You know how I am, if I grow it I see if I can root it! The challenge this time was to root a heuchera from a leaf cutting. It isn’t difficult if you take from the right part of the plant. Just taking a cutting from a leaf isn’t good enough as it won’t result in any new foliage. (THIS NEXT PART IS IMPORTANT) To successfully root heuchera from cuttings you need to retain a little bit of the heuchera stem/root crown with the heuchera leaves. It contains the growth buds that will eventually form new leaves. After all what is a heuchera without leaves? If you want to be sure to get a piece of the stem select a part that has two to three leaves.
The Procedure for Propagating Heuchera from a Cutting:
In this case found the heuchera stem then used a sharp knife to remove a leaf with a small section of the stem and root crown from the main plant. For success you must include some of the root grown. After gathering the cutting material I dipped the heuchera cutting into rooting hormone then put it into my rooting medium. (I use sand but other combinations of rooting medium work fine also.) In about 4-6 weeks I found myself with with rooting like you see in the picture.
I potted up the new heuchera and it won’t be too long before new leaves and growth appears. Division works very nicely with heucheras too but the advantage of cuttings is that you can make more plants from a single plant than you can with division.
Six weeks ago I divided a ‘Palace Purple’ heuchera into 11 divisions but by using the cutting technique I could have made 20-30. Cuttings take a little more time and care but the end result can mean more plants. Both techniques, division and cuttings, work well in concert with each other. When you divide you have an easy opportunity to find the appropriate material for cuttings.
Another easy method for making more heuchera is to grow heuchera from seeds. Follow this link to check out how to grow coral bells from seed (you can watch the video below).
(Here’s more information about the basics of taking cuttings)
When Can You Take Heuchera Cuttings?
Cuttings are best left for spring time or when the weather is a little cooler but can be done anytime during the growing season. I would avoid taking cuttings too late in the fall since they will not have enough growth or harden off before cold weather begins.
An Important Note: Take care when selecting heucheras to propagate. Many heucheras have been painstakingly developed through breeding programs and have plant patents to protect the work of the growers.
See how these cuttings did in the video below!
For Another Way to Grow Heuchera Grow it From Seeds!
Check out the video on starting heuchera from seed below or read this post: How to Grow Heuchera From Seeds.
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Excellent. I bought some on clearance this year and want a lot more for a new bed I'm planning to build in the shade. I've been looking online to find methods, but nothing describes it as well as you did. I was confused about how much stem to take. Thanks!
Dave, you are amazing. Rooting cuttings is a special skill. I did this many years ago with limited success.
Eileen
Good job. That's a great way to have many plants without the cost. Love it.
I echo the "Amazing" sentiments! 🙂 Thanks for the advice. I hope I find the time to do this soon!!
Just curious: what were the conditions needed to get these to root? Did you use a simple plastic tent to retain moisture? Did you use no tent at all?
I wonder how these would do under mist?
Tom,
I think as long as you get some stem the cuttings will be OK. Just a leaf will get you just that, a leaf!
Thanks Eileen, Lola and SG! I just find it a lot of fun to get new plants to root!
Dwayne,
I had these in a no mist aquarium. No tent just the aquarium glass with a partially open top. I would think they would do fine under mist.