Succeeding with cuttings

What to understand before starting

• A bright spot but WITHOUT direct sun (full sun dries the cutting out before it can root).
• Pots with DRAINAGE holes, and a light, free-draining medium: potting compost lightened with a handful of sand or perlite, never the heavy clay soil of the garden.
• A clean, well-sharpened blade (knife or secateurs): a clean cut heals, a crushed one gets infected.
• The right season, which depends on the type of cutting.
• Optional, a homemade ‘helping hand’: true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), an aloe vera plant, or willow shoots (see step 5, with its limits).

Detailed steps

1. Step 1

   1. Choose the parent plant and the shoot

   Take from a healthy, vigorous plant. For most woody plants, choose a half-ripe (semi-ripe) shoot of the current year, firm to the fingers but still supple, from the thickness of a pencil to that of a finger. Remove flowers, buds and fruit: contrary to what some ‘miracle’ videos promise, a cutting does not ripen its fruit, you take off flowers and fruit precisely so that all its energy goes to the roots (Virginia Tech Extension; University of Georgia Extension).

2. Step 2

   2. Cut in the right place

   Cut cleanly, in a single stroke, just below a node (the swelling from which leaves and buds emerge): that is where roots start most readily. A length of 8 to 15 cm suits most cases.

3. Step 3

   3. Reduce the foliage

   Remove the great majority of the leaves; keep only 2 or 3 small ones at the top. Every leaf kept pumps out water that the cutting, having no roots, cannot replace. Large leaves (fig, hydrangea) are cut in half with scissors to reduce transpiration further (RHS; WSU Extension).

4. Step 4

   4. Wound the base (especially for woody plants)

   Over 1 to 2 cm at the base, nick or peel a little bark to expose the green tissue (the cambium). This wound increases the surface from which roots will emerge and triggers a reaction from the plant: a build-up of auxin and sugars and the production of ethylene, all signals that stimulate rooting. It is particularly decisive for hard-to-root species (holly, camellia, rhododendron) (RHS; University of Florida IFAS).

5. Step 5

   5. A natural helping hand, optional, and not to be overrated

   Three homemade aids are widely shared; here is what they are really worth. ROOTING HORMONE: willow water (willow shoots soaked for several hours) provides a natural auxin (IBA) and salicylates, an effect shown as early as the 1950s (C. E. Hess) and found again in recent trials, but a modest one; aloe vera gel has shown a real but VERY variable effect depending on the species (sometimes comparable to a synthetic hormone, sometimes nil). Neither reliably matches a synthetic hormone (IBA) on stubborn species. PROTECTION: true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is a documented antifungal (cinnamaldehyde; effective in vitro against Fusarium, Botrytis…), a light DRY dusting on the cut can limit rot, but it is NOT a rooting agent, and diluted in water its effect fades fast. Bear in mind: none of this is essential, success rests mainly on the other steps.

6. Step 6

   6. Set it in the soil

   Fill a pot WITH drainage holes with the light medium. Make a hole, slip in the base of the cutting without burying it deep, firm just enough to hold it upright. You can put 2 or 3 per pot. Water gently until water runs out of the bottom.

7. Step 7

   7. Keep it under cover, in soft light

   Cap the pot with a clear plastic bag or a cut-off bottle: this mini-greenhouse keeps the air humid and prevents drying out. Air it for a few minutes every 2 to 3 days to prevent mould. Place it all in bright light but NEVER in direct sun, and keep the medium moist without ever waterlogging it (RHS; WSU Extension).

8. Step 8

   8. Be patient, check without pulling up, pot on

   Depending on the species, roots often take 3 to 8 weeks (more for woody plants). Do not tug or dig up to ‘see’: you would break the young roots. Two reliable signs announce success, new leaves at the top and a slight resistance when you pull very gently. Then pot on during dull weather or in the evening, without breaking the root ball, and protect from sun and wind for a few days while it acclimatises. Always take several cuttings at once: nature picks the best ones.

Concrete examples

• Softwood / soft-stem cutting (late spring–summer): basil, mint, geranium (pelargonium), coleus, fuchsia, hydrangea, chrysanthemum, a soft shoot that roots fast.
• Semi-ripe / semi-woody cutting (late summer–early autumn): lavender, rosemary, sage, bay laurel, blackcurrant, redcurrant, box, rose, base starting to harden, tip still supple.
• Hardwood / ripened cutting (autumn–winter, dormant plant): willow, poplar, dogwood, grapevine, fig, mulberry, currant, a dormant, lignified shoot, set in the soil or heeled in.
• Leaf cutting: succulents (echeveria, sedum, jade plant), Begonia rex, sansevieria, saintpaulia (African violet), a single leaf, or even a fragment, regenerates a whole plant.
• Root cutting (in winter): comfrey, raspberry, horseradish, Oriental poppy, Japanese anemone, a section of root is enough (comfrey is propagated this way, see its entry).
• Take cuttings without labouring in vain: fig, grapevine, redcurrant, blackcurrant and willow root easily.

How long before I see roots?

Most often 3 to 8 weeks, sometimes more for woody plants, and up to several months for some succulent leaves. The watchword is patience: do not dig up to check.

Water or soil?

Water for soft plants (mint, basil, tradescantia…) is simple and pretty. For woody plants and fruit trees, prefer soil: the roots are sturdier and establishment is better.

Do I really need a rooting hormone?

Not for easy plants. For stubborn ones, a synthetic hormone (IBA) helps markedly; the homemade versions (willow water, aloe gel) have a real but variable effect, never guaranteed.

Cinnamon, does it really work?

As an antifungal (limiting rot at the cut), yes, a little, dusted on dry, using true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum). As a ‘rooting agent’, no: it does not make roots grow.

Can I take a cutting from my apple tree?

In practice, no: apple trees (like pears, cherries, peaches) root very poorly; they are grafted. Keep cuttings for fig, grapevine, redcurrant, blackcurrant, willow and aromatics.