Tips to enhance cuttings' survival

[danielgraves]

I don't seem to have success with cuttings. I had 3 cuttings of bigleaf hydrangeas and 2 died already. The last one does not very well. It could be any these reasons, over water, expose to sun too early (I brought it out to the sun (2-3 hrs a day) after 2 weeks in shade).

I need to propagate bigleaf hydrangeas and Dragon Wing Begonia. Do you have any tips to enhance the cuttings' survival rate? Thanks

I find them a bit hit and miss. I try to take several of one type, at a time and keep them in a shaded part of the greenhouse until they’ve made roots and new leaves begin to appear.
Some plants respond better than others. Like you I’m trying to have success with Hyfrangeas.

Hydrangeas *

Hi,
Are you dipping the base of the stem in a growth hormone powder before putting it in gritty compost?

I do that, doesn’t make much difference.

I repotted a hydrangea cutting yesterday that I took from my dad's garden; it's grown some lovely new leaves and there were roots visible when I turned it out of the original pot.
I can't quite remember but think we did use rooting gel. I put a plastic bag over it held off the leaves with some small stakes then clipped the bottom of the bag so it wouldn't blow off but there was some air flow. It stayed like that against a North-facing wall for several weeks and has slowly been getting bigger. I probably watered it 2 or 3 times over a couple of months, the bag kept it nice and moist. I'm a bit scared to put it in the sun though! It's now in a plastic propagator thing in the same place.
Photos below from mid-July when it was a month or so old, and today.

Not sure if any of this helps, but I wish you good luck!

Wow that looks impressive for a cutting, thanks for inspiration. I'm going to read up & give it a go.

Misting cuttings with a hand held sprayer is helpful for most cuttings if not using a plastic bag to increase the humidity.

Take lots of cuttings, chop off the bottom horizontally just below a leaf node. Take off/ cut all the leaves till you have a leaf area about the size of a postage stamp at the top, arrange them around the outer edge of a pot of well draining compost, water, put the whole thing in a plastic bag and tie the top to seal (make sure the bag is big enough to give the cuttings room and so they don't touch the sides too much), check every month and remove anything that's rotted. After about 6 months you should see roots coming out of the bottom - that's the signal that you can pot up your new plants.

Hormone rooting powder apparently has a shelf life of only a year - once I found that out, I stopped buying it. It hasn't had any effect on my success.

Meredint very useful post, thanks. I had no idea about rooting powder shelf life, just been to check mine but no date on it. However, I know its ancient so I've binned it. I'm keen to try some hydrangea cuttings imo they're much under rated.

I think keeping the humidity right and having them somewhere cool and shaded is key. I've got a great windowsill that's perfect - and if it's a tricky cutting I'll put a plastic bag over it.

I've also got a damp shady corner outside where cuttings are doing really well.

Had a fair amount of success with rooting in glasses of water too.

That's clearly why I've not had much luck, I've always put them on a window ledge in a sunny spot.

I do water rooting as well. At least you can see when the roots emerge. I’ve had most success with sage, mint, tradescantia, geraniums and carnations. The can rant ion was from a special bouquet, it’s now a large plant and I’ve taken several cuttings from that.

• Carnation. Can rant ion, most strange auto correct!

I put my cuttings into a plastic box with a lid rather than a plastic bag. I find that the plastic bag inevitably touches the leaves which leads to rotting. Also there is less (zero) water loss from the bottom of the pot.

I use half compost and half perlite mix.

I do use rooting powder that’s about 5 years old. If it helps it helps. If it doesn’t then it’s my placebo!

I take a cutting just below a leaf node and nick a layer the skin on the side to expose as much of the cadmium?? to the soil as possible. That way more hormones will flood the area and more likely to get roots growing.

Make sure that you take out the growing tip. Your cutting should be a dead end.

As previous poster said your leaves that remain on the plant should be really small. I cut all mine in at last half.

As previous poster said I put mine in a light area but out of direct sunlight.

Don’t take it out of the box/bag until you see new growth and even a few roots out the bottom.

Always plant the cutting against the side of the pot - that way there is less soil around it and less chance of the wet soil rotting it.

Mostly I find sheer dumb luck does it. Some things just don't take ftom a cutting and some are dead easy.

I cut mine with a razor blade diagonally which seems to work, and use old rooting compound.

I've had quite a bit of success with salvia cuttings using the edge of the pot, plastic bag, misting several times a day technique but none of my hydrangea cuttings have taken. After watching something on YouTube I'm now trying them in a clear plastic ikea box as recommended by a previous poster. I'm also trying a much grittier potting medium 🤞

This is my salvia guaranitica growing happily from a cutting. Wish my hydrangeas would be as successful 😶🌱

Also there is less (zero) water loss from the bottom of the pot. That's why I put the pot in the bag rather than putting a bag over the pot.

cadmium = cambium. The bit just under the bark where all the food and water transport happens.

My mother used to do vine and rose cuttings by just sticking them in the ground. I'm not recommending it as a method. But some things root far more easily than others - willow, for example, and forsythia. You have to be careful what you make your pea-sticks from!

Black currants root if you just stick them in the ground.

MereDint & BarkingHat

Monty Don quote "Gardening is easy, stick it in the ground the right way up and it'll probably grow".

@Flatpackback I think he was talking about things that already have roots!

Plant cuttings in terracotta pots, not plastic ones. Top tip from my mum

My rose cuttings root by just sticking them in the ground.

meredint

You’re thinking if he xylem and phloem later. The cambium layer has a group of cells that can grow into branches or roots and is governed by the hormones sent around it.

If you’re trying to encourage side branching in a dormant branch bud you nick with a sharp knife just above the bud. This prevents the apical tip sending hormones down to prevent the bud erupting.