Keeping cuttings alive

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Freeranger
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Keeping cuttings alive

Post by Freeranger »

I've promised cuttings to friends and would also like to expand shrub stock in my own garden, but I can't seem to keep them alive. I've taken some stem cuttings of a variegated holly, and won't know with them for quite a while, but I also planted the cuttings I'd had to remove to leave the bare stems. I pulled them from the stem and left a small heel, removed all but one or two leaves, then put them into damp sand with a polythene bag over the pot.I stood the pot on a light windowsill, but not in direct sunlight. I did the same with Weigella and another pretty shrub with no name. They've mostly gone dry and brown. I did the same thing last year, and with geraniums, and the geraniums started to root but also died along with the rest of the cuttings. I have others which are bigger and just in water, as a friend told me they'd root in there, but not so far.
Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong, please? Is it right that they won't root til the spring? If that's the case, could I not just take cuttings then instead? Thanks for reading.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by lancashire lass »

I feel obliged to reply but I'm not very good with cuttings either {rofwl} Sorry :oops:

Freeranger wrote:Is it right that they won't root til the spring? If that's the case, could I not just take cuttings then instead?


You would think that would be the case wouldn't you but I wonder if the problem is that in spring, water rises up the stems for leaf production rather than root development? I suspect in autumn, although we can't see it, there are embryonic root development at the base of the stem which burst out in the first bit of warmth.

I've watched umpteen gardening programmes on tv where presenters like Carol Klein and Alan Titchmarsh pop several cuttings into a pot containing a mix of grit and some other stuff which I don't think is compost (and always a layer of grit on the soil surface) and then just left them in a cold frame outdoors or in an unheated greenhouse. Perhaps a windowsill is too warm?

I was actually successful growing pinks (carnations) from a bunch of flowers I got and left the stems in water on the windowsill in a cool room, and they took root. I felt quite chuffed with that. I think woody stems have a habit of going mouldy and rotten in water which is why they don't take.

There's always root hormone powder to try as well.
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Mo
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by Mo »

We've brought Forsythia twigs into the house in bud and enjoyed the flowers even earlier than outside, then found roots growing in the water.
Strange how the shrubs that are cheapest are so easy to 'strike'. (or maybe not strange :-D )

Some are easy some not, but if you are pruning bits off anyway nothing to lose I suppose.
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p.penn
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by p.penn »

With many shrubs, an easy idea is to pull a (still attached) branch down to soil level, and anchor it by popping a brick onto it in the spring, by late summer it will have rooted and you can detach it from the main shrub and replant. I have done this with flowering currant, forsythia and privet hedging.
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Freeranger
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by Freeranger »

Thanks for your thoughts, all. I've just watched some of those programmes and I think the mix is peaty compost, vermiculite or sand and grit. That might be what I'm doing wrong, I suppose, but thought it just had to be somewhere free-draining. My understanding - and what do I know? I'm the one with the dead cuttings - is that some plants can only be propagated in some ways, so although I'll try the other methods as well, I need to learn how to do this at some point. Any more thoughts would be welcomed. Thanks again.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by lancashire lass »

Freeranger wrote:I've just watched some of those programmes and I think the mix is peaty compost, vermiculite or sand and grit


ah yes, rings a bell - perlite is another one of those things that get mixed in.

Peaty compost - I'd imagine that would be difficult to get hold of as bog standard compost does not contain peat anymore (all part of the conservation of peat moorlands)

... not helping ...
animartco
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by animartco »

Hi. There is a difference between hardwood and softwood cutting. You need to get two little pots of rooting hormone, one for hard and one for soft. Another tip I have often seen is always stick the cuttings against the side of the pot, and it is very important that the pot stays cool, otherwise the young roots will scorch. Cuttings with waxy or hairy leaves should not be entirely covered in polythene, A sleeve is best. Hope some of this is helpful. Having said all this, cuttings from tree branches really need to be grafted, or you could try layering. PS I have a lot of baby ordinary holly trees if you want to try grafting the variegated onto them. If I had more time I'd have a go myself!
Freeranger
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by Freeranger »

I took some cuttings just before I made this post, and the hollies are mostly still OK and most of the weigella are dead - gone completely brown. I didn't use rooting powder, so it may be that or possibly drainage. Thanks to our warm October, there are still a few leaves, so I'll try again. Thanks for the advice, all.
Freeranger
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Re: Keeping cuttings alive

Post by Freeranger »

Nope. Managed to kill that lot as well.
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