Although growing vegetables is traditionally started from seeds, there are several types of vegetables that can be propagated from cuttings. Learn how to propagate your plants and maximize the potential of your existing crops.
Propagation of plants by stem or leaf cuttings is a great way to get more value from your plants and recreate your favorite varieties.
One of the biggest advantages of growing vegetables from cuttings is that it saves you money on buying seeds or seedlings for next year.
Another advantage is that you can save your best-yielding plants.
Cuttings reproduce plants asexually, which means that the new plant is literally a clone of the first.
Collecting the seeds of that plant is another option, but your new plant won’t necessarily grow true to the original.
How to propagate vegetables by cuttings
- Use a sharp, clean knife or pair of blades to cut off a piece of stem about 10 to 15 cm long.
- Cut just below a node or where the stem meets the trunk of the plant.
- Remove the lower leaves from the cutting, leaving one or two pairs at the top.
- Place the cut end of the stem in moist potting mix. Use pots with good drainage. Many plants also root well in water, so you can avoid the mess with potting mix.
- Water regularly to keep the soil moist and cover the cuttings with plastic to retain moisture.
- Transplant the cutting into a larger container or outdoors when it has at least 2.5 cm or more of healthy roots.
- If planting outdoors, harden off the cuttings by placing them outside for a short period of time. Gradually increase the time the cuttings are outdoors and in direct sunlight every day for a week or two.
Vegetables that are good to propagate by cuttings
TOMATO
Early summer is a great time to take cuttings, although you can also do it later in the growing season, before the first frosts.
Simply cut off the side shoots to root. You can grow them again for a second wave of summer or fall tomatoes, or let them overwinter indoors during the cold season. Tomato cuttings root well in water, so you don’t need to add potting mix until new roots appear.
Tomato plants can grow quickly, so if they get too big indoors over the winter. If this happens, take cuttings from those plants and start the process again.
Annual vegetable sowing calendar – what to sow from January to December!
PEPPERS
Peppers are also easy to root from cuttings. Cut a healthy stem from the best pepper plant to root it. You can use a stem that has side shoots or choose a single stem.
You can root peppers in water or potting mix, but be sure to remove all the flowers so that the cutting puts all its energy into growing new roots, not fruit.
ZUCCHINI
Zucchini and other summer squashes are classic summer vegetables that are easy to grow from cuttings.
Take a piece of new, healthy stem just below a leaf node and root it in moist potting mix. Within a few weeks you should see healthy roots and it is ready to be replanted.
CUCUMBER
Cucumber cuttings grow slowly, so this is a great option for keeping the plant over the winter for transplanting in the spring. Take a healthy cutting from the cucumber plant and root it in moist soil. Transplant the cutting into a larger container when it has strong roots and keep it in a warm place with indirect, strong light during the winter.
Misconceptions: Why are cucumbers bitter?
CELERY
Cut off the base of the celery and place it in a shallow dish of water in a warm, sunny place. In a few days you will see roots forming at the bottom and new leaves growing at the top. You can then plant it in the ground with the leaves above the surface and grow a new celery plant again.
LETTUCE
You can also re-grow lettuce from leaves you cut from your own vegetables or store-bought.
Save the heart of the plant and place the base in water until roots and new leaves grow. Remove the original leaves when they begin to wither and die. When you have a strong root and new leaves, plant the base in the ground to grow again.
BLACK ONION
Grow onions by rooting the base of the bulbs. Cut about 2.5 cm from the base of the onion (or less for scallions). Put the bottom of the cutting in water and let it take root. When you see healthy roots, you can plant the bulbs in a larger container or outdoors.
Less well known, but equally TASTY: SHALLOT
Source: Gardening Know How
Source: www.agromedia.rs
