Hardwood Cuttings

by Sandra
(Zone 5 USA)

My husband is getting ready to make me a bubbler (rubbermade tote, air stones,..) The primary use for this is for me to propagate mostly woody shrub and tree cuttings, possibly some soft stemmed herbaceous perennials as well. I am a bit confused, as somewhere in my various readings on different sites and forums, I read that you should not use any nutrient solution until your cuttings get white roots. Meaning, use just plain water, I guess, or maybe with some B-12 in it???

Do you have any experience growing woody cuttings? If so, can you help me with the process? How long would the cuttings need to stay before they could be potted up into soil? Jason, you have the best site of all I have visited, looking for hydro info! Thanks for your site, your time is really appreciated!

Answer: Sandra- it is true nutrient salts tend to prevent new roots from poking out on a cutting....but B1 is not a nutrient. B1 is both a vitamin and a growth hormone for the roots. I believe it makes the cuttings root a little faster.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of experience with hardwood cuttings. When using Dip-n-Grow, I know you are supposed to leave hardwood cuttings in the cloning solution for much longer than the softwood cuttings. I imagine the cuttings would take longer to root, also. From other cloning experience, I would guess to leave the hardwood cuttings in the cloner until they put a couple roots out....how long that would be I couldn't say!