Taking cuttings

[pompomandpeach]

I would really like to try my hand at growing some new plants from cuttings this year. I am a fairly novice gardener, but would like to get better! I have watched some videos and understand the process for taking the actual cuttings from the plants I would like to try with (heuchera, penstemon, fuchsia and salvia). My question is mainly about how/where to keep them while the roots develop. I have a cold frame, but no greenhouse or propagator. Will the cold frame be satisfactory, or should I keep them indoors on a window sill? Some of the videos I watched suggested placing a polythene bag over the top of each pot… if I did this, would I need to remove it at times? How often should I water my cuttings? I just want to get it right! Thanks!

I’m only a new plant owner, so I’m afraid I can’t help, but I’m part of a Facebook group called houseplants of Plymouth. There are a lot of really knowledgable people on there who I’m sure will be happy to advise you.

I'm hopeless at taking cuttings by the traditional method that you see on Youtube etc, but what I do that works pretty well most of the time is simply take the cutting below the leaf node and put it in a jar water on the windowsill. I have got lavender recently doing this, ivy, cat mint which has just grown roots, and a geranium that I found growing out from under a garden fence on a woodland walk!
Once there are a few white roots showing, I put the cutting into soil and keep quite wet...I try to kid it that its still in its jamjar! I am also doing this with heuchera atm and I think its just showing roots. My mum calls these water roots but hey, if it works, why not.

You can keep your cuttings in the cold frame, the house might be too warm. Put them in damp gritty compost make sure they don’t dry out, but other than that ignore them until some new growth is showing. You then look for roots coming out of the bottom of the pot. Then it’s safe to pot onto a bigger pot.

I keep my cuttings in my unheated greenhouse. I put the whole pot in a plastic bag, water it well, tie the top of the bag and forget about it.

Thanks for the responses! I think I will go ahead with the cold frame, seeing as I have it! Interesting that @Beebumble2 you water yours to keep it from drying out, but @MereDintofPandiculation after the first good watering, you leave it well alone. I might try both ways, and see which works best!

Does anyone use rooting hormone powder (which I do have a pot of), or do you have success without?

I should have explained further, I would only water to keep them damp, if they were not in the greenhouse. As you said they would be outside.
I usually don’t bother with the plastic bag method, but others do, with success.
Sometimes I use rooting compound, I don’t find it makes a lot of difference.
Take several cuttings of each plant, not all of them will strike, if they do them you can give spare plants away.

What I've done in the past with salvia and penstemon is to take lots of cuttings in the usual way. I then had a plastic sink bowl which i put lots of holes in and filled that with sand which I placed the cuttings in and watered well ( just the once). I put a white plastic bin bag over the lot and left in the garden in a shady and protected area. Every single cutting took.
This year I've moved and have a smaller courtyard garden and I'm experimenting. I've got some salvia and penstemon and fig and geum cuttings in water on a cool windowsill. I've also stuck some salvia cuttings directly into soil and theyre still alive!

Has anyone any specific tips for taking lavender cuttings? I have a few beautiful lavenders and I would love to propagate them. I tried and failed to take cuttings last year. Maybe it got too hot? I am in Portugal and daytime temps get to 30º at the moment.

@pompomandpeach

Thanks for the responses! I think I will go ahead with the cold frame, seeing as I have it! Interesting that *@Beebumble2 you water yours to keep it from drying out, but @MereDintofPandiculation* after the first good watering, you leave it well alone. I might try both ways, and see which works best!

Does anyone use rooting hormone powder (which I do have a pot of), or do you have success without?

The important part is making sure they don’t dry out. If they’re sealed in a plastic bag they tend not to dry out. Actually, I do look at them about every 6 weeks, and would water if they needed more. But don’t think of repotting until you see good strong roots coming from the bottom of the pot.

I used to use hormone powder, then heard that you have to buy new every year. So I stopped using it. There’s one or two plants which actually do better without

@TheLeadbetterLife

Has anyone any specific tips for taking lavender cuttings? I have a few beautiful lavenders and I would love to propagate them. I tried and failed to take cuttings last year. Maybe it got too hot? I am in Portugal and daytime temps get to 30º at the moment.

I have always found Lavender an easy cutting to strike, but I’m in the UK where temps are lower. I’d take the cuttings in the early morning when it is coolest, immediately put them in a plastic bag and in the shade, outdoors, pot them up in gritty compost and water. Either cover them with a plastic bag or not and then put them in a shaded part of the garden. Frequently check they’re not drying out. Good Luck.

Thank you so much, I'll give it another try.

Re: hormone powder. A thing popped up in my Pinterest feed where people were dipping cuttings in honey, instead of hormones. No idea if that's a real thing or just woo!

Well, I have a load of cuttings in the cold frame, keep your fingers crossed for me that I have some success!!!