Cutting, the basis of your cultures

What is cutting?

Cutting consists in making clones of a plant, called mother plant.
To do so, you just have to take a part of the plant: a stem with leaves, at least two nodes and a bud, taken from a mother plant.
The cutting is to be placed on a support of culture chosen by your care (rockwool, perlite, ground, coconut, plug, peat...). It is necessary to place them in a place with a strong humidity so that the roots develop to begin the phase of growth of the plant.
It takes 10 to 20 days for a cutting to become a real plant.

What is the advantage of taking cuttings?

Each seeds is different and therefore offers different genetics even if they are part of the same family. Cutting will allow you to choose the genetics you want.
When the genetics are identical, you can apply the same environmental conditions. Moreover by keeping the same plant from culture to culture, your knowledge will be refined and you will be able to better organize and improve your indoor cultivation.

To choose its support of culture:

There are various supports of culture especially conceived for the optimalrooting of the cuttings Growshops .fr proposes you :

Root Riot cubes of growth substrate made of organic materials entirely biodegradable. Its spongy texture allows an optimal oxygenation and protects from temperature fluctuations. Available in sheets of 24 cubes or in bags of 100 cubes. Designed by Growth Technology.

Eazy Plug: 12, 24 or 77 cubes of 100% organic rock wool. They contain less latex to allow a better oxygenation and activate the root system more quickly. Designed by Eazy Plug.

Grodan : In the form of a plate or rockwool cubes, available in different sizes, Grodan offers a preformed rockwool to facilitate transplanting and root development. Caution : This support must be handled with care. Designed by Grodan.

But you can also use Light Mix, coco fiber, perlite or peat.

How to make your cuttings?

First of all it is necessary to prepare your mother plant well so that it is in the best conditions when you will make your cuttings. Water your mother plant with clear water the two days before cutting the cuttings.

Provide yourself with essential accessories for the good progress of your cutting phase:
Scalpel, hormone or cutting gel and a cutting or mini greenhouse

First step:

Identify the branch where you are going to take your cutting: it must be straight, not too thin, not too wide, so that it can stand upright in order not to take unnecessary energy from it.

Step two:

Cut a 10 to 15cm branch, preferably just below a node. Make sure the cutting has at least one bud and two nodes as well as leaves. It is preferable to cut it at a bevel with a scalpel or a sterilized cutter. Immediately place your cuttings in a glass of water with a pH of 5.5 to avoid air bubbles.

Step three:

Remove the leaves from the bottom of your cutting and keep only the top leaves.
Cut the tips of the leaves to avoid evapotranspiration.

Step four:

Using a scalpel or sterilized cutter, gently scrape the bottom of the stem of your cutting, just below a node, and apply your cutting hormone to this area.

Step Five:

Depending on the growing medium you select, plant your cutting gently, without twisting it or pushing it in too deeply.
Place your cuttings in a mini greenhouse or cutting, which itself will be placed under a growth bulb, a kit turbo Neons, or an economic lamp type CFL. You can also use a MH or Hybrid bulb. Water your cuttings, without flooding your growing medium, to avoid mold. Spray regularly your cuttings so that the humidity rate remains high (maximum 90%) for the roots to appear. Indeed, the cuttings do not have roots yet and are not able to take the water they need.
The cuttings must receive light 18 hours per day.
From 5 or 6 days, open the cover of your greenhouse progressively in order to create a draft.
In order for the roots to develop more quickly you can add a root stimulator to the water you spray.

Sixth step:

When the chosen support of culture is penetrated by the roots of your cutting, it is time to transplant it to pass in phase of growth and to stimulate it with stimulators of growth and growth fertilizer.

Example of a hydrangea cutting: