The best way to fill your garden with beautiful flowers, herbs, and other plants is to start with cuttings and grow them from there. Begin by taking cuttings from your own plants or requesting them from friends. Softwood, greenwood, semi-hardwood, and hardwood plant cuttings are the four basic types of plant cuttings that can be found. Here are the 19 best plants to propagate from cuttings, which you can discover by reading on. The plants are divided into four groups, and each group is followed by a section with information on how to grow the plants in question.
Cuttings of Softwood
New growth in the spring or early summer is used to make softwood cuttings. Dogwoods, for example, readily take root from such cuttings.
Aster: Nearly 600 different species of aster can be found in North America.
Butterfly Bush: Cuttings of this plant take quickly and easily.
Chrysanthemum: Colors range from gold to white to off-white to yellow to bronze (rust). Chrysanthemums—also known as mums—come in a wide range of floral hues.
Hydrangeas: bloom on “old wood,” or branches that have been around for at least a year.
Rose: Propagating roses from cuttings is a beautiful and classic method. It can also be classified as hardwood (see below).
Salvia: In addition to scarlet, these plants can be found in shades of pink, salmon, purple, lavender, burgundy, and orange.
Cuttings from Greenwood
Cuttings from plants with non-woody stems, known as “greenwood,” are called “herbaceous.” Because they lack woody stems, all annual plants are herbaceous.
Boxwood: is a common shrub with light-green leaves and a compact, rounded form.
Dahlia: There are over 20,000 cultivars of dahlias.
Gardenia: This type of white flower is known as a gardenia.
Cuttings of Semi-Hardwood
It’s tougher and more mature to cut semi-ripe cuttings. From mid-summer to fall, they’re most commonly taken. Cuttings from semi-ripe plants, such as camellias and honeysuckles, often take root quickly.
Azalia: A favorite flowering plant is an azalea, which is one of the most popular.
Camellia: The large, brilliant flowers of the camellia plant have made it a popular garden ornament.
Honeysuckle: is a well-known and widely grown ornamental bush.
Plants and Hardwood Cuttings
These include deciduous shrubs, climbers, and fruits like gooseberries, as well as trees and shrubs.
Angel’s Trumpet: The white trumpet-shaped flowers that grow on vines are known as Angel’s Trumpet.
Others fall into one or more of the four categories of plants that are good at producing from cuttings. Aside from carnation family members such as dianthus, geraniums, jade, rosemary, and veronica, there are a number of other types of flowers that are commonly referred to as “pinks.”
The following are some helpful tidbits and hints
The mother plant is the one that gives you cuttings. Find a thriving plant for your home or garden. It’s easier to propagate non-woody plants. If the mother plant is not too small, removing one or more cuttings will not cause harm or death.
Tip cuttings should be taken from green, non-woody stems. Woody stems, on the other hand, are more difficult to root. When looking for a node, look for a stem that has a node on it. It resembles a stem joint and is where new roots will grow. Make a clean cut just below a node with alcohol-sterilized scissors or a razor blade. Even a single node with only a few leaves will suffice; a much longer cut will be wasteful.
The process of cutting
Place the cutting on a hard, flat surface and cut cleanly through the node’s middle after removing a piece of the stem. The nodes on the stems of plants are where new roots emerge. When cutting at the node, you have an increased chance of rooting your cutting successfully.
All that’s left are a couple of small leaves. As yet, the cutting is unable to take in any nutrients from the roots that it does not yet possess. Too many leaves, on the other hand, will deplete the plant’s ability to produce new roots. Cut the leaves in half if they are too large for the stem.
Using Cuttings in Planting
Soilless potting mix can be used to hold the cutting in a clean plant pot or container. In comparison to garden soil, a soilless mix drains more efficiently and provides a moist but not soggy environment. There are pathogens in the garden soil that could kill the cutting before it even has a chance to grow. Just a small container and some potting soil are all that is needed. You’ll be moving the cuttings to a new pot once they’ve taken root.
Poke holes in the potting mix with a pencil or other pointed object. The rooting hormone will remain on the plant stem cutting if holes are drilled in the rooting medium. Increasing the chances of rooting the cuttings. Before you start rooting, know that a few of your plants will die. Once you’ve made holes in your potting mix, carefully insert the cuttings into each one and gently press the soil down around them. Several cuttings can be placed in a single container, but they should be spaced apart so that the leaves do not touch.
