Propagating Soft Cuttings

Save money by cloning your favorite plants by means of cuttings. Take soft cuttings from the tips of healthy, disease-free plants. It's a great inexpensive way to have more of the plants you love to share with your friends and family.

1. 4" pot with hole for drainage (if reusing an old pot, dip in a solution of water with a few drops of bleach)
2. Rooting soil (mix vermiculite and peatmoss)
3. Sharp, clean knife
4. Rooting powder (available at a garden center for about $3)
5. Pencil or small dowel

Fill a 4" pot with rooting soil to a depth of about 4". With a sharp knife take a 3" - 5" stem cutting from the parent plant just below a leaf joint. Remove any flowers or buds. Trim off all but 3 or 4 leaves at the top. Dip cutting in water/bleach solution, then in the rooting powder (which has rooting hormone and fungicide). Use the pencil to make a 3" deep hole in the pot just slightly larger than the cutting stem and carefully insert cutting so the rooting compound won't be brushed away. Gently firm the soil around it. Several cuttings can be placed in one pot. Water the cuttings and store in a shady, cool area. Rooting may begin to take place within 3 - 4 weeks.

Propagating Supplies:
Hardwood Rooter Pots
Cloning Machines
Root Riot
Rooting Gel