Cuttings, Potting and Planting

August and September are the months when you can start to work on taking cuttings from your plants so that you can start potting new plants from your garden, and from your hanging baskets. You can start cutting from your plant by making a sharp clean cut right below a joint or a ‘node’ as they are called. You shouldn’t take a cutting from a plant that has not grown more than four inches in this past year.

Taking a cutting from a plant that has grown at least four inches this growing season will benefit your new plant most, while taking a cutting from a plant that has not grown this much in the past year will not guarantee you a great percentage of success.

When you are going to plant the cutting for the first time, you should use smaller containers that are lined with paper and with perlite in your mixture so that your cutting will have as much mixture as possible.

As you have created a great soil that will hold moisture while still providing the cutting with the nutrients it needs place the cutting in the pot nearest the bottom of the pot that you can. When you keep the bottom of the cutting near the bottom of the pot you will reduce the chances of your root rot and wilting.

A great tip to remember for cuttings is that they prefer the shade. Keeping your fresh cuttings in the shade for about three or four weeks until they start to grow roots will be the best environment for starting all plants. After cuttings start to establish themselves you can move them into partial sun, and then in to full sun for a healthy plant that you can start for free!

Taking cuttings from friends, neighbors, and relatives is a great way to establish a wide variety of plants in your greenhouse and for you to build up an inventory of plants that you can use outside of the greenhouse as well.

This article was published by: Garden Moose.

Garden Moose is a feature contributor to Greenhouses.com a leading internet destination for gardening and greenhouse information and ideas.

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