Top 10 Easiest to Grow from Cuttings

Crutland,
You said gardenia..may I ask you how you rooted the gardenia..in what medium, what type of cutting, softwood, semiripe, ripe? Thanks for the info...JanetS

I would also like to know about Gardenias

Here are some more:

lemon balm (and any mint)
St. John's Wort
many spireas

coleus
night blooming cirrus
golden pothos for sure!
brugmansia
hydrangea macrophyla
forsythia


The first four, you have to try hard to prevent their rooting! Hydrangea has always been easy for me; I lost a few this year for foolishly putting a dilute fertilizer in the cutting pot! Duh.

Peter

For those above who asked about rooting Gardenias, I root quite a few each year (usually over 100).

I have the best percentage using cuttings that are this years growth. You can easily tell because they show green stems. Where the green stem meets the older wood (often more dark green or even brown) is where you want to clip them, just beyond the node. Cuttings can be anywhere from two to 4 or 5 nodes, usually about 3 to 5 inches long.

Keep them in water when you cut them. When you are putting them in the rooting medium (I have great results using MetroMix soil) you can use Root-Tone or a liquid rooting hormone or even household cinnamon if you like.

Put them in your rooting medium and if the leaves are fairly big for the size of the cutting cut the leaves in half to help slow down any transpiration.

I do quite a few in gallon pots so you can put the pot in a plastic grocery bag; the top can easily be closed or opened, as needed, by just loosely tying the handles of the bag.

Although I use heat mats in my greenhouse you could have a great success by keeping the containers in the house if they are in a warm area (on the fridge, water heater, etc) with bottom heat.

Hope this is helpful.

Shoe.

Thanks so much for the info!
JanetS

You're welcome, JanetS.

Reading back I guess I could've gotten more specific but I believe you have the main idea.

Wishing you the best! Have fun! Gardenia's are my most favorite fragrant plant!

Shoe.

Mine too! I sent lots of cuttings out to others and was hoping someone knew more about making them work than I do....I love the way they smell...nothing smells better to me!
Have a beautiful Sunday!
JanetS

My sister has a HUGE philodendron in the backyard. It just keeps spreading and now is as tall as the roof. I'd like to snag some cuttings. Is it as easy as just cutting a leaf off, dipping it in roottone and potting it up? My brother tried that and said they all died. I didn't see how he did it though, so he may have done something wrong.

Thanks,
Megin

Megin, I have never rooted those. I would think if it is large and has low branches, the easiet way to get some to root would be to sratch the underside of the branch and lay some bricks or rocks on the branch and cover it with soil. I know I have other shrubs that really root well using this method and even some magnolia I have done this way.

Wait a minute are you talking about philodendron or Rhododendron? I was thinking Rhodo because you state is is as tall as the roof....a shrub? If so here is another way to root them....again, I use the method above with most of my shrubs or trees. http://www.donaldhyatt.com/ARSPVC/articles/rhododendroncuttings.html

IF you are talking about philodendron, then it does root very easily in soil or water, so just take some cuttings and place them in either and you should be good to go....

It's definitely a philodendron. Plants look at my sister and just grow. I have to work at it, but am learning! Okay, I"m going to get some cuttings today and see how we do! Thank you!

Megin

LOL...no problem...they are certianly easy to tell apart! You should have no problem getting the philo to root. I used to put about six small cuttings in a ten inch hanging basket and before long it is lush and beautiful! Same goes for wandering jews etc. they are so quick to fill a pot!!

wandering jew is so easy to grow from cuttings--i cut mine and throw the cuttings under the trees on the ground and let them set roots!! no digging, no special dirt etc and no watering--honest!!! sometimes i do stick the ends in dirt too but now i mostly let them just do their thing--i learned to do this when a friend said she had set some aside intending to give them away and forgot --when she remembered they had already set roots!

I don't do much of this, but have done coleus and dahlias(initial shoots off the tuber) with ease.

I'd like to know, in relation to propagation by cuttings,
1) what type of medium (soil mixtures in particular) works best for you.

I use straight perlite on anything that I haven't had luck just sticking in the mothers pot or a cup of water. I put holes in the bottom of a styrofoam cup and set the cup in a container with at least 2 inches of water in it so that the roots and perelite will wick the water up to the plant as needed.

2) When using soil mix to root cuttings, what do you look for (aside from ROOTS! ;-) ) that indicate a cutting has "taken"?

When using anything other than water, you just give a slight tug on the plant. If it hangs tight, that usually means it has roots.

3) When do you begin feeding the new cuttings; with what; how much; and how often?

I don't feed them until I pot them up.

4) How long do you wait to transplant cuttings to their permanent environment...in particular outdoor plants, specifically perennials?

If I have had experience with the plant being "easy" I pot it as soon as it has a few roots. If I don't know the plants hardiness to this system, I wait until I have lots of roots. You know this when a firm tug is resisted when you pull on the plant. To ease the plant from the perelite filled cup when the roots are large, just add lots of water to the cup and the plant will come right out.

To answer the question about Gardenias rooting habits, I have used water only with great results, perelite only with great results and sticking the plant right in the mother's pot with good results.

1.I have never had an Angelonia fail to root no matter how I did it.
2.Brugs are also very easy for me.
3.Coleus plants root very quickly.
4. Gardenias may take a little while but seldom fail to root
5. Snygoniums are just dying to be broken off and potted up
6. African violets just put a short stem in water and in a couple of days you got roots
7.Gerianiums will root in the mother pot
8. impatiens will root in the mother pot
9. pothos are a piece of cake
10. all ground covers will take off in a hurry with any medium

I take a set of plastic shelves that I bought with a 3" rim on them and turn the whole set upside down.
This gives me a place to pour water in. I place my cups with holes in the bottom on the shelves filled with perelite. I dip my cuttings in rootone and place my cuttings crowded in the cups on the shelves. I fill the shelves with water and try not to think about it for a while. I keep the trays filled with water and after a week I get antsy and start to tug on a cutting or two on each shelf. I have been Known to holler out loud like a kid when I pull a cutting out loaded with roots on it.
Charlene

Cassia
Gardenia
Spiders
Ivy
Hydrangea
Succulents
Begonia
Caladium, pieces of tuber
Jade Plant
Strawberries
Layering is easy on lots of plants, even some hardwoods and softwoods
Air layering above ground is also easy on many plants

This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 11:42 PM

My new favorite to propagate is Salvia uliginosis, bog salvia. The leaves stink to high heaven, but the flowers are a beautiful, clear blue, and it looks great in the middle of a bed. I just stick cuttings in water, and within 2 weeks they have ample roots for potting up. Then, just water the daylights out of them until they've put on some good growth. I've also done cuttings in soil, again with tons of water.

Azaleas are pretty easy: I have tons of cuttings of R. 'Stewartsonian' that I just stick in soil.

Pelargoniums are soooo easy. I take cuttings and stick them in 50/50 peat and sand into tiny pots, and then use them as gifts.

I've actually rooted an Echium candicans (Pride of Madeira), but Echiums grow very easily from seed- they germinate in about 3 days!

I also took a cutting of Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Helena's Blush', and not only did it root within a week, it's flowering after 3 weeks!

Any Oenothera (Evening Primrose) is easy from seed as well.

Here's that Euphorbia I mentioned:

Impatiens walleriana
Clerodendrun ugadense
Pothos
Key Lime
Cestrum nocturnum
Grape Ivy
African violet
Plumeria
"Cane" begonia
Various Salvia

Does anybody in warm zones start cuttings outside instead of in a heated environment?

What I've been rooting in water lately:
These are all salvias...
s. involucrata
s.involucrata x Kathy
s.involucrata x pulchella
s. Antyhony Parker
s. elegans Tangerine
s.neurepia
s.confertiflora
s. chamaedryoides
s. lemmonii
s. mexicana 'Omaha Gold'
s. mexicana 'Russell's Form'
s. mexicana 'Huntington Gardens'
s. guaranitica 'Costa Rica Blue'
s. mexicana 'Raspberry Truffle'
s. chamaedryoides x microphylla
s. Texas Red
s. microphylla 'Red Velvet'
s. microphylla 'La Trinidad Pink'
s. pennellii
s.guaranitica 'Purple Majesty'
s. guaranitica 'Jean's Purple Passion'
s. corrugata
s. dorisiana
others that I don't remember off the top of my head, but I'm trying all salvias in water now.
All of the available room in my shaded area is taken up right now, so while I have things growing on to move into the sun, I can have tons of stuff rooting in water in the house.

This message was edited Apr 23, 2008 7:21 PM

I'm just beginning to learn how to do cuttings and found out that any kind of succulent is SUPER EASY.
I just let them dry up for a week or so and stick it in regular potting soil. Piece of cake!

really? would that work for a aloe?

I would think so. I've only tried with the small succulents though....it works every time!

thanks --it is worth a try

Yea, I was wondering, what do you do in a warmer climate, w/o greenhouse, use the outside right? Or the workshop? Or inside? What's best in a warmer climate? Michelle

Thanks everyone, you have given me lots of ideas!

There's a relatively new plant at all the nurseries now in mixed planters call "Diamond Frost" Euphorbia. It is a white "filler" type of plant. I learned by accident that it roots readily in water. It was used as a filler in a live bouquet I got for my birthday last year. I didn't dump them out as soon as I should have, and when I did, The Diamond Frost already had 2 inch roots. So if you see it forsale, just buy one and put some pieces in a vase and wait about a week. LOL lou

I was never successful in getting anything to root in water. Actually, not successful with ANY cuttings so far! lol! But seriously, succulents are 100% success for me, so anyone can do it. I got hooked...everytime a see a succulent now I want to snip a little piece...

Oh and they of course go direcly outside in our warm climate. But I would love to know what I should do with all the other stuff...

I keep a bunch of empty jars and 3" pots around for when a plant gets too leggy or I break off a stem by accident. It goes in one of the jars with water and I forget about it for a few weeks until it develops some beautiful thick healthy roots. Then it goes into potting soil for a week or so and then makes a great gift. I have an over twenty year old silver queen aglaonema (my first plant - a break off stem from my mom) which has generously provided gifts for years, my other common propagators are poinsettia, any of the tradescantia (wandering jew, purple heart, moses in a basket), philodendron, and african violets.

When I moved here from Oregon last summer, I moved my most precious plants with me, and cuttings of others. One of my most precious crown of thorns, however was way too big and fragile to put in the back of the moving truck. I broke off a few bits before hitting the road and set them to dry in a planter of jade, misted them each day with the other plants during the seven day trek across the continent, and thankfully they rooted just fine when I got to Florida. One plants was bearing flowers by January!!! I was so excited!

WOW! THAT'S REALLY AWESOME! I REALLY WANT TO LEARN THIS (NOT ONLY YOU SAVE $$ BUT MOST OF ALL, IT'S SO SATISFYING...) OOPS SORRY FOR THE ALL CAPS!

So what are some of the easier to root? I find Purple Heart very easy! Michelle

coleus is my easiest

hebes, buddleja, ajuga and lungwort........... easy peesy!

Elderberry, Schefflera, anything from the mint family including perilla, euyonomous, red twig dogwood,clematis,wandering jew.

Is Carnaby Clematis easy? (I think it's a vine) Michelle

any of the clematis are easy if you put the cuttings in water and use an bubbler system on them. I learned that method on DG and it works!

Hi. What's a bubbler system? I might want to learn.... might! Do you buy it, or can you make one? Is it cheap or not cheap? Thanks, Michelle

lately..... all a bubbler system is you get an air stone (or however many containers your doing) from a pet store, some tubing and an air pump. you just hook it all up and put a stone in each container and leave the cuttings in there until they root! this one guy here somewhere on DG has a huge success rate with cuttings. some people add a 1 part peroxide to 9 parts water to the solution too.