Latest Cutting Success

....I'm having a good year with cuttings, which is very satisfying, especially given that I'm managing to root things I've not done before. The latest on the list are 3 Ornamental Grape cuttings - all 3 rooted and 3 Euonymus Planipes cuttings - all 3 rooted , wahoo

The former were taken from a lovely specimen in a garden that look after once a week and the latter from a shrub I bought about 10 years ago and is my mum's garden

 

Top one bilbo,ive just done the rose cutting hope they root
I was thinking about you today with you germinating the bottle brush seedling asi did some 2 yrs ago so have been babysitting approx 30 of themhope they flower next yr!
Anyway...i took some cuttings from them approx 2 month back and theyve taken i didnt think they would but they did so you could put yours on your cuttings list for next summer

 

Funtastic!!!

It's very encouraging reading about people's successes; well done Bilbo and joolz

 

Well done Bilbo , what's you top tip on taking cuttings I have very mixed success rates.

 

Hi Harry, a few tips that may help;

• Always take the cutting with a sharp pair of pruners or a sharp knife to minimise crushing the end of the cutting.
• If you can't do the cutting straight away ten I find keeping them in a plastic bag thats been misted inside helps.
• With most cuttings when preparing them cut below a node and remove all but a top pair of leaves; if these are large cut them in half.
• I like to use rooting hormone powder but its a personal preference, you could use gel or nothing at all.
• I like a mix of compost and perlite to insert the cutting in to at roughly a 60:40 ratio.
• A lot of people like to put a bag over the pot of cuttings to maintain moisture, but I've rooted loads this year without bags, instead placing them in either my blow-away greenhouse or coldframe, which provide semi-shade.
• Keep checking them regularly to make sure they don't dry out.
• Keep an eye on the bottom of the pots because quite often roots appear before any new growth appears.
• Once they're ready to be split and potted up individually be gentle and still keep them in a sheltered spot like the coldframe until they're established.
• Right now is still a fairly good time to be taking semi-ripe cuttings from shrubs and perennials.

Hope this helps a little Harry, you could write pages on cuttings and propagation

 

......More cuttings now rooted; Dahlia Cream Delight within a week!!! and Verbena Bonariensis

 

Cheers Bilbo , I'll follow them pointers I'll take my geranium cuttings in a week or so , I find these are OK , no rooting powder and do not cover.
For the few others I may take is gel or rooting powder best ( does gel go off after a year ? )

 

I think most say that the rooting hormone properties of gels and powders decrease after a year, it won't do any harm but may be less affective....