Good Life: Budget gardening made easy - Tom Moggach on growing new plants from cuttings
Published: 01 July 2010
by TOM MOGGACH
PLANTS for free? Tempting indeed, especially in this gloomy financial climate. So it’s time to master a simple technique – growing new plants from stem cuttings.
This is when you snip off the top few inches from a plant, strip off the lower leaves, then place the cutting in a new pot to grow roots.
It’s dead easy, and a perfect task for this time of year, when there’s plenty of new growth.
I’ve been snipping away merrily, bulking up my stash of rosemary, lavender, thyme, lemon verbena and sage.
Essentially, we’re tricking a section of stem to develop new roots. It upsets hormone levels, especially compounds called auxins, which help to create new roots.
The result is a clone of the mother plant – so only take cuttings from specimens that are productive, healthy and pest and disease-free.
To do it yourself, first get in the right frame of mind. This is plant surgery, creating incisions on the plant, so make sure tools and equipment are prepared and clean.
Next, make a special cutting mix – low in nutrients and free draining. There are various recipes, such as equal parts of loam and grit, or John Innes Cutting Compost.
I’m using an equal mix of sterile seed compost and perlite, a white rocky substance you can buy in garden centres – it’s ace for this task.
Fill pots to 1cm (1/2”) below the rim, tapping to remove air pockets and tamping down lightly, then water well.
It’s best to take the cutting itself in the morning, not the heat of the day. Using secateurs, scissors or a sharp knife, snip off the top 10cm (4”) of the plant. Cut just above a node, the leaf joint with the stem – this reduces the risk of disease for the mother plant.
To trim the cutting, cleanly cut beneath the bottom node (leaf joint), discarding this small section of stem. Pinch off any flowers and carefully remove the bottom leaves, exposing at least two nodes – these are where the roots will form.
You want to keep a few small leaves at the top of the cutting. But slice large leaves in half to reduce transpiration – this is when water evaporates from the leaves – otherwise the cutting may wilt
Dip the cutting in rooting hormone powder, if you have some. (Available in garden centres, but not essential). Then use a pencil or dibber and push the cutting into the pot, up to the leaves. You can squeeze in multiple cuttings, as long as they do not touch.
Cover the pot with a clear plastic bag or propagator lid to maintain humidity, then keep indoors in a semi-shady spot. Check that the atmosphere stays moist.
After three weeks or so, check your new plants have rooted by pulling gently. When you’re ready, pot them up.
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