Propagating Arborvitae from Cuttings

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Have you ever considered propagating arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) from cuttings? It’s an easy and fun way to make more plants. Arborvitae can make a great privacy screen and hedge. Here you will find the steps I take to propagate arborvitae as well as a video to see it in action.

How to Propagate Arborvitae from Cuttings

The first step in propagating anything is making sure you have the right equipment. Pruners, potting soil (or other medium), a pot,  and humidity dome. You can use this technique for many types of plants, not just arborvitae.

  • Once you have what you need take 4 to 5 inch cuttings. They should be mostly green and a little pliable. Strip most of the leaves on the base of the cutting back carefully. It’s easy to accidentally rip the cutting in half so using the pruners to shear off the side branches may be necessary.
  • Put the potting medium in the pot. I’ve been using an organic soil mix but sand, sand/peat, peat/vermicculite, or peat/perlite can all work. For me it really just depends on what I have on hand.
  • Stick the cuttings in the soil. You can take an addition step and use rooting hormone but it isn’t necessary. It may help the process but really, I haven’t noticed. I have been using a 6 inch pot with about 5 arborvitae cuttings inside.
  • Take the humidity covering and cover the pot after a good watering. For a humidity dome I use a clear plastic pot with the bottom cut off.
  • Last I put the cuttings in a tray that will hold water. From here on out I bottom water the pot by putting water in the tray. The humidity dome holds the moisture and the trays water will wick up into the pot as needed by the cuttings.

Two Rooting Hormones I use frequently are:

What I like about using potting soil is that the soil has nutrition. As soon as the roots begin forming they can start absorbing nutrition from the soil and the plant can begin active growth. It isn’t dependent on me to dig into the pot to check rooting. I can leave the roots undisturbed until I see roots emerge from the pot holes. I have also successfully used sand and fine bark shavings (soil conditioner) as a medium. The important thing about the medium is that it retain some moisture without becoming waterlogged.

When to Propagate Arborvitae

Propagating arborvitae can be done just about any time of the year from late spring to through winter. The best time to start arborvitae cuttings is probably in the late fall or winter. Cuttings taken in the winter are dormant and will begin the callusing process when there isn’t a lot of pressure for it to grow.

See this YouTube video on some arborvitae cuttings I took in Fall of 2023 and how they did: How ARBORVITAE Cuttings ROOT After Leaving Them Alone for Nine Months!

I also recommend only using the current year growth for your cuttings. Older wood will have less viability and so first year growth will have the best chance of rooting. Let me know if you try propagating arborvitae from cuttings and what your results are. This technique should work for all of your favorite arborvitae varieties including Green Giant, Emerald Green, Golden Globe, and others.

Watch how to Propagate Arborvitae

The techniques in the video below can be used for any variety of arborvitae. If you prefer a text version of the instructions just look below the video. Thanks for visiting and please hop over to my YouTube channel for more Growing The Home Garden Videos.

More on Plant Propagation

For some other plant propagation information check out this page: Plant Propagation for The Home Garden

And for some recommended propagation resources and products look here: Plant Propagation Resources

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