Cuttings that root in water

below is a list compiled over many years of cuttings that will root in water- please feel free to add or to share your successes or failures.

This is from our former forum- not my work-- a generous forum goer compiled them all with any relevant notes on how long to expect roots to emerge.

Cuttings that root in water (cut just below leaf node, strip off all leaves below water line)


African Violet

Ajuga

Argryanthemum

Artemisia abrotanum

Aster

Avocado

Baby Rubber Plant

Basil

Begonia

Bok choy

Brugmansia

Brunnera

Buddleia

Buddleia globosa

Cabbage

Callicarpa/beautyberry

Celery

Cordyline australis

Chocolate cosmos

Clematis (may take 6 weeks or more)

Coleus

Cuphea cyanea (rapidly)

Cyperus alternifolius (umbrella palm – 7-21 days)

Dianthus/carnations

Echevaria

Echinacea

Erigeron karvinskianus

Euonymus

Euphorbia hypericifolia(?) 'Silverfog'

Feverfew

Ficus Benjamin

Ficus lyrata, fiddle leaf fig

Forsythia

Fuchsia

Gaura

Geranium

Geum

Grape vine

Hebe Caledonia ‘accidental’ (may take several months)

Hedera helix/ivy

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hibiscus (hardy types)

Honeysuckle

Hoyas

Hydrangea

Impatiens/busy lizzie

Lamium

Lavender

Laurel

Lonicera

Lysimachia/Creeping Jenny (1 week)

Maranta leuconeura/Prayer plant

Mint, most varieties (within days)

Monstera/Swiss cheese plant

Nepeta

Nepeta 'Junior Walker' (2 weeks or so)

Oesteos

Oleander (semi-hardwood cuttings)

Onion

Passionflower (2 months)

Penstemon

Peperomia (2 weeks)

Persicaria filiforma 'Lance Corporal'

Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus'

Philodendron

Potentilla

Pothos, Golden

Privet

Red Robin

Rhododendron

Ribes sanguineum/Flowering currant

Rosemary (3 weeks)

Roses

Roses, miniature

Ruellia (Mexican Petunia)

Salvia Amistad (2 weeks)

Salvia (herbaceous)

Salvia microphylla/blackcurrant sage/shrubby salvia

Sedums

Senecio/Angels Wings

Snake plants

Spider plant

Spirea

Stachys

String of hearts

Strobilanthes/Persian shield

Tamarisk

Tradescantia

Tradescantia spathacea (1 week)

Verbena bonariensis (also roots easily in sharp sand)

Verbena rigida

Viburnum opulus

Vietnamese coriander (presumably other persicarias too)

Vinca

Watercress

Weigela (semi-hard cuttings)

Willow

Yucca (3 weeks)

 

Hello earlydaze, welcome to GC. What a useful post! There are a few in that list that I wouldn't have thought of trying in water

 

I am trying Hibiscus rosa-sinensis at the moment so . I have six in the ground and 9? in pots.

 

Love this post! I have started to use the little bottles that come with cake decorations to root cuttings. I can get loads more onto a window sill that way!

 

I have recently put some Iresine cuttings to root in water. I take them every year from plants that have gone leggy over the winter.
I haven't timed them but they don't take long, and I put them in those little Yakult pots (which I buy because I find it helps with quelling acid reflux)

Rhipsalis cuttings also root well in water apparently. I've never tried it because I thought they'd rot but others have had them root successfully in water.

 

Maybe there also needs to be a thread for things that take from root cuttings. I chanced it by potting some roots that broke off when I repotted a datura, and they took. I also noticed a tray of dodecatheon root cuttings when visiting Farmyard plants this week - I wouldn't have thought of it.

 

I am having great results this year from honeysuckle..... beauty for me is that as long as water is topped up, the cuttings are very forgiving. Now that I have potted up my honeysuckle, time to move on to next experiment.

 

I’ve had hydrangeas root quite easily in water. I’ve not been very scientific in how I take the cuttings, usually cut bits off while pruning the leggy plants, but it often works.

 

Solandra root as soon as you put your hand on the tap!
Oleander seem to root better for me in water than in a pot and my sister seems to easily root callistemon in water...in fact most soft wood cuttings where transpiration is a problem could be done this way

 

@Grannybee
I’ve been collecting those little bottles from cake decorations and sprinkles as well! Very handy size for single sprigs and cuttings. I’m having to eat an awful lot of ice cream to use up the sprinkles though!

 

Add Aptenia to the list. I had some plants in last years hanging basket, and took a cutting to overwinter. It has developed roots. I wish I had taken more….

 

Brilliant list, thank you. I'm sure I've done tomato suckers this way as well, but can't recall if I ever got toms.

 

If you have one cutting, you'll very soon be able to turn that in to more than you need!
I've had more success with these in sand rather than water and managed to grow them outside for a number of years in just sand...like lampranthus.
For some reason, they didn't get through the winter of 2009/10

 

Aptenia is not hardy around here, but is a perpetual weed in my cold frame.