1stop Organic Gardening

I took cuttings from my rosemary bush and sage plant a little over a week ago. They are looking really healthy. If you want to get more plants for free, taking cuttings is a great way to get a lot more plants – fairly quickly.

Take your cuttings in the cool of the morning (if it’s hot like it is here in South Australia) and put them straight into a plastic bag with a little water in it. The idea is to prevent them from wilting. Autumn (fall) is a good time to take semi-hardwood cuttings. It’s still plenty warm enough for the roots to grow and the cuttings aren’t so soft that they wilt easily.

I just use rooting hormone powder. It’s very cheap and effective. I use a 50 / 50 mix of perlite and organic potting soil to strike my cuttings in. Water your parent plants about an hour before taking your cuttings if possible.

Make your cuttings about 10cm (4inches) long, removing the bottom third of leaves. Dip the bare end in the rooting powder, make a small hole in the cutting mix for the cutting to stand in and firm down. If the cutting has soft leaves at the top (like the sage) trim back about another third. I just use scissors and snip across the top.

Fill your tray with cuttings, label them, then water gently. Allow the water to drain and place them in a container with a plastic lid (or cover them with a plastic shopping bag or something that light will go through). You need to keep the moisture in. Place in a light area, but not in the sun – they will fry!

Try not to be too tempted to go check if there are any roots forming too often. Leave them at least a fortnight before carefully taking a peek. You’ll need to make sure the soil mix stays moist – check each week or so. You can just mist spray them to start with.

You’ll know if the roots have grown when you see new growth at the top of your new plants. Or you could look at the base of you tray. If there are lots of fine roots poking through, you know it’s time to pot them up into small pots to start with and add a little fertilizer, or spray with seasol or similar. It will usually take 4 to 6 weeks before your cuttings will be ready to pot up.

Good luck with your cuttings and expanding your organic garden. Remember if you make too many new plants you can always give them to friends and family, or even donate them to your local school maybe and help the world become greener!

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living….

Julie

Filed under: Herbs, Uncategorized