Place approximately one to two inches of soil in the bottom of the pot. Remove the rooted cutting from the water and give it a good rinse with fresh water. Place the cutting in the pot and cover the roots with soil. Leave about an inch of space at the top of the pot.
Water the compost lightly and place the pots in a cold frame. In the following spring, pot up individually when the cuttings show signs of growth and are well-rooted. Grow plants on and plant out the following year.
When your plant's roots are ready, pour out half of the water, and replace with dampened soil (dampened so that it doesn't float). Replace a little more every day until your cutting is mostly in soil, and at this point you can pot it up into whatever pot you'd like.
Choose your rooting medium
We recommend water if this is your first time propagating a plant, so you'll see that method in our visuals. The big benefit of rooting in water is that it's easier to observe progress as roots develop. For advanced plant propagators, it's fun to try rooting plants in potting soil.
Technically, you can transfer your cuttings to soil at any time. In fact, you can actually propagate directly into soil, however, it's much harder to do within your home. When you propagate in soil, you have to keep a good balance of soil moisture, air flow, and humidity.
Cuttings need water for hydration, but also enough oxygen for roots to respire and grow. Using a substrate with adequate air porosity, and using the 1 to 5 moisture scale can help to prevent overwatering that leads to slow rooting and increased risk of disease.
Some plants will root in water, but cuttings will develop a better root system when rooted in a soil-less potting mix. Sand or perlite can also be used, especially for cuttings that need good drainage and may rot if kept too wet.
If you'd like to transplant your plant cutting(s) from the glass vessel into a planter with a potting mix, we recommend waiting until the root is at least 1 inch long or longer. This should take 4-6 weeks.
Light provides the energy for callus formation and the subsequent generation of adventitious roots. At the same time, light increases plant temperature and accelerates the drying of leaves, which can quickly dehydrate cuttings. (Under LEDs, this would be less of an issue.)
Place the cutting in a clean glass. Poor enough room temperature water to cover the nodes of the cutting. Change out the water every 3-5 days with fresh room temperature water. Wait and watch as your roots grow!
Insert the cuttings into the compost to just below the lowest set of remaining leaves and cover with a clear plastic bag, so they stay moist. Keep the compost damp, but remove excess moisture, if necessary; too much, and you will get mould. You will know the plant is rooting well when you see new leaves appearing.
You may plant several cuttings to each container. Then, grow your cuttings indoors as houseplants through the cold winter months. You can plant them again outside when soil and outdoor temperatures rise enough to accommodate each individual plant.
With cuttings in transit, you don't need to worry about it until after a week. It'll most likely be ok, if not totally fine. As for forgotten cuttings, you've probably got a good few days, depending on where it is.
All cuttings need to go directly to an environment with 100% humidity after being cut. If the cuttings dry out, they will not do well. Keep them dark, cool and moist. If you are working in large areas, use wet cheesecloth or burlap to wrap the cuttings as you go along.
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.
Cuttings planted in soil will grow roots more slowly. Make sure to keep soil / moss moist. This is easiest if you tent with a plastic bag or use a covered container such as a clean, lidded take-out food container. Check the plants weekly for moisture and growth.
Most plants will not root well in full sun, so place the cuttings in a location where they will receive a 50/50 ratio of shade to dappled sunlight. For most plants, cuttings thrive on warmth and humidity, and the growing medium should be kept evenly moist but not drenched while roots develop.
The sooner you can get your cuttings into a more normal environment with air flow and no dome, the better off they'll be. After about a week, remove the dome and monitor your cuttings to see if they begin to wilt. If they do, they're not ready to go dome-less, so try again in 1-2 days.
As long as you give them proper nutrients in the water, they can thrive indefinitely without soil.
Use cinnamon when propagating. The cinnamon doesn't actually act as the plants auxin hormone (rooting hormone), rather, it's a natural antibacterial, antimicrobial agent, that works as a fungicide. This allows the natural rooting auxins that are found in the green growth of your cuttings to thrive without competition.
Cuttings can take in water from the air through pores in the leaves called stomata. To trap humidity, plant your cuttings in wet soil, use a spray bottle to mist the leaves, and cover them with clear plastic as described before. Then, place your cuttings in a warm spot.