How do I take cuttings?

I always use the centre's of toilet rolls filled with compost.

Cut toilet roll in half or thirds for seeds to end up with two or three cylinders. Fill with compost and place in a seed tray quite tightly. Water them gently when first seed or cutting is planted in them....then after that, just water the seed tray so they get the moisture from the bottom up....helps to stop rot. When rooted, plant the whole thing into either a plants pots or the ground.

Always start my runner beans, lettuce etc this way. Even root crops like carrots etc. :thumb:

 

I will be following this thread with great interest as all my cuttings have failed in the past so this is invaluable to me, thanks all :D

 

You have to believe in them.

Tweaky, I also use rolls, for the smaller things, I like the paper pots because you can vary the size. I also use a lot of milk and juice tetrapaks: I cut off the top, cut little holes in the bottom for drainage and voilà. They are very good for cuttings because you can accomodate long "twigs" with a realtively small volume of soil. I also use them for potting on small plants. Since they are square they fit side by side neatly, and you can save lots of space, until the plants grow too large and need more spacing anyway.

 

Great idea Ivory.:thumb:

 

Always one for recycling,me!

 

I am amazed, no one has mentioned the original method of using 50/50 loam or compost and sharp sand. Everyone seems to think that only the expensive ways will do the job.

My next door neighbour recently expressed a wish to remove his front hedge and replace it with Laurel. As I have several Laurels, I have taken 66 cuttings for him. Now his wife has said she wants a Laurel hedge between the drive and next door's (the other side) garden. So, they will need about another 80 cuttings. It's a small repayment for the earth moving he has done on his property to stop my garden flooding (it's a good job he owns earth moving machinery).