Ten Simple Steps to Taking Cuttings | A Landscaping Gardening Article

Main Article Categories

"Landscaping Gardening" Article
Article Directory Home

Ten Simple Steps to Taking Cuttings By Expert Author: Fran Barnwell
View Summary \| Submitted: 2006-01-23 \| Word Count: 510 words \| Views: 288 view(s)

There are several different types of cuttings that you can take from plants - the most common are softwood, semi-ripe and hardwood. These refer to how woody and therefore how old the plant stem is.

Softwood cuttings are taken from the youngest part of the stem, and are the easiest and quickest to take root. This makes them ideal for anyone trying this for the first time.

Softwood cuttings are taken in May and June from the new growth of the plant. They root easily - between 4 and 8 weeks - but can wilt and die if they lose too much moisture, so they have to be kept warm and moist. And the best way to do this, if you don't have a propagator, is to put the pot inside a polythene bag.

Some experts recommend using hormone rooting powder to encourage rooting, others say it is not necessary. I have taken cuttings both using rooting powder and without using it and I have had successes and failures with both. So give it a try and see what happens.

The most suitable and easiest plants for taking cuttings include: fuchsias, pelargoniums, hebes, lupins, hydrangeas and chrysanthemums.

So here's how you do it:

1. Cut about half a dozen growing tips from the plant - about 4" using a sharp knife or secateurs and pop straight into a polythene bag to keep the cutting moist
2. Use either special cuttings compost, or make up a half and half mix of multi-purpose compost and vermiculite or sharp sand
3. You can use small 3" pots for individual cuttings, or a larger 5" pot and place up to 5 cuttings around the edge
4. Trim each cutting so that the bottom is just below a leaf joint (node) - make the cut a slanted one if you can
5. Take off all the bottom leaves, leaving just 3-4 at the top, and pinch out the growing tip
6. If you are using hormone rooting powder, dip the bottom end of the cutting in water, then into the powder and shake off any excess
7. Push the cutting into the compost in the pot up to about a third of its length, and water
8. Cover the pot with a clear polythene bag making sure the bag does not press against the leaves, and place on a bright, sunny window ledge or in a greenhouse
9. Check every few days, but they should not need much watering
10. When you see new leaves appearing, you will know that the cutting has rooted - you can then re-pot the new plant into normal potting compost

And because softwood cuttings are so easy to root, it is also possible just to pop the cut stem into a glass of water, take off the bottom leaves, pinch out the growing tip, and within a couple of weeks you will see the roots starting to grow.

And that's all there is to it - your family and friends will be so impressed when you give them plants for free!

About the Author/Author Bio

Fran Barnwell is a self-taught gardener, learning through experience in her own garden. Fran understands the difficulties that face new gardeners, and has written The Ultimate Guide to Gardening for Beginners, a successful eBook that helps anyone new to gardening to get started, explaining the basics in easy to understand terms. To find out more and to sign up to receive a free series of articles, go to http://www.NewToGardening.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Ten-Simple-Steps-to-Taking-Cuttings/7647

Article Tags: home and family, landscaping gardening, garden, gardening, beginner, cuttings, softwood, compost, plants

This Article has been viewed 288 times.

Comments on this Article

More "Landscaping Gardening" Related Articles

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Landscaping Gardening" article category.

People interested in the above article "Ten Simple Steps to Taking Cuttings" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Creating A Wild Flower Garden

A wild-flower garden has a most attractive sound. One thinks of long tramps in the woods, collecting material, and then of the fun in fixing up a real for sure wild garden. Many people say they have no luck at all with such a garden. It is not a question of luck, but a question of understanding, for wild flowers are like people and each has its personality.

Learning About Xeriscaping To Save Time and Water

While having a full fledged garden is rewarding and enjoyable, lots of people simply don't have the time that is required to maintain it. Whether you have too much going on at work or too many kids to take care of, you should never try to operate a garden if you don't think you can handle it. For those people who are just too busy for a normal garden, I would suggest a somewhat recent method of gardening known as Xeriscaping.

Vines Can Make Good Decorations

A great way to decorate your garden is the use of vines. They are very low maintenance and look good on almost anything. If you've got a fence or separator that really stands out in the field of green that is your garden, then growing a vine over it can be a quick and aesthetically pleasing solution.

How To Use Rain Barrels Get Water

If you're a gardener that has an unlimited supply of water, consider yourself lucky. There are many of us who live in drought zones where the garden and lawn watering rules are very constrictive to the healthy growth of gardens and plants. Many people just give up when they find out how few gallons of water they are permitted to use, but some of us have just found ways to cope with less water.

Get In Shape While Gardening

While gardening is usually thought of as a productive way to grow beautiful plants and obtain tasty fruits and vegetables, few gardeners have ever considered the immense amounts of exercise one can get in the process of gardening. While you can get almost as much muscle (if not more) exercise as you do working out, it is very productive at the same time.

Gardening Psychology

I don't know what it is about a garden that has always drawn humans to them. But they've always been very popular, and an integral part of peoples' lifestyles. Most religions feature gardens as the settings for some of the biggest events According to Christianity, humanity was started in a garden and the son of God was resurrected in a garden.

Your Garden And Hail

One of the most hazardous things that can happen to your plants is weather. Many a garden has been demolished overnight because of this phenomenon. And seemingly, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Of course, if weather didn't exist at all then we wouldn't have those nice sunny days that are beneficial to the growth of our plants.

Print Article

Comment on Article

Favorite Article

Email to Friend

Republish Article

Article Directory Home

Home And Family

Landscaping Gardening

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!

(Search in 26 languages: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German,
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Serbian
Slovak, Hebrew, Swedish, Romanian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian)

(We serve worldwide - Locations updated as at Wednesday, 03 December 2008 02:12 pm , Singapore)

United States of America, USA . United Kingdom, UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) . Canada . Afghanistan . Albania . Algeria . American Samoa . Andorra . Angola . Anguilla . Antarctica . Antigua & Barbuda . Argentina . Armenia . Aruba . Australia . Austria . Azerbaijan . Bahamas . Bahrain . Bangladesh . Barbados . Belarus . Belgium . Belize . Benin . Bermuda . Bhutan . Bolivia . Bonaire . Bosnia-Herzegovina . Botswana . Brazil . British Virgin Islands . Brunei Darrusalam . Bulgaria . Burkina Faso . Burundi . Cambodia . Cameroon . Cape Verde . Cayman Islands . Central African Republic . Chad . Channel Islands . Chile . China . Christmas Island . Colombia . Comoros . Congo . Congo (Dem. Rep.) . Cook Islands . Costa Rica . Côte d'Ivoire . Croatia . Cuba . Curacao . Cyprus . Czech Republic . Denmark . Djibouti . Dominica . Dominican Republic . East Timor . Ecuador . Egypt . El Salvador . Equatorial Guinea . Eritrea . Estonia . Ethiopia . Falkland Islands and Dependencies . Faroe Islands . Fiji . Finland . France . French Guiana . French Polynesia . Gabon . Gambia . Gaza . Georgia . Germany . Ghana . Gibraltar . Greece . Greenland . Grenada . Guadeloupe . Guam . Guatemala . Guinea . Guinea-Bissau . Guyana . Haiti . Hawaiian Islands . Honduras . Hong Kong . Hungary . Iceland . India . Indonesia . Iran . Iraq . Isle Of Man . Israel . Italy . Ivory Coast . Jamaica . Japan . Johnston Atoll . Jordan . Kazakhstan . Kenya . Kiribati . Korea (North) . Korea (South) . Kuwait . Kyrgyzstan . Laos . Latvia . Lebanon . Leeward Islands . Lesotho . Liberia . Libya . Liechtenstein . Lithuania . Luxembourg . Macau . Macedonia . Madagascar . Malawi . Malaysia . Maldives . Mali . Malta . Marshall Islands . Martinique . Mauritania . Mauritius . Mexico . Micronesia (Federated States) . Midway Islands . Moldova . Monaco . Mongolia . Montserrat . Morocco . Mosquito Coast . Mozambique . Myanmar (Burma) . Namibia . Nauru . Navassa Island . Nepal . Netherlands . Netherlands Antilles . New Caledonia . New Zealand . Nicaragua . Niger . Nigeria . Niue . Norfolk Island . Northern Mariana Islands . Norway . Oman . Pakistan . Palau . Palestine . Panama . Papua New Guinea . Paracel Islands . Paraguay . Peru . Philippines . Pitcairn Islands . Poland . Portugal . Puerto Rico . Qatar . Reunion . Romania . Russia . Rwanda . Ryukyu Islands . Saint Helena . Saint Kitts and Nevis . Saint Lucia . Saint Pierre & Miquelon . Saint Vincent & The Grenadines . Samoa . San Marino . São Tom?& Príncipe . Saudi Arabia . Senegal . Serbia . Seychelles . Sierra Leone . Singapore . Slovakia . Slovenia . Solomon Islands . Somalia . South Africa . Spain . Sri Lanka . Sudan . Suriname . Swaziland . Sweden . Switzerland . Syria . Taiwan . Tajikistan . Tanzania . Thailand . Togo . Tonga . Transkei . Trinidad & Tobago . Tunisia . Turkey . Turkmenistan . Turks and Caicos Islands . Tuvalu . US Virgin Islands . Uganda . Ukraine . United Arab Emirates . Upper Volta . Uruguay . Uzbekistan . Vanuatu . Vatican City (Holy See) . Venezuela . Vietnam . Wake Island . Windward Islands . Yemen . Yugoslavia . Zaire . Zambia . Zimbabwe

Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.

Template Design by Internet Marketing Singapore | Internet Marketing | Singapore Classified