Best time of year to use easy plant propagation method

NORTHWEST, Fla. — I’ve enjoyed propagating new plants from old ones for years. You can too. This is the best time of year to propagate many of your favorite woody shrubs or herbaceous plants from cuttings.

To get started you’ll need the following supplies.

• Healthy plants from which to take cuttings
• Sharp hand pruners
• Clean one-gallon plastic nursery pots
• Well-drained sterile media such as perlite, vermiculite or fine pine bark
• A sheet of clear plastic or large, clear plastic bags
• Root promoter such as Rootone, Hormodin or Dip-N-Grow

Prepare the pots by making sure they are clean. Recycled pots should be washed and rinsed. Fill each pot about ½ to ¾ full with the well-drained potting mixture. Avoid fine-textured mixtures that look like soil. Water well to thoroughly wet the medium.

Take cuttings during the early morning by removing 4 to 5-inch-long pieces of terminal shoots from the current season’s growth. Immediately place the cuttings in a plastic bag or a cooler if the temperature is high.

Prepare to stick cuttings in the potting mix without delay. In a cool, shaded area recut the base of each cutting. Make a slanted cut just below a joint or node. Dip cut end into a root promoter and place/stick it in the medium just deep enough to make it stand up without support. Spacing can be close, about 2 inches. A gallon size nursery pot will easily root 6 to 12 cuttings.

After the pot is filled with the cuttings, water again. This helps to settle the medium around the cutting bases.

Stretch a clear plastic sheet tightly over the top of the pot and secure it with a large rubber band or string. If the pot was not filled excessively and if the cuttings are not too long, the plastic should not touch the cuttings. Another option is to place the entire pot in a large, clear plastic bag and seal it.

Place the completed “propagation unit” in a bright area but never in direct sun. Check once each week by making sure that condensation is forming inside of the plastic. Do not disturb as long as beads of moisture are seen (condensation). If condensation decreases, remove the top, water again, allow excess water to drain and replace the cover.

Rooting of many plants occurs within 4 to 6 weeks. When new roots are about 1 inch long, pot the cuttings and grow them until the new plants are ready to be placed in the landscape.

More information on plant propagation is available at these UF/IFAS Extension links.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/MG/MG10800.pdf

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/lppi/index_common.shtml

Larry Williams is the Extension horticulture agent with the Okaloosa County Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida. Contact Larry at 689-5850 or email lwilliams@myokaloosa.com.