Growing a new plant in less time than with seed allows vegetative propagation when a cutting is used for planting. This is a fairly effective method, but requires certain conditions that are well known to experienced gardeners.
Types of cuttings
There are several types of these plant parts used for planting. Stem cuttings are parts of the stem or shoots. The process of obtaining them depends on the type of plant. In grassy stems are torn off by hands. It is advisable to capture the apical shoot. The stem cutting of coniferous plants is taken from the axillary shoots. It must have a kidney and several leaves. To simplify the process of rooting cuttings of plants with fleshy leaves, they need to be wilted for several hours. Leaves that are too large are recommended to be trimmed.
A leaf stalk is a leaf with a petiole, the length of which is at least 5 cm. It must certainly be he althy. The leaves located at the very base of the plant are torn off, then a part of the petiole is cut off with a knife. After treatment with Kornevin, the cutting is planted in the ground. There are gardenplants that can be propagated even with a piece of leaf.
Root cuttings are obtained, respectively, from the root, cutting it into pieces of 5 cm and burying it in the ground. It is desirable to treat the slices with charcoal to prevent decay.
Favorable timing for cuttings
Each plant has its own cutting period when it is most successful. Rooting cuttings of hardwoods is best done in late May - early June. Lilac, mock orange is best propagated in this way during the flowering period, other hardwoods - during the intensive growth of young shoots. Plants such as barberry, hydrangea, honeysuckle, euonymus, viburnum, broom, wolf, cuttings in the summer.
For coniferous plants, it is recommended to use this type of propagation in early spring, before the buds swell, or in summer, when the period of active growth is over. Many conifers, as well as maple, linden, birch, oak and some other trees, are very difficult to root due to the large size of the callus (tissue that promotes wound healing), which depletes the cutting, preventing root formation.
Preparation of cuttings
In order to reduce the evaporation of moisture from the shoots, cutting them must be done in the early morning or on a cloudy day. The main thing you need to pay attention to when cutting off the cutting is its length and thickness. It shouldn't be too thin. The length depends on the size of the internodes. If they are short, there should be 3-4 knots on the handle, shoots with long knots can have only 2internodes. The average length of the handle is 8-10 cm.
The top cut of the shoot is made above the bud and should be straight so that the evaporating surface is as small as possible. The lower one is obliquely and below the base of the kidney, but not more than 1 cm. Only one leaf remains in the sinus of the kidney, the rest are removed.
Coniferous cuttings emit a resin that prevents the absorption of moisture from the soil, so it is recommended to place them in water for 2-3 hours beforehand, and to facilitate root formation, a small longitudinal incision up to 1 cm long is made on the bottom of the cutting.
Reproduction conditions by cuttings
Root formation depends on many different factors. This is the temperature regime, and climatic conditions, as well as some chemical processes. Rooting occurs faster when the cutting is in an elevated temperature. Therefore, its lower part should be warm. But so that nutrients are not wasted at the same time on the growth of the top, it is better to keep the air temperature low.
You can create the necessary climatic conditions for the speedy rooting of grassy cuttings by placing them in pots with soil and covering them with plastic wrap. Nearby it is desirable to put a container with water. Lignified cuttings take root easily in open ground if it warms up well.
Rooting cuttings in water
This is the easiest way to propagate plants. You just need to place the cut branch in a jar of water.
In many plants (but not all), the roots appear very quickly. The water level is of great importance here. Rooting requires air, so if there is too much water, then most of the cutting will be without oxygen, which can cause it to rot.
It is best to pour melted water into the jar where the cutting will be. This stimulates metabolic processes and has a positive effect on rooting. It is not recommended to change the water frequently, it is only necessary to top it up periodically.
Don't put several cuttings in a jar at once. In this case, the risk of their death is very high.
Rooting in the ground
Plants growing in nature in more arid conditions root very poorly in water. Therefore, in such cases, a soil mixture is used. Rooting occurs most easily in soil consisting of peat and sand. Substrates such as vermiculite, perlite, coconut briquettes can also be used alone or mixed with each other. Before planting cuttings, you need mandatory drainage. Use a fungicide for the first watering.
Storage of cuttings
It is quite difficult to keep cuttings harvested in autumn during the winter. They are tied in bundles and placed in wet sand or sawdust cut down. You can store these bundles in the basement at a temperature of 1 to 3 ⁰С. If there are few cuttings, then you can put them in the refrigerator. In regions where there is enough snow, many gardeners store planting material in snowpiles, under a layer of 50-70 cm. This method is especially good for stone fruit crops, since it is much more difficult to save cuttings, for example, apricot, peach or cherry. With the appearance of moisture, they have a warming of the cambium or premature budding. Such cuttings are unsuitable for propagation.
