Isn’t it great to have a few easy to propagate plants that you can grow to increase your garden? The plants in the video below are all easy to grow from cuttings.
General Propagation Procedures for These Plants (and Many others)
Before you Start Taking Cuttings
As with all cuttings clean your pruners before taking cuttings to prevent disease issues from transferring to your new cuttings. I put rubbing alcohol on the blade with a cotton ball to disinfect the pruners then dry them off thoroughly.
Preparing the Cuttings
Take a cutting that is anywhere from 2-6 inches long and remove the lower leaves. Pinch the stem tip of any tip cuttings. This forces the plant to push energy toward root making rather than flowering or growing. It’s the apical bud. By removing it you signal to the other buds to begin growing. That can help with root formation.
Stick the Cuttings
Dip the cut end in rooting hormone, and plant it in a medium. (These plants don’t require rooting hormone to root but it can speed things along) In the video below I used shaved pine bark (soil conditioner) for the soil medium. You can use potting soil, peat, peat/sand, peat/vermiculite, or peat/perlite. Keep the container out of direct sunlight, and keep the soil moist. Spritzing the leaves with a mist setting on the garden hose can be helpful to reduce water loss especially on hot days!
Salvia, catmint, phlox, monarda, and lemon balm (YouTube video on Care and Propagation of Lemon Balm and Mint) should all root in about 2 weeks. As long as the cuttings are still alive there is a good chance for rooting.
Useful Products for plant Propagation
I’ve used some Amazon Affiliate Links below but I’ve used all of these products successfully and frequently. My Propagating Plants book is from an earlier version by the same author. It was the first one I bought on plant propagation and I’ve used it for a long time as a reference!
Rooting Hormones:
Book for Plant propagation:
Propagation Tools
More Propagation Information from Growing the Home Garden
Plant Propagation Bench for Seedlings and Cuttings
I’ll continue with the Seed Starting 101 Series tomorrow but I thought I would use today’s post to share with you a related project. Recently I purchased a seedling heatmat that I’ve been testing in the garage to see how seedlings will grow out there. …
Fiery Plant Selections for a Hot Summer Garden!
If you like things hot (or if you are in the south its just going to be hot) why not try some of these fiery colored plants in your garden! The colors of red, orange, and yellow can truly set the garden ablaze visually! The…
How to Propagate Purple Leaf Plum from Cuttings
One of the reasons I like gardening so much, and I believe that other gardeners share the same reason, is to see the result of your work. To see a job finally come to completion. I enjoy the journey and the process too, but it…
Pruning and Propagating a Japanese Dappled Willow
Yet again I found myself taking more cuttings of a Japanese dappled willow (Salix integra). Sometimes I just can’t help myself. Or maybe I do help myself? Whatever the case I brought home with us a bunch of willow branches for propagating. They came off…
How to Grow Plants from Hardwood Cuttings (Winter Plant Propagation)
I’ve always been one to enjoy experimenting with plant propagation in the garden. This past weekend, since the weather was so pleasant, I went on hardwood cutting spree. Hardwood cuttings are very easy to do. The success rate varies quite a lot depending on the…
How to Propagate Winter Jasmine by Taking Advantage of Aerial Roots
You all know how much I like making new plants, but you should also know that I really like it when plants make it easy for the propagator. Many plants do just that by creating aerial roots that normally will be used to grab onto…
Discover more from Growing The Home Garden
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.