Fall is a transition time between late summer’s harvest and winter’s bare-root planting, when early morning breezes bring a whiff of ocean air or newly crushed grapes. It’s a good time to putter.

     It’s also a good time to take cuttings from favorite plants that you would like to propagate.  If they root, your cuttings will grow up to be exact duplicates of the mother plant.

     I have had success propagating lilacs, azaleas, chrysanthemums, rosemary and roses from cuttings. Occasionally, I have duplicated sasanqua camellias, but they are slow growers and I want action. 

     Propagating plants from cuttings is a simple but satisfying pastime. If you pay close attention to the necessary preparations, you’re sure to succeed.

     First, fill a large bucket with one part bleach to nine parts water. Submerge previously used four-inch containers. Scrub them out with a long-handled brush. Then let them dry in the sunshine.

     You may think, hey, we’re working with dirt here. Why be so particular about clean containers? Residual fungal spores may be present in previously used containers, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

     Gardeners have their own preferences when it comes to planting mediums. Whether you use a mixture of peat moss and builders’ sand, or sand with perlite or vermiculite, or just one of these, whatever works for you is fine. I prefer using just perlite, an exploded volcanic material, because it works for me. New tender roots like to cling to its rough edges. If you use only sand, put a square of black and white newspaper in the bottom of the container before you fill it with mix.

     Fill the pots with mix to within a half inch of the top and thoroughly moisten it.  

     Next, gather the few tools you will need: a chopstick; rooting hormone, either liquid or powdered; and sharp scissors, a knife or a single-edge razor blade. Cleanliness is critical. Dip these tools in the bleach solution and let them dry.

     Cut a clean plastic liter bottle in half. You will use these halves to create mini greenhouses.

     You need to make your cuts at specific points on the stem. To know why, it helps to understand what makes a plant grow. Cut a cross section of a pencil-width stem. It should be flexible and snap when bent. This is a semi-soft stem, as opposed to a hardwood branch that can’t be bent. Look at the green circle just inside the thin protective bark. This is called the cambium layer and it is responsible for the girth of a plant. It continually makes cells for the inner circles that transport water, dissolved minerals and sugars to leaves.

     Feel the bumps along the stem. These are nodes, the points from which leaves, flowers and stems grow. When pruning or doing cuttings, always make cuts close to, but not into, nodes. You don’t want to injure these growth areas.

     Now cut the branch from which you will make your cuttings. To make a four-inch cutting, make a diagonal cut just below a node. About four or five inches above your cut, make a square cut above a node. Remove all the leaves from the lower part of the stem. Leave only two leaves, but if they are large, cut them back by half so that growth is concentrated in the roots. Remove all buds and flowers.

      Dip the angled cut into a small amount of rooting hormone. Using a chopstick, make a deep hole in the planting mix. Gently lower the stem into the mix, covering two nodes and trying not to let the soil dislodge the hormone. Firmly anchor the stem. I usually place two or three stems in the same pot. Label the pot. Then carefully place the plastic “greenhouse” over the stems. The moisture will condense on the inside of the plastic and help keep the mix moist.

      Place your cutting in indirect bright light. A window sill in an east-facing room is perfect. I put hardwood cuttings under outdoor plants and let the winter rain keep them moist.

     In spring your cuttings should produce new little shoots. Succulent plants such as geraniums and sedums don’t need any rooting hormone. Instead, leave the cuttings in the open air overnight, and then plant them in regular soil. Always be sure you are planting the stems upright. Ivy stems are deceptive. That’s why you make an angled cut, to identify the bottom of a stem.

     When the stem grows new leaves, you know you have a clone of a favorite plant.