Your local nursery might not want you to know that their expensive plant collection can be yours for just about nothing! Those $20 hydrangeas and $15 lavender bushes? You can produce unlimited copies from a single cutting!
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Check PricePropagation may seem daunting, but really, it's nature saying, “Help me make more!” Every plant on this list wants to reproduce. You’ll be helping them do what they do best. The best part is, you’ll be left with stronger and better adapted plants than any store bought option!
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Let's begin with the easiest options and move up the scale to those that may be more difficult (but are still completely achievable).
The Fool-Proof Four: Ideal for Beginner Propagators
1. **Mint** – Take cuttings around 4 inches long and place them in a jar of water. Roots will develop within days! Mint is so eager to grow that it can be embarrassing. Mint will grow in all zones from 3 to 11.
2. Coleus- Snipping the colorful stems of this plant and putting them in water will produce roots faster than you can say ‘free plant!’ It works as an annual in all zones, but is a perennial in zones 10-11.
3. Ivy – Take cuttings of trailing stems that have 6 or more leaves and root them in water or damp soil. This stuff nearly propagates itself! Zones 4-9.
4. Geranium – Make stem cuttings with 3-4 leaf nodes and allow the cut end to dry for an hour before planting in sandy soil. Zones 9-12 ( treat as annual elsewhere).
The Reliable Performers: Excellent Rate of Success
5. Rosemary – Remove the lower leaves from the green cuttings. Optionally, you can dip them in rooting hormone before planting them in a well-draining container. Keep the soil just moist. These Mediterranean beauties can’t stand too much moisture. Grow in zones 7-10.
6. Salvia – Cut the flowering stems just below a leaf node. Remove the bottom leaves and root in water or in a potting mix. They respond beautifully to propagation. Zones 4-10.
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7. Begonia – Here's a neat little trick. Cut the leaves with the bigger veins and lay them flat on some moist soil and use a bobby pin to hold them down. Babies will form from the cuts! Zones 9-11.
Fuchsia – To propagate, take softwood cuttings in the early morning (more moisture in the stems). Root in high humidity, use a plastic bag to cover for moisture. Suitable for zones 8-10.
The Woody Wonders: Needs Time, But It\'s Worth It
9. Lavender – Propagation can be done by taking woody stem cuttings with a heel (a bit of older wood attached to the cutting), dipping the heel in rooting hormone, and then planting it in a gritty mix. These take a bit longer to root but will create stunning mature plants. Hardy in zones 5-9.
10. Roses – For cuttings, remove the thorns from the bottom half of the cutting, cut at a 45-degree angle, and place in bright indirect light. If you use rooting hormone, your success rate will improve dramatically. Zones 3-11.
11. Camellia – Use an acidic potting mix and include 2-3 leaf nodes when taking semi-hardwood cuttings in late summer. Camellias are stunning flowers that require a lot of patience! They thrive in Zones 7-9.
Cut flowering stems of Forsythia (yes, stems that have flowers are okay!) so that the flowers are about an inch from the bottom. Lightly scrape the bottom inch of bark and place it in soil that is consistently moist. Suitable for zones 4-9.
Show Offs: For Ambitious Propagators
Hydrangea – Take 2-4 node cuttings, from semi-ripe stems, in the morning and leave the bottom leaves on. Then remove the bottom leaves, dip in rooting hormone and put in bright shade where you can keep the moisture consistent. These plants will give you amazing results and thrive in Zones 3-9.
14. Chrysanthemum – For cuttings, make sure to include some developing buds, cut stems so that they have 3-4 leaf nodes, and try to get roots in a warmer area with bottom heating if possible. Along with that, timing is important, as cuttings taken very early in the morning have a greater chance of success. Suitable for zones 5 to 9.
Expert Tips That Change Everything
Keep your tools sharp and clean to avoid spreading diseases. Make sure to wipe blades with rubbing alcohol between plants.
Cuttings taken in the morning are fatter with water than those taken in the afternoon which allows them to have faster root growth.
When using a heating mat, the bottom heat increases success rates for woody cuttings by 40-60%.
Rooting hormones Improve success rates for difficult plants such as roses and camellias, but aren't magic.
More successful cuttings saved can be attributed to the \\"barely moist, never soggy\\" rule than any other tip. In fact, more plants die from overwatering than underwatering when it comes to propagated plants.
Start with only two or three varieties. Once you master them, look to expand. In a year, you will have enough stock to basically run a nursery out of your home (or you will become the most popular person in your gardening club).
