Step by Step Propagating Lesson

I posted this little lesson on the Gardening Forum I belong to and figure there are folks out there who can also benefit from it.

Nearly all the plants I sell in my little nursery are propagated from cuttings that I take from my own plants. I have a mist system set up in my greenhouse where they are rooted and potted up for sale.

The following pictures show how I cut, trimmed and prepared an Oak Leaf  Hydrangea for the mist bed.

1. Here is where I made the cut on my plant. It is below 2 leaf nodes (where the leaves come out of the stem)

2. Here is what the stem looked like before I trimmed off the excess foliage: trimming is important so the plant does not waste energy trying to keep all those leaves alive. It will use it's energy to make roots!

4.Here are all the leaves I cut off . I was able to make two cutting to propagate from that one stem.

5. Now I "wound" the stem by cutting a small amount of the bark away. This helps the plant form roots.

6. Dip the end into rooting hormone. I use Hormodin #2 rooting powder but any hormone you can buy at a garden store will work.

7. Here are the cuttings in my mist system. They should have enough roots to survive in a pot in about 45 days.

 Try it yourself and make lots of free plants! Be sure you don't root any patented plants or the plant police will get you! Seriously, if you get caught there could be fines. Not worth the price of a plant.