Stem Cuttings - Many Makes and Models

Simple stem or shoot cuttings are terminals or pieces of stem with the lower pair or pairs of leaves removed. For some types of plants, they may include a heel - a sliver of the main stalk. Mallet cuttings have a section of the parent stem still attached. The heel or mallet is extra insurance for hard-to-root cuttings.

Most simple stem cuttings are cut cleanly just below the node, the swollen joint where leaves or side stems grow from the main stem. But some plants that produce roots up and down the stem may root faster if they are cut just above the joint. When you are in doubt, take one or more cuttings each way.

Types of stem cuttings are also determined by the maturity of the wood and the time of year they are taken.

Softwood cuttings - (slips) are terminals or sections of immature, nonwoody stems, with bottom leaves removed so the joint can be inserted in the' propagating medium. Take crisp, snappy new wood, neither so soft and flabby that it bends without breaking, nor so hard it is really woody.

Summer cuttings - of half-ripened wood are taken just as the stem begins to become woody, and are usually rooted under glass.

Hardwood cuttings - of deciduous vines are taken in fall and winter, when the plant is dormant. They may be tied in bundles, buried in moist sand, and kept cool through the winter while the cut ends callus over. In spring they are set out to root in a protected frame. Sometimes they are placed immediately in rows in a well-built cold frame. For safety's sake, take them with a heel.

Hardwood cuttings of evergreens - are taken after frost, and rooted under glass. They are slow to root, and must be kept moist and humid. Heel and mallet cuttings are surest.

Leaf-bud cuttings - are sections of mature stems with one or two leaves left on, and a budding new leaf at the joint. The piece of stem is buried so that the tip of the bud barely shows. New plants are produced from the bud. Many of these cuttings can be taken from one plant.

Cane cuttings - are leafless sections of thick cane like stems, with one or two joints. Roots will grow from a joint or the end of the cut cane. The new plant comes from a dormant leaf bud at the joint.