Types of cuttings

• Stem cuttings– Hardwood

• Deciduous

• Narrow-leaved evergreen

– Semi-hardwood

– Softwood

– Herbaceous

• Leaf cuttings

• Leaf-bud cuttings (single-eye or single-node)

• Root cuttings

Hardwood deciduous stem cuttings

• Definition: segments of shoots from matured, dormant hardwood stems after leaves have abscised; before new shoots emerge in spring

• Features: easy to prepare, not readily perishable, require little or no special equipment

• Many deciduous crops are propagated this way:– Ornamental shrubs - e.g., privet, forsythia, rose rootstocks

– Fruit spp. - fig, quince, mulberry, grape

– A few trees: willows, poplar

Methods of preparing/handling hardwood deciduous cuttings before planting

• Direct spring planting– Stems gathered, stored cold till spring

– Cuttings made at planting time

• Direct fall planting– Cuttings planted directly into the nursery in the fall

– From So. Canada (orn. shrubs) to Texas (rose rootstocks)

• Warm-temp pretreatment– Cuttings taken in the fall (dormant period)

– Cuttings treated with rooting hormone (PGR), stored warm 3-5 weeks, placed back in cold till spring

Hardwood evergreen (narrow-leaved) stem cuttings

• Definition: dormant (late fall to late winter) cuttings with functioning leaves

• Features: cuttings are slower to root than those of deciduous spp; moisture loss must be prevented; poly or light mist , rooting hormone (PGR) treatments enhance rooting

• Arbor-vitae (Thuja), low-growing junipers (Juniperus) root easily, yews (Taxus) fairly well

Semihardwood stem cuttings

• Definition: cuttings from woody, broad-leaved evergreen species and leafy summer and early fall cuttings of deciduous plants with partially matured wood

• Features: rooting under high humidity is essential to prevent leaf abscision

• Ornamental shrubs (camellia, pittosporum, rhododendron, euonymous, evergreen azaleas, holly, and fruit spp. (citrus, olive)

Softwood stem cuttings

• Definition: cuttings from soft, succulent new spring growth through early to mid-summer (before green wood begins to mature)

• Features: high humidity during rooting; very useful for difficult-to-root spp.

• Many ornamental woody shrubs (lilacs, weigela, spiraea)

Herbaceous stem cuttings

• Definition: cuttings from succulent nonwoody plants such as mums, coleus, carnations, foliage spp.) that retain a portion of the stem and (typically) leaves and a shoot tip

• Features: humidity control is usu. required; rooting occurs quickly and in high percentages for most spp.; v. useful for many greenhouse floral crops

Herbaceous leaf cuttings

• Definition: cuttings made up of a leaf blade, or a leaf blade and petiole

• Types cuttings:– Spp. with primary meristems (plantlets arise from notches

around the leaf margins) such as Bryophyllum

– Spp. with secondary meristems (adventitious buds, shoots, and roots form at the base of the leaf and develop into the new plant) such as African violet (Saintpaulia)

Leaf-bud cuttings (single-eye or single-node)

• Definition: a cutting consisting of a leaf blade, petiole, and a short piece of stem with attached axillary bud

• Features: usually used where material is limited, and when adventitious shoots will not form from leaf cuttings; humidity control is necessary

• Useful for many greenhouse floral crops

Root cuttings

• Definition: cuttings taken from roots

• Features:– Usu. cuttings are taken in late winter or early spring

– Correct polarity is important

– A shoot and root system are formed adventitiously (not all spp. are competent)

– Some forms (thornless cultivars, variegated forms) can’t be propagated this way