Growing new plants from cuttings is a great way to increase your stock in a relatively short time. Rooted cuttings are often sturdier than seedlings, and come to maturity faster, many of them bearing flowers and fruits much earlier than seedlings.
Plants grown from cuttings are exact clones of the parent plant, so you know exactly what you’re growing, which is not the case with seed-grown plants.
When selecting a stem from the mother-plant, you should look for young, green growth. Young stems will always root better than more mature, woodier stems.
Cut just below a node (the joint where a leaf meets the stem) with a sharp pair of scissors. As an added precaution against contamination
You could also sterilize them with rubbing alcohol.
Plants send out new roots from nodes, so by exposing some of the node's interior, you increase the chances of your new plant sending out a root from that node.
While the new plant need leaves to provide energy through photosynthesis, too many leaves will compete with the plant's efforts to send out new roots. Leaving only 2-leaves is a good option.
Following plant cuttings give excellent results.
Take 10-inch long hardwood cuttings of pencil thickness in fall and plant out in the chosen location. Water the cuttings thoroughly until winter.
Take 4-inch long tip cuttings carrying 3-4 pairs of leaves. Remove the lowest pair and trim the stem closer to the node. Insert into moist rooting medium and cover with plastic sheet. You can trim the larger-leaves by 3/4th to reduce water-loss through evaporation.
3.Geranium.
6-8 inches long cuttings can be rooted, but it helps if the parent plant is allowed to wilt slightly prior to taking the cuttings. Withdraw water for a week and then take the cuttings 12-hours after watering the plant. The rehydrated stems take root more easily.
4.Snake-plant.
2-3 inch sections of the leaf can be used to make new plants. You can thus make a large number of plants from one parent plant. The only problem with this method of propagation is that the new plants will not carry the original variegation. Sections of rhizomes should be planted to retain the variegation.
5.Rex Begonia.
All you need to grow these big-leaved beauties is a single leaf. Make a few slashes on the prominent veins on the underside of the leaf and lay it on a moist bed of peat-moss and sharp sand in equal proportions. Weight the leaf down with a few pebbles so that the cut edges remain in contact with the bed. Keep in a warm, well-lit place and watch the new plants appearing at these cut edges.
Some of the other popular plants that can be grown from cuttings include: lavender, Comfrey, Philodendrons, Holly, Fuchsia and many others.
Almost all herbs can be grown from cuttings and can be even grown in water.
Check out my other video on herbs that can be grown in water on your kitchen window-sill.
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