How to Take Cuttings
taking cuttings is one of the most popular ways to propagate a plant. Often called "cloning" it is a very good method to get multiple plants that are genetically identical to the "mother" plant. Many people feel intimidated by the process, and are a bit leery to attempt "cloning". If you are one of those people, relax, it's a relatively easy process.
What follows are step by step instructions for a simple procedure that works for most types of both hardwood and softwood plants. (NOTE: not all plants can be cloned in this manner, some plants may in fact be impossible to get cuttings from).
WHY TAKE CUTTINGS?
There are several reasons that you may want to clone your plant, the most obvious being that you want to know you are growing a female or to keep a strain going. Cloning might be your only option in this case. Another reason that you might want to take cuttings is to control the quality of the plant. Let me explain: Every seed, like every human being, is slightly different. Genetically, no two plants are the same, DNA works in plants much the same way as humans. So if you have a plant that is just what you want it to be you can take cuttings to "clone" your special plant. One reason to clone your plants that is often overlooked is that it's often faster than starting from seed. Some plants will produce a rooted, growing plant from a clone before the seeds of the same plant can even sprout. This can save lots of time.
Supplies Needed
A SINGLE EDGE RAZOR BLADE OR SHARP SCISSORS. - Must be sharp!! Grape scissors work best. SHOT GLASS - Or similar small glass or plastic container.
GROWING MEDIUM - Rapid Rooters, Rockwool, Soil or other suitable rooting media.
SEED TRAY WITH CLEAR HUMIDITY DOME - Plastic cup with clear cup lid, or something similar.
ROOTING HORMONE - You will need a good quality gel, liquid or powdered rooting hormone such as Clonex, Olivia's, Dip & Grow etc. We prefer the rooting gels as they seal the cut end immediately and stick to the stem well.
SPRAY BOTTLE. Can be used with water or products like Golden Humic Nectar, Nitrozime, Olivias Cloning Solution, Liquid Karma, etc.
Before Getting Started
First thing is, you should only use healthy plants to take cuttings from. The healthier the mother plant the better success you will have with your clones. You should take a few more cuttings than you need and then select the best ones to use and throw away any that are unhealthy.
It is best to leach the nitrogen out of the mother plant by rinsing it with pH adjusted water for two or three days before you take the cuttings. This is done because Nitrogen stored in the plant will slow the rooting process.
Decide what you are going to use for growing medium. Many people use Rapid Rooters, Rockwool or Oasis cubes. It has been our experience that Rapid Rooters will result in a greater success rate than most other mediums. Rapid Rooters are 100% organic, made from composted tree bark and latex. The composted bark has a naturally occurring rooting hormone that helps speed rooting. You can also use many different mediums successfully, use plastic cups with holes cut in the bottom to hold coconut fiber, a Perlite & Vermiculite mix, potting soil, or other loose type growing medium. You will need to pre-soak your growing medium before you start, using ph balanced water. Most growing mediums need to be soaked in ph 6 to ph 7 water. NOTE: Rockwool needs to be soaked for 24 hours with water adjusted to a ph of 4.5 to 5.0. They do make a special Rockwool presoak that is designed especially for Rockwool.
Make a hole in the top of the growing medium that is about the same size as the stems of the cuttings. You do not want to force the cutting into the growing medium.
Work quickly but carefully. When you make the cut that separates the clone from the mother, you must get it into the rooting hormone as quickly as possible to prevent air from getting pulled into the stem. Be careful not to cut yourself.
TAKE THE CUTTINGS
1. Take a growing tip from your plant 3" to 6" long with at least one leaf internode, two is better but not always possible. (A leaf internode is where the leaf connects to the stem).
2. With a Sharp single edge razor blade, carefully cut off one or two leaves (or small branches) flush with the stem.
3. Make a cut approximately 1/4" below the internode(s) where you just trimmed the leaves. Cut at a 45 deg. Angle or more. Make this cut as quick and clean as you can, you do not want to tear or crush the stem.
4. Quickly insert the cutting into the rooting hormone. If you are using a liquid hormone you can let the cutting soak for 30-60 seconds. With a gel type hormone you just dip the cutting and then insert it into the growing medium. If you are using a powdered hormone you need to wet the stem with water and then carefully roll the stem in the powder.
5. Carefully insert the cutting into the growing medium, do not push the cutting all the way through the medium, leave room for the roots to develop. Make sure that the cut(s) you made at the leaf internode(s) are below the surface of the growing medium.
6. Gently pack the growing medium up against the cutting. Make sure there is good contact between the cutting and the growing medium
1. Once you have your cutting(s) in the growing medium mist them with the spray bottle, filled with water and your chosen foliar solution, and place them in the tray. Mist the inside of the clear humidity dome and place dome over the tray.
2. Remove the dome and mist the cuttings 2 or 3 times a day. This keeps the cuttings from drying out and also changes the air under the dome. This step is critical; the cuttings have no way to replenish lost moisture because they have no roots. Mist the inside of the dome and replace on tray. The humidity under the dome needs to be kept high until roots appear on the cuttings. Be careful that the air under the dome doesn't get too warm, if it is, you may have to increase the amount of venting, and increase the number or mistings per day. Cuttings need to be kept between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. To hot or cold will inhibit root growth. You may want to use a heated propagation mat.
3. The cuttings are going to need light, you need bright light, but not too intense. Indoors you can use a double tube fluorescent fixture with both a cool white bulb and a warm white bulb in the fixture (or two "grow" tubes). This will give a good, balanced light spectrum. Fluorescent light doesn't penetrate so you must keep the lights very close to the plants (1-2 inches above the plants). If you are using a Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium fixture you must keep the cuttings much further away (2 - 3 feet away for 175 - 400 watt bulbs and 4 - 6 feet for a 1000 watt bulb). The lights should be on for 24 hours a day.
4. To water the cuttings you can use either plain good quality water, or you can add a very mild fertilizer such as Clonex or Olivia's Cloning Solution. You can also use a 1/4 strength general purpose hydroponic bloom fertilizer solution. Don't forget to adjust the pH of the water / nutrient solution (5.5 for rockwool, 6.5 for most everything else).
5. Water the cuttings every few days or so unless you live in a very dry climate then you may need to water every day. Never let the growing medium dry out. Do not let it set in water either, or the stem will rot.
6. After about a week you can test to see if your plants have started to root. Remove the humidity dome and lift up the tray, see if roots have appeared out the bottom. You can also leave the dome off for an hour or two. If the plants have not wilted at all then they probably have enough root development to support themselves. If no wilt is noticed leave the dome off, if they are wilted, spray the cuttings and dome and replace the dome on the tray. Once you have determined that the plants can support themselves, stop misting the cuttings and leave the humidity dome off. Once the plants have roots, constant misting can actually be harmful to the plants.
7. If the lower leaves start to turn yellow and die, don't worry, it is perfectly normal. It is the plant feeding off of itself to sustain life, moving valuable nutrient and water from the older growth. Do not remove any dead growth until the plant is well rooted. If you remove the dying growth the plant can starve and die completely.
8. When the cuttings are completely rooted you can move them into growing medium.
