Growing plants from cuttings is an excellent way to fill your garden with lush flowers, herbs, and other plants without spending any money. Start with cuttings from your plants, or ask friends for their cuttings. Plant cuttings are grouped into four basic categories: softwood, greenwood, semi-hardwood, and hardwood.
Thankfully for us, many of the most popular houseplants are also easy to propagate through one of three ways — with cuttings, root division, or pups. Here are some tips about how to go about it, as well as some ideas about what you can do with your plants’ offspring.
Types of Cuttings
There are several types of cuttings you can use to propagate your plants. These cuttings use different kinds of stems. Happily, you can treat them pretty much the same way.
Softwood cuttings are from fresh, new growth, usually in spring or early summer. Plants such as butterfly bush and dogwoods root well from softwood cuttings.
Greenwood cuttings are from young stems that are starting to mature, but still in the first year. They’re usually taken in early to midsummer. Plants such as gardenia and boxwood tend to root well from greenwood cuttings.
Semi-ripe cuttings are tougher and more mature. They’re usually taken from midsummer to fall. Plants such as camellia and honeysuckle often root well from semi-ripe cuttings.
Hardwood cuttings are taken from woody stems that have gone dormant in late fall or winter. Trees and shrubs such as mock orange and viburnum often root well from hardwood cuttings.
In this article, we’ve got this quick reference for some of the easiest plants that only require cutting and some water to make a new start.
African Violet
To propagate in water place leaf with stem into the water, standing up with the creative use of wax paper. Use a rubber band to secure a small section of wax paper over a glass or jar filled with water. Poke holes in the paper for the stem to stand upright in the water. 2-5 weeks later you should have some roots which can be planted in soil.
English Ivy
Vines are often very easy to propagate since they love to climb and wander and English ivy is no different. Place cuttings in only a few inches of water in a northern-facing window or indirect sunlight. In a few weeks you should see roots appearing in the water and then you can plant in soil.
Jade
Everyone loves jade — and there’s good reason why. This plant is one of the easiest to propagate, requiring just a single leaf to grow a new glossy plant. Like almost all succulents, jade cuttings need to be calloused before they can sprout roots — a process that can take anywhere from two days to a week.
For the super low maintenance method, snip off a jade leaf at its base and place it on top of (not in!) freely draining potting soil. Over the course of two to three weeks your jade’s roots will home in on that soil and dig in — just let nature take its course. Eventually, that lonesome leaf will create a tiny jade replica at its base: This is your new jade-to-be. Whatever you do, don’t try to separate the sprout from its cutting! Over the course of a few months, the leaf will gradually wither up and disappear on its own time.