By spring, you can create your own personal nursery of plants by taking a few cuttings from the garden at this time of year.
Propagating by cuttings may be a satisfying procedure, regardless of whether you give the products of your snip and stick project away or plant them.
Neil Bell, a horticulture with the Oregon State University Extension Service, has good news despite the fact that some information sources can be frightening.
He answered, “I do a lot of them at home.” I don’t utilize bottom heat or even a greenhouse. This implies that the typical gardener only needs a tray, a good medium, a small amount of rooting hormone, and a spot to keep the plants out of the way to successfully propagate their own plants.
Although they are useful, greenhouses are not required. If you have the space in your home to install a system, using bottom heat might also be beneficial. However, Bell has a fair amount of success keeping his cutting trays outside in a protected spot.
According to him, not every cutting will take and develop roots, but enough will to justify the effort. If you have never propagated via cuttings, try one or two trays; you will undoubtedly receive some plants from your efforts. A tray can hold up to 100 to 125 cuttings.
He argued there was no reason to make things more complicated. You’ve succeeded even if you only manage 10% rooting, and you can usually do much better.
Although there are many plants that can be propagated from hardwood cuttings in October and November, some popular ones are rhododendron, hydrangeas, Portland grape (Mahonia aquifolium), mock orange (Philadelphus), redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea), rock rose (Cistus), manzanita (Arctostaphylos), hebe, cotoneaster, barberry (Berberis), pyracanth, and rosemary. Cuttings done now are a fantastic way to protect your half-hardy shrubs, like salvia, from winter damage.
Bell s recommendations for taking hardwood cuttings
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You ll need clean small clippers (the sharper the better), clean 3- to 4-inch deep tray, rooting hormone, tight-fitting gloves to protect hands against prickles and hormone, and a soilless mixture of 80% perlite and 20% peat moss. If you ve used the tray before, wash with soap and water or a mild bleach solution and let it dry thoroughly.
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Start with a healthy plant. Those stressed by disease, pests or drought will have a high failure rate.
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Fill tray with perlite-peat moss mixture.
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The easiest cuttings to take are shoot tips from strong-growing twigs. Cut the twig about 3 to 4 inches long, which will leave a cutting with at least a couple of nodes (where the leaves and buds attach to the stem). With deciduous cuttings, make sure to keep track of the top and bottom of the cutting: buds on the shoot always point to the tip. If you can t tell which side is up, cut the tip at an angle and the bottom straight.
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Bundle them up and take them to your workstation. Remove bottom foliage from the cutting, leaving two leaves or leaf buds at the top. If they have berries or fruit, remove those, too. Be careful not to tear the bark. If the plant is evergreen and has large leaves like a rhododendron, cut off half of each leaf.
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Snip off a bit from the bottom of the stem to refresh the cut. Dip the bottom end of the stem in rooting hormone and stick in the tray one-half to 1 inch apart. Press soil around the cutting.
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Apply water so that the mixture is thoroughly moist but not sopping wet.
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Place in a sheltered spot where the cuttings get the most shelter you can provide.
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If it doesn t rain or the cuttings are under an eave, keep them watered.
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When the forecast predicts freezing weather, bring the trays inside. Put them out as soon as the temperature comes back above 32 degrees.
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Don t worry if leaves start to fall off; it s natural. But clean them out of the tray to keep them from rotting and causing disease.
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In late March or early April, tug on a couple of the cuttings. If they don t budge, they ve rooted. If so, transplant them into a 4- or 6-inch pot, depending on the size of cutting. If more roots have grown than will fit in the pot, don t be afraid to trim them.
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Extension Service at OSU
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