List of Plants to Take Cuttings On

Hello Everyone,

I thought it would be nice if we could all list here the plants that we know will root from cuttings taken and any special care they might require. Do you use hormone, just root in water, stick directly in the dirt, etc.?

Please share your knowledge!

coleus-root in water
Sedums-stick stems in the ground-just love this one!!!!!!!!!
Curly twig willow-root in water

Annuals I know of:

Coleus, yes thank you Marcia
Impatiens

Succulents:
monadenium (allow cut to dry and then plant)
string of pearls (in water)
string of bananas ((I have had success directly planting into good cacti/succulent mix)
stapelia grandiflora (must let cut area dry and then plant)
epiphyllium (sp) - allow to dry and plant also
jade (water)
kalanchoe (water)

Perennials I'm currently trying:
Esperanza (water, I've heard it roots very well)
Vitex (Chaste Tree)
Arabian Jasmine
Bower Vine

Plants that can be rooted of a long creeper directly in the ground:
Passiflora

I've got many more to experiment with!

K do you root the impatiens in water or soil?

Water...only takes a few days

My Brug cuttings root in water.

Persian shield in soil
begonia in soil
crown of thorns leave out for a day then plant in soil
I'm presently trying polka dot, looks good after 3 days.

knowland, I'm glad you started this thread, it's hard for me to just throw away stems when I'm pruning.

I have a piece of shell ginger, Alpinia, in some water, don't know if it will root.

I've rooted Shrimp plant in water. I'm trying to root a piece of Gaura (Flying Butterflies) right now in water. It looks like it's going to take.

I describe myself as having a problem...I can't throw cuttings away and I can't help but walk thru any nursery I may be near (like I really need to BUY new plants!...which I do). I try to root most of my cuttings in soil, kept moist, and in a bright "shady" area. I've had success with:
Russian Sage
Salvia Greggii
Texas Sage (a little slow at rooting)
Artemesia, Powis Castle
Butterfly Bush
Pencil Plant (use ashes or water to stop the flow of sap)
Kalanchoe
Red Thread
Polka Dot
Night blooming Jasmine (jasminium sambac)

Rooting on:
Desert Rose
Santolina
Crape myrtle

Hi Dogmansis,
I have many of the plants you mentioned, but could you please explain how you take the cuttings. Where do you make a cut for example ect. I'd love to try to plant some cuttings, but I've never done this before.
Thanks for any additional info.

Hi superk!
The basic rule of thumb for taking cuttings is to have two leaf nodes below the soil and two leaf nodes above. Cut off any new growth from the top of the cutting, especially any flowers it may have, but be sure to leave at least the growth on the 2 leaf nodes above the soil.(I hope I'm not too confusing on that part). Remove the growth from the leaf nodes that will be buried. Your cutting should only be a few inches long when you put it in the soil. I've used rooting hormone on plants that I think may be difficult to root, like the two fig tree cuttings I started on June 22...new leaves this morning!!... so figs will also root from cuttings. Two others I forgot (don't know how 'cause they're so easy)...scented geraniums (real easy in soil) and bougainvilla, I used RH on that one. I've given so many rose scented geraniums away (good house warming plant) I just can't believe I forgot those!
Anyway, last year during the propagating class (to become a Master Gardener) we learned a pretty fool-proof way to propagate from cuttings. Take a 10" bulb pot (not as tall as a regular pot) and fill with potting soil. I use 3 parts peat moss/ 1 part perlite. Get a 2 1/2" clay pot, plug the hole in the bottom, put it in the center of the soil, burying it to almost the top. Moisten the soil, fill the clay pot w/ water (keep it filled) and insert your cuttings.
Texas A&M came up w/ the dimensions and it works GREAT! You don't want to burn your new cuttings so don't put them in direct sunlight, but they will appreciate some light. Dappled shade is good. I do most of my "plant stuff" outside (I have a greenhouse) but usually just keep my cuttings outside (too hot inside in the summer!!).
Speaking of A&M, my oldest daughter will be leaving for there next month, but she's going to the campus in Corpus Christi. If you EVER get the chance to see the campus, I highly reccomend (?) it. It is a gardeners' heaven!! I found a tree there (just one) w/ beautiful red flower clusters, and lots of dried seed pods, which I took a bunch...shared 'em w/ my fellow MGers. Of the 12 I planted, I now have 10!! Don't know yet what it is!
Anyway, didn't mean to get so long. This will help! Give it a try!! and enjoy. Oh, BTW, I also say "grow & prosper" when I insert the cuttings!!

Luck to you! Debbie

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 11:21 AM

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 11:26 AM

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 11:28 AM

Debbie,
Thank you so much for the info. Can't wait to give this a try. Also, I have been to the A&M campus, but it was in the winter months. Maybe I'll swing by there over the weekend and check out the flora and fauna. Thanks again! Caroline.

My butterfly weed, A. tuberosa rooted in the ground. Someone said to sear? the end with a lighter and stick it in the ground, it worked!

dogmansis, I'm not understanding about the 2 1/2" clay pot, why do you put it into the large pot? What is the purpose of the large pot if you put the cuttings in the small one? Do you put it inside a plastic bag or cover it, for humidity? Help!!!!

barbur, I was trying not to be too confusing (notice the editing?!). The purpose of the smaller pot is to release moisture to the soil that the cuttings are in. When we did it as a class, everyone brought cuttings of their stuff and we all shared...it was great!... First we FILLED the 10" bulb pot w/ soil, dug a hole in the center and put the 21/2" clay pot in the hole. You put the cuttings into the soil around the little pot. The right amount of moisture is released from the clay pot to the cuttings, and voila! New plants! I don't cover it. Just be sure to keep the little clay pot full of water, very important! (don't forget to plug the hole in the bottom w/ putty or something!). Use the right dimension pots...The Aggies figured it out juuussstt right!!

dogmansis....that's a really interesting idea. Are there particular plants that we should try when using this method?

I say try anything you want! Succulents rooted very well from a "leaf" of the plant. I got my "mama" rose geranium from the class, so it does great too, I also grow patchoulli and this method works for them too. During the class, we were told we could propagate anything, and by golly, I'm gonna find out if that's true!!

Well, I'm certainly going to try as well! Sounds like a fun project.

Geraniums are by far the easiest to propagate by cutting in my opinion. I have several plants from one plant that fell off a bench and was just mangled. I stuck each piece in dirt and they all survived, even though I left for a 35 day trip to the UK the next day, and my plants didn't exactly get the attention I needed while gone.

Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera) is also very easy. Break a segment as small as one leaf or as large as you want, let it dry over night, put it in water or directly in moist soil.

Do things like Spider plant babies and Strawberry creepers count as cuttings?

Thanks Dogmansis, now I understand. I'm anxious to try it.

Has anyone tried to root Duranta? I'm not having much luck.

K, there's a prop method called air layering, where you take a long branch, bend it to the ground, scratch the bark a little, dig a little trench, lay it in there, lay a brick on it to keep it there and remind you where it is. That's some long sentence there! Does it make sense?
This might work on Duranta.


I'm editing this becaue I think it's more accurately called trench layering

This message was edited Jul 17, 2006 3:22 PM

Yup....that makes good sense. You can propagate passiflora this way as well. That's sure worth a try for Duranta...I just love that stuff.

debbie....on the polka dot plant do you use rooting hormone....do you use the 10 inch pot method??

My cutting of the Gaura (flying butterflies) is rooting in water now.

Dancy, I have never heard of Gaura but just looked it up. That's beautiful!

K I love it! I have both white and pink in my rock garden. I'm rooting some for my Mother's garden too.
Lin

Really pretty. I've not seen around these parts.

I am going to try my hand at propagating for the first time this year. I'm going to take a cutting from my hydrangea and from all the different coleus. Am also going to save seed from some of my annuals for next year. How mature should a shrub be before you take a cutting? I'd like to propagate some of my shrubs for my neighbor, but I just planted them this year and they are small. Tamara

In my experience, use the harder wood from your shrubs. Coleus roots very well and I'm saving seeds from some of my annuals too. Coreopsis, zinnias, cosmos, foxglove. I think this is the way to go! And I love being able to take cuttings to share wth my friends and neighbors.

sticks_n_stones, I did use RH on the polka dot plant cuttings, but I rooted them in 6-packs (reuse,recycle!). I made sure I kept the soil moist and kept them out of the sun until they started showing growth. I grow them under trees, so they don't get much direct sunlight. I'm using the 10" pot method to TRY to propagate some pony tail palms, desert rose and 2 other succulents I don't know the names of. I've heard the way to propagate pony tail palms is from seed, but mine have never flowered (didn't know they did!)...my oldest is 16yrs old and fixin' to go to college w/ my 18 yr old daughter. I have another for my other daughter (15 yrs old next Mon, the daughter!) and it, too, will go to college!

Dogmansis, I've already done my own pony tail palm and it's already getting babies. It was only an inch when I took it from the parent plant, just growing off the bulb. In a year it has had to be moved to a 1 gallon pot and just keeps growing, and growing and growing. I started in filtered shade but gradually worked out to full sun and BOY, did it ever take off.

I also have a desert rose. Love succulents. Have you posted your unidentified succulents on the cacti and succulent forum for id? Those guys are great over there and you will have answers within 30 minutes, guaranteed. In particular, another DG'er named "malstrom" (I may have misspelled that) is a desert rose EXPERT....I'm not kidding. This guy really knows what he is doing and has some posts of what a really overgrown desert rose can look like. They're awesome. Take a peek if you get a chance. If you have pics. send them on. I love to see new succulents!

Kristi, Gaura grows soooo easily from seed. If you ever get just one plant, it will reseed and you'll have lots to move here and there and to share too. You can just stick a Coleus cutting in the ground and it will grow. Same with most Salvias.

Hey there......K so I've been watching this link for a while to see how much success is out there. I want to take a cutting off my neighbors yellow trumpet vine and was curious if this technique would work. I love all this new stuff.
Lesh

Hi Alesha, I would try both ways. Rooting in water and the layering in dirt method. Ya never know! I don't have any of that vine so I've never tried. But those sure are pretty.

Ceejay...thanks for the info on the Gaura....those are so pretty and I have never seen them before.

Ceejay I have several salvias. You mean I can just take a cutting and plant it and it will become a new plant? Like Coleus. ?
Lin

It may depend on which kind, but I don't think it matters. Which kind do you have? I just take a cutting like I would for in a pot, and stick it in the ground (two or three nodes below ground, two or three above), cut off excess leaves (you want some, but not a whole bunch) and water well. It will wilt, but you'll be amazed when you start seeing new growth. Do several, some may not make it. It's so easy. I haven't tried it on greggii, but don't see why not.

I think I could have said, yes like coleus. LOL

Thanks! I'll try several. I do have Greggii and I'll try it too and see what happens. This sure would be an easy way of having more! ;)

Greggii roots very easily from cuttings. It also will reseed...I started w/ one red salvia, now have more than I need!...thinking of lining the driveway...