Easy Plant Propagation

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Light levels should be low at first (around 50 percent) to suppress growth of new stems and leaves. The combination of warm soil temperatures and low light levels pushes the cuttings to send energy to developing roots.

Moisture around the buried stems must stay constant at all times. To reduce evaporation and increase humidity, use containers you can enclose in glass or plastic to keep humidity high. Until the cuttings can take up water through their yet-to-grow roots, high humidity is the best way to prevent moisture loss from the leaves and rooting medium.

For years I fashioned tents from plastic produce bags to make little greenhouses for rooting cuttings, but these days I use shoebox-size plastic storage boxes with clear or translucent lids. Filled with 3 inches or so of moist soil (or plastic cellpacks reused from bedding plant purchases), the boxes become mini-greenhouses that can be propped open during the day and closed at night. When I’m propagating only one or two tidbits, I use a 3-inch-wide, 6-inch-tall clear glass candle holder. To keep humidity high and light low during the first week or so, I cover the container with a small plate. After the plate is removed, the container’s tall sides help create humid conditions, like an open terrarium. A glass or translucent plastic cake cover makes a great impromptu propagation greenhouse, too.

It is not unusual to have 100 percent success with willing rooters such as mint, tomato or chrysanthemum, but with other plants you should expect significant failures. I often hope for a 50 percent success rate when propagating a plant for the first time, so I start twice as many cuttings as I think I need. Successful cuttings keep their color while failed ones slowly fade or flat-out collapse. Promptly remove corpses to prevent the buildup of root-devouring fungi. When you see signs of new growth, check for resistance from new roots by gently pulling on the cuttings. When it’s clear that cuttings have anchored themselves with new roots, get ready to move them to your garden.

Multiplying the Masses

Many perennial plants grow into colonies that expand with each passing season, so they are prime candidates for digging and dividing — the most straightforward way to make more plants. Simply dig up a clump of asters, echinacea, chives or strawberries, break or cut the mass into pieces with a few intact roots and at least one growing bud, and replant the divisions in hospitable spots. Thousands of plants can be propagated this way, including asparagus, bunching onions, horseradish, rhubarb and all types of ground covers. The appearance of new stems and leaves aboveground is usually accompanied by the growth of new roots down below, so plants divided in spring are usually nicely rooted by late summer.

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