According to Richa, overwatering is the most common failure. 'When propagating cuttings, it's important to ensure the soil is moist but not waterlogged,' she says. 'Overwatering can easily lead to root rot. To avoid this, wait until the top inch of soil is dry before watering your cuttings.
Cuttings are very delicate and vulnerable so pests, disease, the wrong growing conditions, too much water or too little water can all cause them to fail. Therefore it is vital that the plants you take your cuttings from are healthy, pest-free and growing strongly.
Too much or too frequent application of mist / fog keeps the growing medium saturated, excess water will flow from the bottom of the trays and rooting will be delayed. Applying mist / fog too infrequently will increase transpiration from the leaves and cuttings will lose turgidity and could die from drying out.
Provide proper moisture: Cuttings need to be kept moist but not too wet. Ensure that the soil is well-drained and mist the leaves regularly. A humidity dome can also help retain moisture. Maintain appropriate temperature: Most cuttings require warm temperatures to encourage root growth.
Try to wait until at least 50% of the cuttings have good rooting before potting them up; however, for some hard-to-root species, you may be lucky with only 10% to 20% success.
You can replace the water every few days, or simply top off the vessel with fresh water when it's looking low—as long as there is no murkiness or fungi growing. If the water is murky, we recommend replacing it for the health of the growing root system.
Warm growing medium temperatures accelerate cell division which leads to faster callusing, root initial development and subsequent root growth. It also speeds up the dry-down rate of the growing medium, which also helps encourage better rooting. The best way to warm the growing medium is through bottom heat.
Several cuttings may be placed together in one container. Be sure to add fresh water as needed until the cuttings are fully rooted. Rooting will generally occur in 3-4 weeks but some plants will take longer. When the roots are 1-2 inches long or longer the cutting is ready to be potted up.
You can put cuttings straight into soil as long as you have prepared them correctly. 'Cut under a node at the bottom and above a node at the top,' says Chick-Seward. You must also remove the lower leaves, leaving only two or three at the top.
After two or three weeks, check to see if roots have formed by working your hand under the cutting and gently lifting (Figure 3). If no roots have formed, or if they are very small, firm the cutting back into the mix, rebag, and check for roots again in one to two weeks.
In most situations, mist is required during the first night or two after sticking because the cuttings are “leaky” and have difficulty taking up water as rapidly as they're losing it through transpiration. With each passing day in propagation, the cutting regains its ability to regulate water loss.
Taking cuttings that are too small will make it harder to spray them properly. The rooting medium must be humid, having used water with a pH of 6.0, which will immensely help them to root properly. Make sure you don't wet the medium too much as the trunk might rot and then it won't root at all.
With the exception of succulents, most cuttings need high humidity in order to grow properly. Until cuttings develop roots, they are very susceptible to drying out. If you don't have a bright area with high humidity, you can create a humid environment around the cutting by placing a clear plastic bag over it.
What is one of the most common mistakes in plant propagation?
Using the wrong media—Some growers try to propagate in their regular growing media to save money. This is usually a mistake. The physical characteristic of growing media versus prop media are different, as they should be. Propagation mixes usually receive much more water than growing media.
Place your stem cutting in your vessel with enough water to cover the node. The water level will drop due to evaporation, so you should add water every 3-5 days as needed. You can watch the roots develop if you have chosen a clear vessel for your cutting.
Some plants will root in water, but cuttings will develop a better root system when rooted in a soil-less potting mix. Sand or perlite can also be used, especially for cuttings that need good drainage and may rot if kept too wet.
Take cuttings early in the day when the plant's stems are full of water. Place cuttings in a plastic bag to stop them drying out and use them as soon as possible. When taking a cutting, choose a strong side shoot with no flowers and cut a piece between 5-10cm (2-4in) long, cutting just below a leaf joint.
Place approximately one to two inches of soil in the bottom of the pot. Remove the rooted cutting from the water and give it a good rinse with fresh water. Place the cutting in the pot and cover the roots with soil. Leave about an inch of space at the top of the pot.
Grow new plants from plant cuttings with Miracle-Gro FastRoot1 Dry Powder Rooting Hormone. This product is made for rooting house, foliage, tropical, and hardy ornamental plants, as well as a leaf, greenwood, and softwood cuttings.
Wilted cuttings are the result of increased transpiration from decreased humidity in the propagation environment. Humidity can be difficult to control. Most often, we refer to humidity as relative humidity or the proportion of water vapor in the air equated to how much the air could hold at a given temperature.
Got a cutting that's refusing to root or taking its sweet time? Add a Pothos! I'd heard of using willow as a natural rooting hormone, but didn't know Pothos has this 'super power' too. Just pop a Pothos cutting in with the water with your slow-to-grow cuttings and it helps speed up root development.
To use your homemade rooting hormone, dip the bottom of the cutting in the solution before “sticking” the cutting in rooting medium. Using apple cider vinegar as rooting hormone is a great way to give your cuttings that extra jump they need to grow roots.
In combination with the carbon dioxide and the water, the chloroplasts can metabolize the carbon dioxide and create carbohydrates (made from sugars and various starches). The plants then use these carbohydrates to strengthen their roots, new proteins, or general storage.
