Sterile surgical scalpels are used to take cuttings from plants- fresh Surgical Scalpels need to be used every time that you decide to take new cuttings.

Taking cuttings is one of the most popular ways to propagate a plant. Also referred to as cloning, it offers the ability to get multiple plants that are genetically identical to the mother plant. Many people feel intimidated by the process, and are a bit leery to attempt it. If you are one of those people, relax, it’s a relatively easy process.
What follows are step by step instructions for a simple procedure that works for both hardwood and softwood plants.
Why Take Cuttings?

There are several reasons that you may want to clone your plant, one being, that it does not require seeds. Cloning may be your only option for obtaining a certain variety of plant when no seeds are available. Another reason is to maintain consistent quality control of your crop. Every seed, like every human being, is slightly different. Aside from identical twins, genetically, no two people are exactly the same. DNA works in plants the same way it does in humans. So if you have a plant that is just what you want it to be, you can take cuttings and have as many perfect clones of your special plant as you want.

Another big factor which makes cloning so popular is that in most cases, it’s much faster than starting from seed. The majority of plant species will produce a rooted, growing plant from a clone before the seeds of the same species can even sprout, saving a lot of time.

What You’ll Need

A SINGLE EDGE RAZOR BLADE – Must be sharp!!
BACK-UP BLOCK – A piece of Styrofoam, wood or plastic approximately 2″x2″.
SHOT GLASS – Or similar small glass or plastic container.
GROWING MEDIUM – Jiffys, Rockwool or Oasis cubes, Pro-mix, coconut fiber or one of several other suitable growing media.
SEED TRAY WITH CLEAR HUMIDITY DOME
ROOTING HORMONE – You will need a good quality gel, liquid or powdered rooting hormone. Although you can use a powdered rooting hormone, in our opinion they are much harder to work with resulting in a reduced success rate.
SPRAY BOTTLE WITH WATER
RUBBING ALCOHOL

Before You Start

This might sound obvious, but you should only take cuttings from healthy plants. The healthier the mother plant, the better success you will have with your clones. You should take a few more cuttings than you need and then select the best ones to use and dispose of the rest.

You will need to leach the nitrogen out of the mother plant(s) by watering them heavily with pH adjusted water only (no fertilizer) for two or three days before you take the cuttings. This is an important step because the nitrogen stored in the plant will retard rooting.

Decide what you are going to use for growing medium. Most people use Jiffys, Rockwool or Oasis cubes. You can also use many different mediums successfully. Use plastic cups with holes cut in the bottom to hold coconut fiber, a Perlite & Vermiculite mix or other loose type growing medium. .You will need to pre-soak your growing medium before you start, using pH balanced water. Distilled water is the best thing to use, but any good, chlorine free water source will work. (NOTE: Most growing medium need to be soaked in pH 5.5 to pH 6.5 water. Rockwool needs to be soaked for 24 hours with water adjusted to a pH of 4.5 to 5.5).

Make a hole in the top of the growing medium which is about the same size or a little smaller than the stem of the cutting. You do not want to force the cutting into the growing medium.

It is critical that you sterilize everything before you start, because cuttings are very susceptible to fungus, viruses and diseases until they root. Use rubbing alcohol on your hands, the razor blade and the cutting block. Rinse the shot glass (or whatever you are using) with alcohol, dry it and then fill it 3/4 full with rooting hormone, and set it aside for now.

Work quickly but carefully. When you make the cut that separates the clone from the mother, you must get it into the rooting hormone as quickly as possible to prevent air from getting pulled into the stem. Please be careful not to cut yourself with the razor blade. (The lawyers made us say that).