2 minute read
Seeds Not Your Style? Let’s Make Clones!
By Manuel Hernandez, Rare Plant Nursery Technician
Vegetative propagation is useful when you want to skip the seed stage, obtain mature plants faster, or don’t have seeds available.
Dividing Plants
One of the simplest ways to make a clone is by dividing a plant. This works well for bunch-type grasses such as needlegrass (Stipa spp.), irises (Iris spp.), and hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea). Dig up your plant, keeping as many roots as possible. Look for natural clumps at the base of the plant where it wants to separate. Gently tease these clumps apart, ensuring each piece has some roots attached, and then plant each clump as normal.
Stem Cuttings
The most common method of cloning plants is via stem cuttings. For this, you’ll need to collect stems that are bendable but don’t break easily. From each stem, cut a piece about the length of your palm, making sure it has at least three nodes (points from where a leaf sprouts). Make a diagonal cut below a node and trim leaves off so only a few remain on top. Then, stick it into a mixture of perlite and peat moss. Keep the mixture moist and, after a few months, roots should start to grow. You can then move the cuttings into small pots with soil and care for them like seedlings. Golden currants (Ribes aureum) and sages (Salvia spp.) are good starter plants for this method. As you get more advanced, you can experiment with rooting hormones for harder-to-root plants.
