How to Root Plant Cuttings

Plant cuttings can be a great way to acquire a plant that might be too expensive to buy from a nursery. It's also a great way to expand your plant population by propagating from your own plants. But putting plant cuttings in cups of water on your windowsill can be messy and may not work as well. So here are a few steps that will help you to ensure that your new plants will survive.

Self-Watering Propagation Tub

Instead of cups of water on the windowsill, a propagation tub will help you to not only plant a lot of clippings, but will help ensure their survival. To make this tub, start with any wood, aluminum or galvanized pail. Drill or punch a small hole in the side about 3 inches below the top and insert a tube to drain off excess water. Stand a piece of 3/4 in. or 1 in. pipe in the pail at the side opposite the drain hole. Next, fill the pail with washed gravel or washed crushed stone to a level just below the drain hole and cover with a piece of burlap or fly screen.

Fill the remainder of the pail with well-washed sharp sand. Pound with a brick or stone to make it firm and compact. Pour water into the vertical pipe until it flows out the drain hole. It should not be necessary to water more than twice a week.

How to Take Cuttings

When you cut clippings from a plant, you don't want to hack at it with dull scissors; you can damage both the clippings and the donor plant. Using a very sharp knife or scissors, make the cutting about 2 inches long. If shorter, they are hard to handle; if longer, they may wilt. Leave the foliage on the clipping.

You may have to experiment a bit to determine how mature the cuttings should be before trying to root them. If they are too soft and succulent, they probably will wilt. If they are too hard and starting to get woody, as in the case of shrubs and evergreens, they will take too long to root.

Inserting Cuttings

With a knife, cut a slit in the sand about 1-inch deep, using a 2 inch wide stripe of wood as a guide. Into this slit, place the cuttings 1-inch deep and 1/2 in. apart. When row is complete, firm sand around base of cutting by pounding a wooden slat with a hammer. This helps eliminate air pockets. When you have filled tub or used up all your cuttings, place the tub in a shaded place beneath a tree or shrub or on the north side of a building. Avoid very windy or drafty places as the cuttings may wilt. Cuttings should root in from 10 days to three weeks.

Care After Rooting

Now that you have your new garden started, you need to insure your clippings survive. When the roots are about 1/2 in. long, dig them out carefully, don't pull. Don't let cuttings dry out either; keep them shaded with a moist newspaper or peat moss while planting.

Since most of the new plants will be rather slow getting started, plant them away from large, established plants. Some of the cuttings may be potted in 2-1/2 or 3 inch clay pots, which can be plunged to their tops in sand, peat or weathered sawdust. Shade potted cuttings under cheesecloth, muslin or even snow fencing.

A good potting mixture to use consists of two-parts soil and one part peat moss and can be combined at home. Once plants start growing in the pots, fertilize with a complete fertilizer about every two months during the growing season. Make sure you follow the directions on the package.

Now that you successfully started your new garden, continue to have fun adding new and exciting plants.