Propagating - what’s the time limit?

[Begonne]

If you’ll indulge a complete novice….

I’d like to have a go at propagating some of the existing plants in my garden, and it has to be outdoors because I don’t have a suitable indoor space.

what time of year is best for that, and what’s the absolute cut-off?

It depends on what you want to propagate. I don't bother to be honest. One because pelargoniums for instance,,you have to do round about now, when you're actually enjoying the plant. Secondly, I don't have much luck,no idea why have been gardening over 60 years (gulp!!) and have 4 greenhouses.pretty green fingered, but tend to grow from seed.

I’m thinking lavender, some geraniums to start.

I always work on the basis of 'give it a go', I don't follow totally strict rules about timings etc. If it works, it works. And if it doesn't, it hasn't cost me much beyond a bit of time and effort.
Here's a Gardeners' World video about lavender propagation. GW
When you say geranium do you mean hardy-geranium or pelargonium-geranium?

When you say geranium do you mean hardy-geranium or pelargonium-geranium? in other words, blue, white, pink or purple one that you grow in the garden, or brighter pink or red one in a pot?

The bright pink/red ones (Pelargonium) are easy. Snip off the end of a stem, preferably without flower buds, remove the leaves so you have a 4inch stem with a bunch of tiny leaves at the top and then either a) put several of them in a pot with most soil, with all the bare stem buried, and don’t let the soil dry out or b) put them in a glass of water, and pot up into soil when they have a tangle of roots.

I tend to do well with softwood cuttings, which I have always done whenever strikes my fancy, with no regard to timing or anything else. I cut them off, put a few of them them in a pot of soil, water them, put them in a ziplock bag and forget about them for a good long while.

When I eventually remember them, I open the bag, take them out of the pot and divide them. If I've left it too long I have to disentangle a fair bit of root but this doesn't seem to kill them. I put each of them in its own pot and grow on.

They then sit there until I spot a gap in the garden where I'd like them, and plant them there, again with little regard to timing.

I guess I'm not trying it with particularly challenging shrubs, because it seems to work quite well.

@CatherinedeBourgh That describes my approach entirely!

My mother had a variation whereby she stuck the cuttings in an ever lengthening row across the vegetable garden. By the time she gave up gardening, this had turned into a densely planted mixed hedge of things waiting to be planted out.

@MereDintofPandiculation that hedge sounds rather lovely...

It was very overcrowded and of things of all shapes and sizes! And incongruous between an asparagus bed and a row of runner beans.

Mind, I'm not criticising my mother. She was a good gardener, with an intelligent curiosity. SHe managed half an acre by herself (except Dad mowed the lawn and cut the front hedge), had a wonderful range of trees and shrubs and HT and floribunda roses, and produced veg for the summer and the deepfreeze, we had strawberries for tea every night in the season, and the back porch in winter had boxes of stored apples from floor to ceiling.

Lurking

I wholeheartedly agree with @senua. Books will tell you there's an ideal time, and you can feel as if you're doomed to failure if you do anything else. But no two years are the same, anyway! This year, most plants were delayed by about 3 weeks in spring because it was so cold, and now they are parched because it has been unusually dry. And where you are in the country matters: my brother with an allotment in central London used to have totally different growing seasons from me in rural North Yorkshire, and we were both different again from a friend in Cornwall.

Therefore, if you're not spending much money (and you're usually not), trying your hand at propagating is the best thing. Some stuff will come; some won't. But give it a go!

That sounds absolutely perfect, TBH.

From an enthusiastic amateur and often clueless gardener, could I ask what you do with the rooted cuttings coming into Autumn and Winter? Would they survive outdoors or must they be in shelter like a cold frame or greenhouse?

I'm thinking most of them would be delicate, but what do I know!

It depends on the type of cuttings, again.

On the whole, if the plant is thoroughly hardy, it will struggle indoors - hot, dry, centally-heated air will kill it. It's more likely something tender, like a pelargonium or a tender fuchsia or salvia, will be happy indoors.

Most cuttings won't appreciate frosts.

Oh I'm glad I saw this thread.

I took a whole load of hidcote lavender cuttings today and put them into moist soil in pots.

Should I keep them indoors? I don't have them in ziplock bags

Yes, but it was full of all the things she thought were worth propagating! Must have been like a trip down memory lane...

Lavender probably doesn't need a ziplock bag if you will reliably keep it moist, it is very water efficient. I wouldn't have it inside at this time of year, I think it would be better out.

Thank you all for your responses. I’m psyched to give it a go now!

Yay.
Nurseries make their living from raising plants so they commit heavily to getting the ideal conditions (heat, light, soil, water, nutrients, pest control, etc, etc); they cannot afford to be half-hearted about it. We weekend gardeners cannot possibly compete with that sort of investment.
But if you listen to individual gardeners - your Monty Dons or Christine Walkdens - they will often talk about their failures. They know that they learn from failures, become better gardeners. You don't see them growing sunflowers because it's child's play and too easy. They want the challenge!
Gardeners often make repeated sowings/cuttings so if one batch fails then they hope that the other one takes. And they often keep a journal - that they can refer back to - so they know what works when in their garden.

Nurseries make their living from raising plants so they commit heavily to getting the ideal conditions (heat, light, soil, water, nutrients, pest control, etc, etc); they cannot afford to be half-hearted about it. We weekend gardeners cannot possibly compete with that sort of investment.

I posted in another thread that one of the key things I learned was that official gardening advice often comes from nurseries and big gardens with teams of gardeners, who are aiming at perfection. Not time limited spare time gardeners who need only “good enough”.

The light dawned when someone asked “when taking cuttings, why do you cut the top two leaves in half to reduce water loss? Why not just take one leaf off?” The answer came from someone who’d worked for a long time in a nursery “because when you’re doing a hundred cuttings it’s quicker to cut”

@senua that’s a good perspective.

I've had most success with hardy plants and shrubs in autumn. I put cuttings in a pot of compost and leave them outside in a sheltered spot (under a shrub, for instance) through the winter. By spring, lots start sprouting leaves. That way they don't seem to need any pandering or attention from me 😁

Nurseries make their living from raising plants so they commit heavily to getting the ideal conditions (heat, light, soil, water, nutrients, pest control, etc, etc); they cannot afford to be half-hearted about it.

Um ... I am not sure this is true. You could look at it the other way - home gardeners are propagating precious, beloved plants. Nurseries will know to expect some waste and will make decisions about what is an 'acceptable' failure percentage.

@zebette I’ve taken note of that. I’m quite likely to forget once the initial passion wanes.