Plant cutting

“ In making cuttings from soft and growing shoots, the first thing to learn is the proper texture or age of shoot. A very soft and flabby cutting does not grow readily, or if it does it is particularly liable to damp-off, and it usually makes a weak plant. Too old wood is slow to root, makes a poor plant and is handled with difficulty in many species. ”

“ A cutting has been truly defined as a part of a plant with growing appendages at either end, and a space between to keep them sufficiently apart, so that one part shall be in the soil to form roots, and the other in the air to form leaves and stem. They are usually obtained from the young wood, and strike most freely in sand. It is easy to determine whether a shoot be in a proper state for making a cutting: bend it carefully back, and if it breaks or snaps it is in a right condition, and if it bends without snapping it is then too hard. ”

“ It is a great shock to a growing plant to lose half or more of its wood. It sometimes kills it, particularly if injudiciously watered. If severe cutting is required do it while the pot shrubbery is nearest at rest, and a little before renewed growth may be expected again. Usually this is about the close of mid-winter. Such shrubs as Rubber Plants, that bleed profusely, should have grafting wax or paint daubed on the end of cut branches. If nothing better is at hand paste a jacket of clay over the cut end until the wound can heal. Water with much moderation until new growth appears. ”

“ The base of each cutting should invariably be cut clean across. These may be inserted an inch apart, in pots of sandy soil, and plunged in a brisk bottom heat. To obtain young shoots for cuttings, if the old plants break freely after pruning, and very large specimens are not required, when the shoots are 2in. long they should be thinned out, leaving the requisite number of the strongest to form the plant. If the surplus pieces are removed with a slight heel of the older wood, they make good cuttings, and should be treated the same as the others. ”

“ Cuttings—may be from any wood you have to spare, and should be about a foot long, having two buds. Plant at an angle of forty-five degrees, one bud and two thirds of the cutting under the soil. A little shade and moisture will cause nearly all to grow. A little grafting-wax on the top will aid the growth, by preventing evaporation. The cutting, so buried as to have the top bud half an inch under fine mould, is said to be surer. Cuttings should be made late in fall, or early in winter, and preserved as scions for grafting. ”

“ When the cutting is delayed beyond the period of early bloom, the growth of the next cutting is retarded, and when it is deferred until some of the leaves turn yellow or until some seed is formed, in many situations the influence on the succeeding crop is seriously adverse, and in some instances this influence would seem to react against the vigorous growth of the plant during the remainder of the season. ”

“ If cuttings are to be made, it will be necessary to start the roots early either in a hotbed or house. When the growth has reached 4 or 5 inches, they may be cut from the plant and rooted in sand. Care should be taken to cut just below the joint, as a cutting made between two joints will not form tubers. The most rapid method of propagation of named varieties is to grow from cuttings in this way. ”

“ Cutting into pieces only multiplies the pest; for each piece (Fig. 98) is already a plantlet, with its roots and with a bud in the axil of its scale-like leaf (either latent or apparent) , and with prepared nourishment enough to develop this bud into a leafy stem; and so a single plant is all the more speedily converted into a multitude. Whereas, when the subterranean parts are only roots, cutting away the stem completely destroys the plant, except in the rather rare cases where the root freely produces adventitious buds. ”

“ In cases where plants are required of considerable size, for hedge-rows or park-standards, it is matter of doubt, how far frequent removals in nursery, or cutting of roots, is profitable. This occasions fibrous matted roots, which tend much to the success of the ultimate removal, and to the growth of the plant for several years after; but, by checking the disposition the roots naturally have to extend by several wide-diverging leaders, probably unfit the plant for becoming a large tree. ”

“ This will insure a portion of the soil adhering to the roots and prevent the plants from wilting. If the plants have been properly thinned or transplanted it is often possible to run a knife or trowel between them, thus cutting the soil into cubes that are transferred with them to the garden. Where the soil does not adhere to the roots of the plants it is well to puddle them. In the process of puddling, a hole is dug in the earth near the plant bed, or a large pail may be used for the purpose, and a thin slime, consisting of clay, cow manure, and water, is prepared. ”

“ But for general planting, especially direct in the field, seldom more than one or two cuttings can be made from a branch. The cutting should be cut immediately below an eye or joint. Such cuttings grow better, are easier to plant and are less apt to dry out. The more eyes a cutting contains the better is the cutting, as the roots mostly form at the joints. Many make the cuttings with a heel of old wood, but I do not believe such cuttings are in any way preferable to those made of only one season’s wood. ”

“ Abstain generally from cutting or injuring the roots, only removing any dead parts or fibres; and if a plant has not completely filled the pot with roots, replant it in a clean one of the same size, for nothing is more fatal to such as are not growing vigorously, than a very large pot.
Cuttings of most of these plants, push out roots easily, but some with more difficulty. To succeed with the latter, it is necessary to use pure sand, and to be provided with Bellglasses, which fit the pots intended to be used, exactly. ”

“ These cuttings are usually six to ten inches long. They are not idle while they rest. The lower end calluses or heals, and the roots form more readily when the cutting is planted in the spring. But if the proper season has passed, take cuttings at any time in winter, plant them in a deep box in the window, and watch. They will need no shading or special care. Grape, currant, gooseberry, willow, and poplar readily take root from the hardwood. Fig. ”

“ With cuttings whose roots have been allowed to grow an inch or more in length, and plants with a considerable ball of roots—as they should have when coming from the transplanting flats—it is better partly to fill the pot. Hold the plant or cutting in position with the left hand and press the soil in about it with the right hand—firming it as directed in the former case. With a little practice either operation can be performed very rapidly. Florists do four to five hundred pots an hour. ”

“ Into this the sap continually oozes, and it is removed twice, sometimes thrice a day by a peon, who sucks it into his mouth and then ejects it into the jar he carries on his back. As soon as the plant exhausts all this sap, which was originally intended to give strength and life to the flowering stem, it dies, and is replaced by innumerable suckers from the old root. Great care must be exercised in cutting the plant—if the least too soon or too late, it is the death of it. ”

“ Cutting Plants.—Cuttings should be taken from strong, healthy, vigorous-growing plants in the field, and placed in the cutting bed about the last of August, where they will quickly take root. As soon as the roots have developed to a length of from one-half to 1 inch the young plants are shifted to 3 or 4 inch pots, where they are allowed to develop until the blossom buds are well formed or the blossoms have expanded, when they should be planted on the bench where they are to mature their crop, in like manner as noted for seedling plants. ”

“ Do not lift the jar for many a day, but keep the soil well watered.
After a number of weeks, most likely you will notice new leaves putting forth, and will know that the cutting has become a little plant with its own roots. Let it grow under the jar until the tip reaches the glass; then uncover.
It is not necessary to make cuttings especially for the purpose, for rose [I] bushes have been raised from the stem of a blooming rose after the blossom has faded.
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Cuttings are inexpensive, and the method is an easy one for obtaining a large number of plants ”

“ At the end of the fifth year the plants are ready for their first cutting, and the healthy ones will bear well for twelve or fifteen years. The cutting is begun at the base of the stem, where the leaves are more fully developed. Eight to ten are cut at a time, and usually three or four cuttings are made each year, so that the average yield of each plant is about thirty-two leaves annually. ”

“ A word about the selection of cuttings will not be amiss, as failure to choose wisely often results in the loss of the cutting, or in a poor or straggly plant. Quick, tender growths are not suitable for cuttings, except in the case of the Chinese Hibiscus, where the extreme tips are used for rooting; hard or woody growths are equally undesirable. ”

“ Peter Henderson, Esq., of Jersey City, long known as an extensive and successful propagator, in an article written for the Horticulturist, thus speaks of his house and management:
"After many years of extensive practice, I have arrived at the conclusion that cuttings of almost every plant cultivated by the florist or nurseryman will readily and uniformly root, if the proper conditions of temperature and moisture are given them. It [Pg 47] matters little or nothing how the cutting is made, or what may be the color or texture of the sand or soil in which it is planted ”

“ Young trees should not be headed back the year they are set out, but the roots may be trimmed a little, cutting off all that are bruised and broken. The hole in which a tree or shrub is to be set, should be ample enough to receive all the roots without cramping them into a ball, as is the habit of some who plant trees, the soil filled in about the roots should be fine, but not the sub-soil, which should be replaced by richer earth. Never allow manure to come in direct contact with the roots at the time of planting. ”

“ Thus the labor of cutting is considerably reduced and, what is more important, larger pieces improve the chances of getting a good stand in an unfavorable season, because they have less exposed surface than two small pieces of equivalent weight, hence are less liable to dry out excessively when drought follows planting. ”

“ On this account cuttings always strike most readily when the pots, in which they are planted, are plunged into a [Pg 273] hotbed, and covered closely with a hand-glass. It must be observed in making cuttings, that they ought in most cases to consist of two buds; from the lower one of which the new roots are to spring, while the upper one is to produce the stem of the new plant. Cuttings must always be made quite firm at the base ”

“ Varieties of the fig are multiplied with ease by layers, suckers and cuttings. Make cuttings of mature wood in autumn, cutting just below a bud. Scarce varieties may be multiplied by single eye cuttings. Fig cuttings are handled in the same way as grape cuttings. Some prefer, however, to place the cuttings where the tree is to stand. A well-grown plant will bear at two or three years of age. ”

“ To raise stock, make cuttings of the young shoots when they are three inches long and growing nicely. Take them off in two-inch lengths and insert in sand, and give them the aid of a steady bottom-heat. A light loamy compost is to be preferred, but the plant will grow in any soil that is neither sour nor pasty. When they acquire some size they may be kept several years in the same pots, and if desirable large plants may be divided by cutting through the roots. ”

“ For nine days Mildred Thatcher lived as her neighbours, a life as thick and solid, as uninformed with the spirit as the rubber plant which stood neglected in the drawing-room by the pile of books—as yet unshelved—and the dusty upright piano. ”

“ If you cannot do this dexterously cut the shoots with a sharp knife, and in every case let the cuttings be from two to four inches long, and remove from them a few of the lowest leaves, so as to secure a sufficient length of clear stem to insert them firmly in the soil. The more leaves a cutting can carry and keep the better, but there must be no leaves buried in the soil, and any leaves that “flag,” or droop from exhaustion, will do more harm than good. Cuttings are usually put in sand first, and as soon as they begin to form roots, are taken out and potted in light compost. ”

“ This theory has for its support the fact, that there is in such a cutting a larger amount of organizable matter to be developed into the new parts to be produced, and certainly, if neglected, short cuttings will be very apt to suffer from drought, but in practice, it is found that the short cutting plants have better roots, which are near the surface, and even those plants, grown from single eyes, are better burnished than long cuttings produced upon the old plan, which placed the roots deep in the soil. ”

“ Cuttings with soft, growing tips will apparently root more quickly than hardened shoots, but the leaves tend to turn brown and the plant dies. Conversely, cuttings from short, lateral growth, well-hardened, will retain their leaves better and eventually show a higher percentage of success. ”