Cuttings - what do i do next?

Hi,

Around 4 -6 weeks ago i took cuttings from my rosemary and blackcurrant sage. I took two cuttings of each.
They seem to be doing well - one sage cutting has shot up in height and has grown new leaves, the other sage kinda looks the same. What should i do with them? How do i know when to move them? For how long do i keep them in the pots they are in (3" pots)? I still have the freezer bags over the top so they don't dry out, but when do i remove the bag? How do i know when roots have developed?

The rosemary cuttings look very healthy but haven't really grown in size i don't think - certainly not drying out tho - nice and green! They too still have the bag over them, what do i do with them?

Many Thanks

 

At the moment, it sounds as if the cuttings have taken, I would, very gently, knock the pot off and check for roots. If you are a bit nervous about doing this then leave them for another couple of weeks. :thumb:

 

I will do that! I will wait a couple more weeks though as suggested. What exactly am i looking for? I mean, i realise i'm looking for roots, but how much does there need to be and what do i then do with the cuttings? Leave them in the pot they're in or do i seperate each cutting into a seperate pot?

 

hi
if you gently pull the cuttings and feel any resistance you can say the cuttings have rooted. if so pot them on in individual pots and they should be fine

 

" What exactly am i looking for?"

I normally leave them until I can see evidence of some root at through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. By then they have plenty of root and I can then pot them all up. Risk is that they have enough root that they have all got a bit matted together :(

 

I generally use the same method as Kristen, but as your cuttings are in 3" pots and you're curious to see how things are going, I'd do as daitheplant says - slip your fingers between the cuttings and gently turn the pot upside-down then, supporting the surface of the soil, slide the pot off just sufficiently to see how much of a root system there is.

When I first started taking cuttings, the minute I saw roots I'd be potting on, but I soon discovered that they'd a much better chance of survival if I waited a bit ... there's bound to be some disturbance however careful you are so, obviously, the more root there is, the more able the plantlet is to sustain that damage and recover.

Once I've repotted my cuttings I usually leave the poly-bags on for a few days, then start taking them off for a short while and, providing the plants don't start to wilt, I 'wean' them off the bags completely over the course of a few days.