Cuttings

Part of my overwintering strategy each year is to take cuttings of tender plants, root them indoors, and grow them under lights for the winter. By springtime I'll have several new plants of each variety to put into the garden.

Some plants root so easily in water -- those are my favorites not only because they're almost foolproof, but because you can watch the roots forming.

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Sometimes (like with this Mexican petunia cutting) the roots form at the cut end of the stem:

I just noticed that there's a little critter in that photo!

What is that, an aphid? I'll have to take a closer look when I'm done writing this post.

This cutting created a separate root (and a thick one at that) at the first node above the cut end too:

All of these roots grow quickly, and the water level drops pretty quickly, so roots can find themselves above the waterline:

Earlier I said that rooting cuttings in water is almost foolproof -- I said "almost" because there are a few mistakes that can be made, like leaving the cuttings in the water for too long. Once the roots start going you should pot them up or the roots may start dying and rotting, and that is not what you want.

The other problem is keeping the water fresh. Sometimes it gets a little bit cloudy, which is fine. Other times it may become a little more "soupy" than you really want:

Too much algae in that one, so it's time to either change the water or pot those up -- I think the roots are big enough.

Not all of my cuttings go into water though. Some I know from past experience will root fine in damp soil. Others I'm experimenting with to see if they readily root this way:

If they start showing signs of growth after a week or so (or better yet, roots poking out of the drainage holes) I'll know I was successful, and can get rid of the larger parent plant and focus on some smaller cuttings -- I don't have unlimited space.

Some cuttings will stay in water the whole winter (as mentioned in a previous post):

Some need almost no water at all, and I've taken completely on faith that they will root and start growing with almost no effort on my part:

Not only do these cuttings allow me to overwinter reasonably-sized plants, they give me something "green" to care for through the cold winter days. I'm not sure what I'd do without my indoor winter garden.

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