Chapter 4. Growing Plants from Cuttings

Many native plants can be grown from cuttings. Cuttings are portions of plants (stems, leaves, roots) that when treated and planted will develop into new plants complete with stems, leaves, and roots. Although shoots, roots, bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes all offer possible material to reproduce plants, shoots are perhaps the most commonly used for vegetative propagation. These vegetative propagules (see Section 1.3, Seeds and Other Propagules) can be collected from wild plants or from plants specifically maintained at the nursery for this practice. You may want to grow plants from cuttings, particularly if the plant is difficult to propagate from seeds or if the desired plant has an unusual growth habit or flower color. Using cuttings maintains these desired tracts because, as we discussed in Section 1.3 (Seeds and Other Propagules) and showed in Figure 1.5, all new daughter plants that arise from cuttings are genetically identical to the parent plant. Another advantage is that sometimes using cuttings will result in a larger plant in a shorter time than the plants can be grown from seeds. A disadvantage is that cuttings generally require more care and can be more expensive to produce than plants from seeds. If you plan to grow plants from cuttings, follow the procedures described below to ensure success.

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Publication: Raising Native Plants in Nurseries: Basic Concepts