A cutting is a part of a plant taken from the parent shoot of the current year. Cuttings are the most famous method of vegetative propagation, which is used by gardeners to create the desired plant in a short time. If you plan to work with cuttings, read our tips - they will help you.

How to root a cutting - cutting

Not the last place when rooting is played by the type of shoot and its correct cutting.

• Green cuttings - this year's growth with leaves. Cook them from the first days of June to the end of July - cut off 15 cm of the shoot, making a cut under the kidney. Do not keep harvested material in the sun - plant immediately.
• Cut mature shoots with dark green bark in the internodes, leaving three eyes - about 10 cm. Harvesting and rooting time - the end of summer.
• Take stiff (annual) shoots during hibernation - in late autumn or winter. Cut off at least 30 cm, store until spring in damp sand in the cellar or a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Start awakening activities in March: soak the twigs for a day in water, then cut to living wood and put on germination.

How to root cuttings in water

As practice shows, roots form most quickly in water. This is the basis of the simplest method of rooting - water:

• place the collected branches in 2 pieces in half-liter jars;
• fill the containers 1/3 part and add an activated charcoal tablet;
• keep summer cuttings in the light, winter - in the dark.

Important: do not change the water in the jars, but only add it when it evaporates.

With this approach, after 10 days, leaves will hatch on sticks, the shoot will begin to grow, and after three weeks, roots will appear. When they grow to 6 cm - plant them in the soil.

How to root a cutting in a box

For the formation of roots, you can use any container filled with a nutrient substrate.

• Process the cuttings according to the instructions with a root stimulator, such as “Kornevin”.
• Pour sand, earth, perlite into the box - 1:1:1, mix. Make holes with a pencil to the bottom, lower the cuttings into them, tamp the soil. Put a mini-garden on the windowsill.
• Water every day without letting the soil dry out. After a week, when the buds begin to swell, feed the plants with complex fertilizer. Further - as in the first case.

How to root cuttings in open ground

In the absence of time, apply a similar option - plant the cuttings immediately in the ground.

• Find a sunny, wind-sheltered spot on your property and dig up the soil.
• Make holes according to the number of cuttings. In each hole, put a “pillow” - a mixture of peat with sawdust (1: 3), and on top - 3 cm of river sand.
• Pour water - 1 glass per root and stick the sticks. Cover them with plastic containers or covering material. Remove the cover for air ventilation every three days.
• When the kidneys swell, open the shoots and spill them with infusion of chicken humus, diluted 1: 4 with water. Transplant to a permanent place the following year, so that the roots have time to get stronger.

How to root a cutting - an interesting option

A somewhat unusual, but very effective way is to plant twigs in potato tubers.

• Wedge the stalk into a raw potato (remove the eyes) so that one eye is in its pulp.
• Plant the resulting “sculpture” in the ground, pour water over it and cover with a jar.
• After a week, rooting will occur, which will lead to the appearance of fresh shoots.

There are many ways to root cuttings - choose the right one for you and create your own environmentally friendly planting material.

Easiest and fastest plant propagation method - through rooting cuttings. Thus, not only indoor plants are propagated, but also garden flowers, trees, shrubs.

In the spring, to obtain planting material, flower growers massively root cuttings of popular annuals - balsams, evergreen begonias, zonal geraniums, coleus, petunias, fuchsias, dahlias. All these flowers are not able to winter in our climate, but you can save them until the next season. To do this, a non-wintering flower needs to be transplanted into a pot and kept at home with other indoor plants. In the spring, cuttings are cut from the mother plants, rooted and planted in the ground for flowering in the new season. Plants from cuttings develop and bloom faster than when grown from seeds.

Cuttings give good roots in water, when planted in the ground, the risk of their decay is high. But when rooting plants in water, there are a few rules. First, you need to properly cut the cuttings. Secondly, create favorable conditions for rooting cuttings. The use of various root formation stimulants will help to get the maximum result.

How to cut cuttings for rooting:

Tops of shoots or apical cuttings are best suited for propagation, but it is recommended to cut them off not from the central branches growing upwards, but from the side branches. It has been established that cuttings from the lateral lower shoots take root more readily than the main skeletal branches.

For cuttings, not only the tops of the shoots, but also segments of the stems can be used.. In tree and shrub crops, semi-cured parts of the shoots are used for cuttings.

Cuttings are made 5-15 cm long, but this size may vary depending on the length of the internodes of the plant, since the cutting must have at least two internodes.

The lower cut at the cutting is made immediately under the first internode, and the upper cut is 0.5-1 cm above the second or next internodes along the stem.

Some plants secrete juice like milk, it needs to be washed off. so that it does not clog the vessels of the cutting.

Clean sections of cuttings are dried before rooting. within 1-3 hours, it is necessary for the tissues to heal a little, then the risk of rotting of the cutting in water will decrease.

All leaves are removed from the bottom of the harvested cuttings., at least one leaf must remain at the top, it is necessary so that the process of photosynthesis in the stem segment does not stop.

Some plants can be propagated by rooting a leaf with a petiole in water.. This method of reproduction is used for begonias, gloxinia, violets, sansevieria. From these plants, a young leaf with a petiole at the base is cut off. Only the petiole is immersed in water, and when roots form on the cut, the leaf is planted in the ground. After planting, a lot of children will appear near the leaf, which are grown up and seated in separate pots. So from one leaf you can get from 2 or more plants.

The cuttings are placed in clean water so that the lower cut is recessed by 2-3 cm., and the leaves did not touch the water and did not come into contact with neighboring cuttings. Such an arrangement of the cuttings in the water is difficult to arrange, many pick up various dishes - bottles with a narrow neck, into which the base of the cutting is inserted. But one stalk can be placed in a bottle or in a glass and water from a small container quickly evaporates, and if the bottom of the stalk is exposed to air, then only the hatched roots will die.

It is convenient to root a large number of cuttings with thin foam taken from a package or other floating material. Holes are made in the foam sheet at a certain distance so that the leaves do not touch each other and cuttings are inserted into them, their lower part will be sunk in the water at the same level, and the upper part of the cuttings on the floating foam does not touch the water. Such batches of cuttings for rooting in water can be placed in containers of any size, floating pieces of foam can be cut along the width of the vessel or in separate pieces for each cutting. In a large container, water can be poured to the top, the cuttings will always be recessed at the desired height.

Water and utensils for rooting cuttings must be clean, you do not need to change it, but only top up to a certain level. It is noticed that when changing the water, the cuttings give roots worse. So that the water does not turn sour, and the cuttings do not rot, add pieces of charcoal to the water or activated charcoal tablets, it acts as an antiseptic, preventing putrefactive bacteria from developing.

Stimulants of root formation of cuttings:

Accelerates the appearance of roots in cuttings, various stimulants - heteroauxin, root, zircon. Plants that are fast rooting can be treated with root stimulants if desired. Cuttings of begonia, coleus, balsam, ivy, tradescantia, dieffenbachia and many other species root easily without the use of various means. But for cuttings of plants that are difficult to root, the use of root stimulants is necessary to propagate them in this way. Hard-to-root plants include roses, hibiscus, citrus fruits, geraniums.

Before rooting, the cut cuttings are immersed in a solution with a root formation stimulator for 3-4 hours, and then placed in clean water.

From folk remedies, honey is used to stimulate the appearance of roots in cuttings.. It is enough to dissolve 1 teaspoon in 1 leaf of water and put the stalk in this solution for a day, and then move it to clean water, having been saturated with the beneficial substances of honey, the stalk gives roots faster.

Aloe juice is an excellent substitute for a store-bought drug., it is enough to squeeze 10 drops of juice from an aloe leaf into a glass of water and soak the stalk in this infusion for a day. After such treatment in clean water, the cuttings form roots faster than usual.

Conditions for rooting cuttings in water:

Even with the correct cutting of the cuttings and their treatment with strong root formation stimulants, under adverse conditions, the cuttings rot in the water. In order for the root formation of the cuttings to take place successfully, observe the following conditions:

Lighting: Cuttings in water need light. Place the container with the cuttings next to a window, but not in a sunny spot. There must be bright diffused lighting so that the process of photosynthesis in segments of the stems does not stop.

Temperature: Successful rooting of cuttings is possible only in heat, the air temperature should not be lower than +20 degrees, optimally +23 ... +25 degrees. The water in which the cuttings are located should be at room temperature. When placing the container on a cold windowsill, it will be much lower, this leads to a lack of roots and rotting of the cuttings.

Air humidity. It is not necessary to cover the cuttings with a bag or a jar from above when rooting in water; to create greenhouse conditions with high air humidity, it is necessary only after planting the cuttings in the ground, when the immature roots have not yet adapted to the new environment and cannot fully provide the plant with moisture. Without an influx of fresh air, the leaves of the cuttings in the water turn yellow and disappear.

top dressing. After the cuttings form roots ranging in size from 1 to 5 cm, but you do not have the opportunity to immediately plant them in the ground, add a few drops of complex liquid fertilizer to the water (10 drops per 1 liter of water). So you provide the plant with nutrients for the first time, before planting in the ground, the cutting will develop its buds and further strengthen the roots.

Growing plants from cuttings is the most popular method of vegetative propagation.

Numerous manuals have been written on rooting cuttings. But in the process of grafting and root formation, a lot of details are sometimes found that decisively affect the final result.

The easiest way to root cuttings is in a jar of water. Under certain conditions, it can be used even for plants that are considered difficult to root. But despite the simplicity of this method, there are many subtleties on which success depends.

Consider these important "little things".

Bank water change

Not all plants tolerate water changes. Therefore, in order to avoid possible failure, it is better not to change the water in the jar with cuttings, but only add it when it evaporates.
Apparently, some metabolic products necessary for the plant accumulate in the water.
I repeatedly had to observe the death of passionflower cuttings that had already given roots after a change of water (although the water was well-settled, did not contain any harmful impurities).

Number of cuttings in a jar

The number of cuttings in the bank is also an important factor.
For example, honeysuckle does not want to take root if there are more than three cuttings per 200 ml of water. But one cutting in a jar of even smaller volume, the same honeysuckle perfectly gives roots.

Methods for cutting cuttings

It affects the rooting and the method of cutting cuttings, which is selected depending on the degree of maturity of the shoots.

The figure shows the methods of cutting cuttings.
On the left - a nodal stalk, its lower cut is directly under the node or kidney. This is how unripened green cuttings are usually cut, since the tissues located in this place are more resistant to fungal diseases.
On the right is a section in the middle of the internode. As a rule, this is done when cutting cuttings from more mature (lignified) shoots.

Cuttings, consisting of a bud with a leaf, can be cut from any shoots - green, semi-lignified and lignified.
The upper cut is made as close as possible to the kidney (if possible, without leaving a hemp). The lower one is 2.5-4 cm from the upper one.
Each cutting must consist of:
- a very short segment of the stem;
- one sheet (the other sheet is removed);
- a bud located in the leaf axil.

It would be possible to leave all the leaves on the cuttings. But, being in the water (and, even more so, when rooting in the substrate, when the water supply is limited), the extra leaves dry out the cuttings, which can cause them to die.

Features of the nutrition of the mother plant

Interestingly, the ability of the cuttings to root depends on the nutrition of the mother plant.
If it received nitrogen in excess, then the roots on the cuttings form very poorly.
It is also difficult to form roots in the cuttings of the plant that "starved".

For the most active root formation, the mother plant must be fully provided with potassium, phosphorus and slightly less nitrogen.

The choice of shoots for cutting cuttings

It is important from which shoots the cuttings are cut.
Fattening, powerfully growing shoots give poor quality cuttings. So - do not chase power and size.

Cuttings from lateral, not very strongly growing branches take root much better.

Place of cutting

Illumination of cuttings

Light has a great influence on the rooting of cuttings.
It has been observed that a cutting harvested from a branch during the period when there are no leaves already contains some heteroauxin (which, apparently, decomposes in the light).
If the plant has leaves, it is they who produce the rooting stimulator heteroauxin.

So, the light factor during cuttings affects as follows. A cutting that has no leaves grows better roots in the dark.
To root a cutting that has at least a piece of a leaf left, light is needed.

But even in the light in an opaque dish, the roots form much better than in a light jar.

Bank water level

The level of water in the bank is also important.
If there is too much water, then there is not enough oxygen near the bottom. This can cause rotting of the lower part of the cuttings (after all, roots form only at the border of water and air).

The experiments of the British showed that the roots appear much faster and along the entire length of the cuttings in the bank, if the water was aerated.

Rooting during dormancy

And one more interesting observation: many plants reproduce better during the dormant period.
So, blackcurrant cuttings planted in the ground in autumn take root much better than spring ones (these almost completely die).

Sea buckthorn propagates well by winter cuttings. Sea buckthorn sprigs cut at the end of January or February give roots in one to two weeks in a jar of plain water.

Cuttings of sea buckthorn and many other plants take root more readily after being in water with the addition of honey (dilute a tablespoon of honey in a glass of water and put the cuttings in this solution for 6-12 hours).
The main mistake of gardeners during the winter cuttings of sea buckthorn is its too late transplantation into the soil. Roots on cuttings grow very quickly; when they become too long, they break off when transferred to the garden.

Once, in ordinary jars of water, they gave me excellent roots cut in February and March for a bouquet, long branches of yew berry and western arborvitae (about 60 cm long and about a centimeter in diameter). In May-June, all these seedlings with well-developed roots were planted in the ground and took root.

Cuttings in potatoes

A curious method of grafting using a potato tuber, which has become widespread among amateur gardeners.
To do this, take a large potato tuber and carefully remove all the "eyes" from it. The cuttings are stuck directly into the tuber, the potatoes are buried in the ground. Each cutting is covered with a glass jar to create a greenhouse effect.
With regular watering, cuttings in potatoes quickly give roots. Planted in the garden in this way, young plants develop well.

Last year, almost in autumn, cuttings of roses quickly took root in potatoes.
With the use of a potato tuber, it is often possible to root even poorly cutting plants.

This method is quite justified, since instead of water, the cuttings immediately receive a large amount of ready-made nutrients (in particular, carbohydrates, including starch).

The method of cuttings in potatoes arose by chance. One can even guess how. After all, it has long been known that at home it is best to store cuttings for vaccinations in the refrigerator. Stored cuttings are stuck into ordinary potato tubers, wrapped in paper and placed in a plastic bag with holes. Probably, one of the gardeners left the cuttings in the tuber for too long, and they gave roots.

By the way, some flowers can be stored in the same way. In particular, I managed to keep green tulip buds bought in early February fresh until March 4-5. Put then into the water, after three or four days they acquired a normal color and blossomed beautifully.

N. Zamyatina, agronomist of the Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants at the Moscow Medical Academy. Sechenov
http://www.nkj.ru

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If you have ever tried to root green cuttings, then you probably know that they need constant monitoring, you need to create a microclimate and regular spraying. But what if it is not possible to run around the plants with a sprayer several times a day? Buy fog machine? Expensive if you do not have industrial plantings, but "for yourself and a little for sale." You can buy an air humidifier: I also root cuttings with it, but our electricity is very expensive, and again, you need to control the amount of water in the humidifier. And then on the Internet I came across one way of cuttings “for the lazy” On June 13, I started the experiment.

You will need:

• transparent plastic cups 50 or 100 ml - 100 pieces (83 rubles);
• zip bags A5 format - 100 pieces (172 rubles);
• Kornevin - 1 sachet (10 g - 30 rubles);
• water;
• purchased soil (260 rubles - 30 liters, I needed about 3 liters - 26 rubles).

I prepared the cuttings in the usual way: in the early morning I collected springy * cuttings with two or three internodes from hydrangeas, vesicles, weigels, kerrias, derains, half a day. On the lower internodes, the leaves were cut in half, and a third was removed from the upper ones. I updated the sections on the cuttings: on top I left “stumps” no more than 1 cm long, on the bottom - about 3-4 cm. I lowered the cuttings into the water for two hours - to get drunk with moisture. I added a little aloe juice to the solution.

While the cuttings were “drunk”, I prepared the container. In each cup (I didn’t make any holes in the cups !!!) I poured the soil so that it occupied a little more than half the volume, and spilled it with water from the sprayer. It is more convenient for me to water from a sprayer: this way I control the amount of water. The soil should be moist, but not wet.

Now you can start landing. The lower part of the cutting was pollinated with Kornevin and planted in cups with soil. I put the glass in a zip bag and sealed it tightly. All! All the cuttings were taken to the greenhouse and placed in a bright place where direct sunlight does not fall.

For sixteen days I didn't look in or check the cuttings, air them or spray them. They just stood in the corner. On June 29, I opened a few bags and: Oh, miracle! ALL cuttings have taken root! It was perfectly visible through the transparent walls of the cups! There were several cuttings in which the roots were not visible. I slightly pulled their tops and felt an effort, which means that there are roots, but the root system has not yet developed much. What is interesting: in some varieties of weigels and hydrangeas, roots appeared not only in the ground, but aerial roots also formed on the stems.

I called the rooting method “for the lazy”: I put the cuttings to take root and you don’t approach them for almost three weeks. You don’t need to run to the greenhouse first thing in the morning - spray it, you don’t need to run from work at lunchtime, and after work run back to the greenhouse.

In the same way, I tried to root bougainvillea and guinea pigs, which are very difficult to root in rooting - everything is rooted! Costs: a little more than three rubles per cutting. * Semi-lignified cuttings are those that bend but do not break. From the author: In the same way, not only ornamental plants can be rooted, but also stepchildren of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Excellent results were given by the rooting of berry bushes and indoor flowers, which are difficult to propagate by cuttings. In this way, I managed to propagate cuttings of mulberries, lilacs, vesicles, roses, chrysanthemums. The only plant that I have not been able to propagate in this way is the barberry.

Irina Ploshkina

Fruit trees bring large yields of fruit, so many gardeners want to propagate them on their site. Vaccinations do not always take root on the rootstock, so novice gardeners can use other methods of reproduction.

There are three main ways to propagate fruit trees, other than grafting:

• propagation by cuttings;
• layering;
• method of artificial formation of roots on a branch.

These propagation methods provide a high survival rate of new seedlings. At the same time, the new planting material completely retains all the properties of the mother tree, which is very important for the reproduction of a certain variety of fruit trees.

Propagation of fruit trees by cuttings

Cuttings for harvesting in the fall during the formation of the crown. You can store the cuttings deep frozen in the freezer or plant them in pots. Thus, you will form healthy seedlings, which you will then plant in open ground in the summer.

To obtain new seedlings, the green cuttings method is also used.

Cuttings should be planted in partial shade and well watered. Near the cuttings, several pegs are driven in, on which a white fabric is pulled. Thus, a miniature greenhouse is created. When the cuttings have a root system, they are transplanted to a sunny place and complex mineral fertilizers and rotted cow dung are introduced into the near-stem circle of the seedling.

With such reproduction, the survival rate of cuttings is 70% of the total amount of planting material.

Reproduction of fruit trees by layering

In order to get new plants with a guarantee, use the method of propagating fruit trees by layering. Select the lower branch of an adult fruit tree and remove the bark from it in a circle. This process is called banding.

Ringing slows down the flow of nutrients from the cutting, which increases the rate of formation of the root system. In order to start the process of root formation, bend the branch to the ground and fill the "ring" with earth.

After three months, the formation of the root system will begin, and next summer it will be possible to separate the seedling from the mother plant and transplant it to a new place. The survival rate of seedlings with this method of reproduction is 100%.

Artificial formation of roots on a branch

If it is not possible to bend the branch to the ground, make a hole in the plastic bag and put the bag on a straight branch, and then fill the bag with soil. Tie the bag loosely, providing air access to the branch, slightly moisten the soil. After the roots are formed, separate the seedling with secateurs and transplant to a new place.