Last night I had a crazy thought “why not take a few last minute cuttings before the cold weather moves in for good?” The cuttings would need warmth to root and survive, so keeping them outside was not an option at this time of the year.
I found a decorative pot that my wife bought a few years ago at a campus art sale back in college and filled it up with sand. Sand works great as a rooting medium for cuttings. Then I went out to my butterfly bush and took enough greenwood material to make 8 cuttings.
I cut each of the cuttings to about 4 inches long with at least two nodes and a couple leaves. I pinched the growing tip from the top of each cutting and dipped the bottom of the cutting in water. Next I dipped the cutting into some powdered rooting hormone and inserted it into the sand. Finally I put it in our bathroom and watered it.
A while back I put a small shelf between the two windows in the bathroom. It’s a great location since there is a good amount sun by the windows and there is humidity in the bathroom. It doesn’t look too bad at all with the decorative pot.
I’ll check them in a few weeks to see if rooting has started, then pot them up in a good potting mix. I’ve been fairly successful with rooting butterfly bushes like this in the past so I anticipate good results. The mother plant was a declining nursery stock plant that I bought for $5 and nursed it back to health. Now it’s an extremely vigorous and attractive butterfly magnet!
To help your cuttings you can put a plastic bag over the container like a little tent to keep the humidity high.
Steps to Root Butterfly Bush from Cuttings
- Cut each cutting to about 4 inches long with at least two nodes and a couple of leaves.
- Pinch the growing tip from the top of each cutting.
- Dip the bottom of the cutting in water.
- Dip the cutting into powdered rooting hormone.
- Insert the cutting into the sand.
- Place the cuttings in an area with indirect light and high humidity. A plastic bag can be placed over the container to create a tent for maintaining high humidity.
- Water the cuttings.
Check for rooting in a 4-8 weeks and pot up in good potting mix.
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