Don’s Tips: Striking Cuttings

Cuttings

Cuttings

November is an excellent month to try your hand at striking cuttings of plants.

Tropical vireya rhododendrons are dead easy to strike from cuttings, as are azaleas and camellias.

Just cut off pieces of hardened new growth that are about 10-15cm long (that’s 4-6” in the old money).

Remove the lower leaves, just retaining 2 leaves at the top.  Dip the base of the cuttings in Manuka honey.

Now fill a 20cm pot with a 50/50 mix of coarse river sand and peat moss.  Place 10-20 cuttings into the pot and water it well.

Then place the entire pot and cuttings into a plastic shopping bag with a wire loop in the mix to hold up the top of the bag.  Seal the bag.

Wait for 6-8 weeks and hopefully you will have growing young plants.  Harden them off by slitting the bag open and opening if more and more over the next 3 days.

Job done!

Hooroo!