You will have to keep the cuttings somewhere sheltered and frost-free over winter; a cold frame is ideal, even if it is just fashioned out of some bricks and glass by the back of the house.
Cuttings may be soaked in cool/cold water from 24-48 hours directly before planting to improve survivability. On site, the cuttings should be stored away from direct sunlight, heeled into moist soil, or stored in water until planting. Do not have cuttings in water for more than 4 days.
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.
Choose a warm spot near a window to set up your propagation station, such as a windowsill, side table, or countertop. You want to make sure your plant babies get lots of bright, indirect light while they're busy growing their new roots.
Cuttings can be kept for up to 6 months if stored. properly in a fridge as close as possible to 1 degree C. and ensure they do not dry out.
It's best if a cutting takes no longer than 2-3 days to arrive, for the best chance of survival.
Media is usually kept at 72-77° F while air temperature is maintained at 68-73° F. If bottom heat is not used, air temperature should be maintained between 77 and 80° F. Maintaining air temperatures lower than medium temperatures retards shoot growth while promoting root development. Excessive heat can damage cuttings.
In general, Pilarchik notes, most cuttings should be about four inches long; two inches of the stem should be submerged in the water. Keep your cuttings indoors while they establish, as "the regulated temperature of a home will prevent stress and allow them to focus on rooting," adds Pilarchik.
A suggested maximum light intensity is between 100 to 150 µmol∙m−2∙s−1 from the time cuttings are stuck until the initial roots form (a few millimeters in length), which is usually the first five to seven days of propagation. A retractable screen is best so that it can be opened during cloudy conditions.
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.
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.
In cold winters or regions hardwood cuttings may root better with protection from a coldframe, cloches or inside a frost free building. Cuttings will need to be protected from rabbits and deer if they are a local problem.
Adequate ventilation is also required to avoid disease problems. The plastic covering should be placed such that air can flow freely around the cuttings as they root. Temperature: For best results, maintain day temperatures at 70 degrees F.
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.
It's important that your water propagated plants receive some light, but bright indirect light with no direct sun is important. They are growing new root systems and are fragile.
Carefully remove excess leaves to reduce transpiration, so cuttings do not wilt. However, some foliage should be retained to allow photosynthesis to occur. Keep cuttings moist, cool and shaded (collecting in a damp plastic bag is a good idea) until you are ready to put them in a propagation medium.
The reason cuttings rot is that over time, the oxygen level of the water drops unless it's moving or oxygen is added. Not only do plants need oxygen in order to grow roots (and, indeed everything else), but the bacteria that cause rotting thrive in low-oxygen environments.
As long as you give them proper nutrients in the water, they can thrive indefinitely without soil.
If you wish to keep the clone in its vegetative state, keep the clone under a minimum of 18 hours of light. You can safely taper the light exposure from 24 to 18 over a few days. Less than 18 hours of light can/will trigger the flowering response.
Cuttings are very delicate and vulnerable so pests, disease, the wrong growing conditions, too much water or too little water can all cause them to fail.
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.
And they tend to rot if you don't wait for the cutting to form a callus, a hard, dry “crust” at the base of the cutting. That can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, even a few months in extreme cases. In general, the thicker the stem, the longer it takes to seal itself off.