How to cut, grow and care for propagated softwood cuttings

Generally, softwood cuttings are taken from non-woody herbaceous perennials, woody-based tender perennials, a wide range of deciduous shrubs and some trees that are difficult to raise by division methods or by seed.

Examples of plants and shrubs that can be propagated from softwood cuttings include chrysanthemums, dahlias, geraniums, fuchsias, pelargoniums, violas, delphiniums and asters.

Softwood cuttings are usually taken between the months of April and September during the first stage of a plant's growth. Although the plant stem should be soft when the cutting is taken, it should not be so soft or young that the base of the stem rots before rooting takes place, nor should it be entering the woody stage, which is when it would no longer be classified as a softwood cutting, but a semi-ripe or half-ripe cutting.

Ideally, a softwood cutting should be taken when the stem snaps upon bending it and not when it doesn't bend at all, or when it bends but does not snap.

It is important to note that cuttings taken at this point in a plant's growth are still in their rapid growing stage and therefore require a lot of moisture to survive. It is imperative that between taking the cutting and inserting it into the cuttings compost, everything must be done to ensure the least amount of moisture loss possible.

Some loss of water can be prevented by taking the cuttings very early in the morning when the plant still holds a lot of water and by placing the cuttings into a closed clear plastic bag or in a bucket of water as soon as they have been cut.

The whole process must be carried out quickly as softwood cuttings especially, are prone to wilting soon after being removed from the parent plant.

Using a scrupulously clean and sharp knife, remove a cutting of between 5cm - 10cm (2 - 4 inches) long from the parent plant. Choose a young, healthy and strong side shoot without flower buds, with 3 or 4 pairs of leaves, and cut straight across the stem just below the node or leaf joint. Place the cuttings into a closed polythene bag.

The cuttings will need a little preparation before they can be inserted into the cuttings compost.

First of all, carefully and gently remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting with a knife. Then, dip the base of the cutting into a small amount of hormone rooting powder or another hormone rooting substance (see our guide to successful propagation with cuttings for more information). The cutting will then be ready for insertion into the compost.

Cuttings are usually inserted into pots, containers, boxes or special heated propagators, and kept in a greenhouse or under a cold frame until rooting takes place. If you want to use individual containers, pots with a 4-inch diameter are generally the norm.

Fill your pots or containers with ready-prepared cuttings compost or one that you have made yourself from peat and sharp sand. Vermiculite or perlite can be used as a substitute for sand. For further details on homemade cuttings compost, see our guide to successful propagation with cuttings.

Make 4 or 5 holes with a pencil or a dibber around the edge of each pot to cover a third of the cutting. Carefully drop the cutting so that the base rests on the bottom of the hole. If you are using boxes or beds, make rows with holes next to each other spaced an inch apart. Firm the soil around the base of the cutting with the dibber ensuring that there are no air pockets in the soil. Water the cuttings immediately but do not drench them. Apply some general fungicide as well.

Softwood cuttings must be kept in a warm and humid atmosphere to prevent moisture loss and for the best chance of rooting to take place. Therefore, place the cuttings in a warm greenhouse or in a heated propagator in a sunny spot but out of direct sunlight. They can also be kept on a windowsill under the correct conditions. Cuttings do well when heated from underneath as this stimulates the new roots to grow. Special heated propagators will provide the heat in this manner as will a heated mat placed under the container with the cuttings.

You can create your own atmosphere of high humidity by covering the pots with inflated or suspended polythene bags, sealed at the bottom with an elastic band or tape. The plastic must not touch any of the leaves at any time, as this could lead to disease and damage from rot.

The close atmosphere means that the cuttings do not need to be watered every day, although they will still need a certain amount of water. The compost should be continually moist until the roots have formed. A small amount of air to ventilate the cutting is also required, so remove the plastic for 5 - 10 minutes several times a week.

Remove any dead or fallen leaves and leave the cuttings for approximately 2 - 3 weeks, depending on the type of plant, until rooting has taken place.

There is no need to keep checking the cuttings to see whether they have rooted for at least 3 weeks. A sign that the cuttings have rooted is when the part of the cutting above the soil grows new shoots and new leaves.

At this point, harden off the cuttings so that they get acclimatised to the outside temperature, but do this gradually, over a period of 6 - 8 days.

Finally, carefully transplant the cuttings to individual pots containing general-purpose compost, a little sand and some plant food, after watering the cuttings approximately 1 hour before you wish to transplant them.

Keep the cuttings in a close atmosphere once again for 1 - 2 days, as they will have been disturbed by the move and this will give them enough time to recover.