CommonCents's blog: I tried a new way of rooting cuttings. Thought I'd share.

NOTE: I plan to take pictures of the whole process when I start some more cuttings in the next few weeks. For now, I thought I'd share this with one picture I took when I transplanted these sage cuttings to small (1 qt) nursery containers a couple weeks ago. And "today" in this text is actually February 22, 2016, not March 8.

I used to root cuttings in a glass/cup of water, changing the water out regularly. I've also tried in a small pot of wet kitty litter, with varying success.

I tried something new this past month. I took some mason jars, covered them to keep the light out, and put an aquarium "air stone" at the bottom, with a hose attached. I then put some small pebbles in, with the air stone centered, and I placed the cuttings with a few leaves above the top of the mason jar, and filled the jar with pebbles around the cuttings. Once everything was set, I nearly filled the jars with water.

When I posted this on another gardening site, it was suggested that perlite would be a much better medium than my aquarium pebbles. If you have to buy something to get this going, get perlite. It's much lighter weight, and much less likely to damage the new roots when you transplant.

Over the last 3 weeks or so, I've blown air in the jars every day, at least once, often twice or more. I also top up the water every few days.

Actually, if you want to use a soda straw instead of the air stone and aquarium tubing, that would probably work. If you are rooting a bunch of cuttings, either in a bunch of mason jars, or in a larger container like a dishpan or something, you could also use an actual aquarium pump on a timer to aerate the water. You wouldn't want the pump to run continuously, rather, use the shortest time possible once or twice a day.

Today, I gently and carefullyspilled out the pebbles and cuttings to see how they did. Here's a picture of some sage cuttings with roots growing.

I was impressed. I got quite a few roots, and they seem a bit thicker than I typically get rooting in just a clear glass of water. I transplanted these today to 1 quart small square nursery pots. I guess I'll know in a week or two how they fare.

Update: the sage cuttings show are doing well. They've grown a couple new leaves on each plant, and I've had them outside in a sheltered location on the back porch "hardening off." They should make some good plants.

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