The best time to take softwood cuttings is from mid-spring to early summer. Hardwood cuttings are taken later in the year, from mid-autumn to mid-winter.
February is the best time of the year to stick hardwood cuttings to root. Plants that reproduce best from hardwood cuttings are plants that bloom in summer or early fall.
Plant the Cutting in the Soil
Carefully plant the cutting in the hole you made in the potting mix, and gently tamp the soil around it. You can fit several cuttings into one container, but space them so the leaves do not touch one another.
If you have a favourite shrub, it's easy to make more plants by taking cuttings. From late June to early August, many plants produce fresh, firm shoots that can removed from the plant with a pair of secateurs and will readily root when put into damp compost.
Early morning is the best time to take cuttings, because the plant is fully turgid. It is important to keep the cuttings cool and moist until they are stuck.
Success factors for rooting your cuttings
They'll root faster with plenty of sunlight, but avoid setting them in direct sun. Temperature is also important, the warmer the better to speed things up. For cuttings that are more valuable or difficult, adding a little aquarium pump to oxygenate the water will help a lot.
Add fresh, tepid water when needed. You can replace the water every few days, or simply top off the vessel with fresh water when it's looking low—as long as there is no murkiness or fungi growing. If the water is murky, we recommend replacing it for the health of the growing root system.
Wildlife-friendly plants to take cuttings from:
Some evergreen shrubs, such as Hebe, hollies and privets. Most climbers such as Clematis, ivies and honeysuckles. Most herbs, such as mints, catmints, Hyssop, lavenders, Rosemary, Sage, thymes.
While there's typically nothing wrong with propagating your own plants or accepting propagation materials from friends, family members, and neighbors, taking plant parts without permission, sometimes called “proplifting,” is often against the law.
Check for rooting
Rooting will generally occur in 3-4 weeks but some plants will take longer. When the roots are 1-2 inches long or longer the cutting is ready to be potted up.
The cuttings will begin growing roots from the nodes within a week, and the cuttings will be ready to plant in pots within 3 weeks! Sometimes some cuttings are slower, though, so just keep those in water until the roots are about as long as the cutting itself.
It's July, and an ideal time to take stem cuttings so the new plants can develop a root system before the winter. There are many articles and videos on this topic, and most will suggest covering the pots with a plastic bag or coke bottle to maintain a high moisture level to prevent the cuttings from drying out.
Using a sharp knife (or pruners) cut just below where a leaf attaches to the stem (the node). Roots grow easiest from this location. If you leave a section of stem below the node, it often rots. Remove the lower leaves but leave the top two or three.
Wondering when to start a cutting phase? Work back from when you want to look your best. For example, if you have a vacation booked in July, workout eight to 12 weeks prior to this and time your cut to start then. Allowing at least three months of cutting is optimal, to ensure you lose weight sustainably.
And yes, there are also other ways to propagate, but water propagation is the simplest way to start if you're new to propagating plants, or simply want to speed up the process, as cuttings root faster in water vs soil, plus you can easily see what's going on each step of the way.
When to Propagate. Early spring is the ideal time to propagate by cuttings. Although, most houseplants can be successfully propagated any time of the year.
Plant patents
Translation: you cannot divide that overgrown perennial, root cuttings, or layer branches if the plant is protected by a plant patent. Basically, the only legal way to reproduce a plant with this type of patent is by seed.
You can take cuttings at any time of year in a variety of ways, but the easiest (and most successful) method is by taking cuttings of plants' stems in summer. Summer cuttings can be taken from a number of plants including rosemary, lavender and other shrubby perennials.
Cuttings are more difficult to obtain if you do not take them off a mother plant, because you need to know someone who grows a plant successfully. In addition, often less different types of plant varieties are available. The risk of cuttings carrying diseases and insects is present.
Warm growing medium temperatures accelerate cell division which leads to faster callusing, root initial development and subsequent root growth. It also speeds up the dry-down rate of the growing medium, which also helps encourage better rooting. The best way to warm the growing medium is through bottom heat.
Inadequate Moisture: Cuttings need to be kept moist, but not waterlogged. Overwatering can lead to rot, while under-watering can cause the cutting to dry out and die. Use a spray bottle to mist the cuttings regularly with fresh clean and ensure the soil is consistently moist but well-drained.
Another way to reduce water loss is to keep the cuttings in a humid atmosphere – place a clear plastic bag over individual pots or use a propagator with a lid.