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Starting New Plants From Stem Cuttings

Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture

Posted April 1997

Cuttings should be taken with a sharp knife or razor blade to reduce injury to the plant. Remove flowers and flower buds from cuttings to allow the cutting to use its energy and stored carbohydrates for root and shoot formation. On woody plants, to hasten rooting, increase the number of roots, or to obtain uniform rooting, use a rooting hormone, preferably one containing a fungicide. Put some rooting hormone in a separate container for dipping cuttings.

Although other parts of the plant can be used for cuttings, by far the largest number of plant species are propagated by stem cuttings. Some can be taken at any time of the year, but stem cuttings of many woody plants must be taken in late summer or fall and others in the dormant season.

Different parts of the stem can be used for cuttings:

Tip cuttings: Detach a 2-6 inch piece of stem, including the terminal bud. Make the cut just below a node. Remove lower leaves that would touch or be below the medium. Dip the stem in rooting hormone if desired. Gently tap the end of the cutting to remove excess hormone. Insert the cutting deeply enough into the media to support itself. At least one node should be below the surface, as many plants will only root at the node.

Medial cuttings: When a number of new plants are desired from a single stock plant a small portion of the stem may be used as a cutting. These small cuttings must put out roots and sprout new leaves from the buds so growth is much slower than in tip or medial cuttings. These types of cuttings include cane, single eye, double eye and heel.

Cane cuttings: Cut cane-like stems from plants such as Chinese evergreen and Dumbcane into sections containing one or two nodes. Dust ends with fungicide or activated charcoal. Allow to dry several hours. Lay horizontally with about half of the cutting below the media surface, eye or bud facing upward. Cane cuttings are usually potted when roots and new shoots appear. These cutting are useful when many plants are desired from a single parent. They are slow to produce sizable plants.

Single Eye: The eye refers to the node. This is used for plants with alternate leaves. Cut the stem about 1/2 inch above and 1/2 inch below a node. Place cutting horizontally or vertically in the medium. Double Eye: This is used for plants with opposite leaves. Cut the stem about 1/2 inch above and 1/2 inch below the same node. Insert the cutting vertically in the medium with the node just touching the surface.

Heel cutting: This method is used with woody stems. Make a shield-shaped cut about halfway through the stem around a leaf and axial bud. Insert the shield horizontally into the medium.

(Excerpted from The Virginia Gardener Handbook, Diane Relf, editor.)

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