with sharp pruning shears. You make multiple cuttings from this by cutting pieces of 5 to 10 cm. Cut or trim just below a leaf or bud. Cut straight. Remove the lower leaves but leave 2 pairs of leaves. You can therefore make several cuttings from one shoot. Snappie?
Don't make too many wounds in the mother plant because they can rot there!
Do not use potting soil because it retains too much water and the cutting will rot. Use special cutting soil or soil mixed with sharp sand. You can just buy that at the hardware store.
Fill a container with the soil or several small pots. Make holes in the soil with the end of a pencil and place the cutting in it. Press firmly. Provide sufficient water but ensure that excess water can drain away. For smaller pots, you can put a plastic bag over them and tie them tightly.
Place the cuttings somewhere in the shade. Wait 4 to 5 weeks and see if the cuttings have roots or are already producing new leaves. If there is not much to see yet, put them away for a few more weeks.
If the sticks have small roots or new leaves, you can transplant them very carefully so that the roots get more space. Then wait another 3 months before planting them in the garden.
It is best to take cuttings from shrubs in winter: cut pieces from lignified shoots - not from young fresh shoots! Cut off one eye just below and above. Make cuttings of 20-35 cm.
Then proceed in the same way as described above.
With herbs it works well to make cuttings with a 'heel'. Take a woody piece of the herb. Pull off a shoot so that a small piece of bark comes with it. Cut off the top part of the shoot. Place in special cutting soil again and proceed in the same way.
You can also discard a shrub or larger plant: take a side branch (do not cut it). Make a very small cut in the side branch. Make sure the piece with the cut is in a hole. Put some soil over that piece. Place a stone on it. After about 6 months, new roots will grow under the side branch. Wait about 3 months before cutting the new plant loose from the mother plant.
