Plant propagation is an important practice in gardening. Surprisingly, the most popular method of raising new plants is not seed sowing; but propagation by stem cutting. Stem cutting is a vegetative way of plant propagation and it also the quickest, simplest way of cloning a plant. Additionally, it is also the cheapest and the most convenient method. In stem cutting method new plants maintain the characters of the mother plant without showing any variations.
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In stem cutting, a healthy vegetative (non-flowering) shoot of a mother plant is cut off, and it is encouraged to form roots. This can be done by putting the shoot in a rooting medium. Once the roots are established, the cutting can be treated as a separate plant and can grow in the desired place.
• Some Easy Plants to Propagate From Cuttings
1. Ornamental flowering shrubs like Hibiscus, wild Roses, Bougainvillea etc
2. Foliage shrubs like Golden Duranta, Acalypha, Crotons
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3. Kitchen herbs like Rosemary, Thyme, Mint etc.
Apart from these many herbaceous annuals, climbers and creepers, hedge plants, and many flowering trees like Gliricidia are plants that are easy to propagate by stem cuttings.
Nurserymen grow native, wild, strong rootstock plants by stem cuttings in polybags for further propagation by grafting or budding.
• Types of Stem Cuttings for Plant Propagation
1. Softwood cuttings
The unripe tips of woody plants such as most of the ornamental shrubs and some trees. Softwood cuttings are taken from below a node, and the bottom leaves are removed. Eg. Duranta, Clerodendrum.
2. Herbaceous cuttings
These are the type of softwood cuttings taken from herbaceous plants such as Carnations, Chrysanthemum, Cloues, Dahlias, Petunia, etc. The softwood and herbaceous cuttings are 2.5 to 10 cm long.
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3. Semi-hardwood cuttings
The portions of the stems which are green and hard, but not mature enough. Semi-hardwood cuttings are used for propagation in Jasmine and Hydrangeas. These stem cuttings are 10-15 cm long.
4. Hardwood cuttings
These are cuttings of shrubs and trees taken from mature current year's woody growth. Hardwood cuttings are 15-30 cm long. In monsoon, even one-meter long hardwood cuttings of Hibiscus, Moringa, Ficus, etc. root quickly when planted out in the open.
5. Terminal cuttings
These are obtained from the tip portion of the shoot.
6. Heel cuttings
These cuttings are lateral shoots pulled off from the stem and contained a portion of the stem.
7. Single or multiple node stem cuttings
These are also obtained from plants such as Dieffenbachia and Dracaena, and these are inserted horizontally in the sand.
• When to Grow Plants from Stem Cuttings?
Monsoon is a typical season for plant propagation by stem cuttings. In most parts of India duration of the growing season is from July to September. But, softwood cuttings can be propagated any time during the year. If you are new to gardening and its many concepts, then you should kick start it with beginner-friendly plants.
• What is Rooting Medium?
One of the best ways to carry out stem cutting propagation, is by using rooting hormone in water propagation. After making a cut, the stem is first put in a rooting medium. Various rooting medium and their combinations have been suggested by various experts. A good rooting medium should be well aerated, but at the same time should hold enough moisture. Different combinations of sharp sand, sandy soil, vermiculite, coco-peat, sphagnum peat, etc. are used.
• Steps for Stem Cutting
1. The stem should be cut in a slanting manner with a sharp knife or secateurs.
2. The exposed tissue at the bottom of the stem should be applied with the rooting hormone. Use seedling trays or poly bags to add rooting medium.
3. Plant stem cuttings in appropriate rooting medium like sand, soil, or cocopeat. Root forms in the stem cutting at the end which is nearest to the root of the parent plant and shoot develops at the other end.
4. Stem cuttings are inserted in the medium to a depth of 2.3 to 3 cm after removing the bottom leaves.
5. About one-third of the length of cutting is inserted in the soil in case of hardwood cuttings.
6. Stem cuttings are raised in partial shade if these are not planted in the monsoon.
7. Once the roots are formed, and new shoots start to grow, the cutting is removed from the rooting medium and is planted in a polybag or pot or directly in the garden.
