How to Grow a Tree from a Cutting

Let’s Make Baby Trees!

The Tropical Grower is growing trees from cuttings this week.  Yes, that’s correct, we’re taking branches from trees and making babies.  Have you ever wondered How to Grow a Tree from a Cutting? You know you’re a grower when you start doing weird stuff like this and call it fun.  Hold on, I’m still laughing at myself.

I do actually find this super fun and satisfying.  There was one, and now there are two.  It’s always a roll of the dice.  Like high-risk gambling or an excellent drama replacement.  I’m still laughing.

Hurricane Ian Snapped a Branch on the Key Lime Tree

We take cuttings all the time.  There is literally a constant supply of baby trees and shrubs in the Nursery.  We are featuring it this week because Hurricane Ian snapped a large branch on our Key Lime tree, and it was time to remove and plant it. It’s all part of the ongoing Hurricane restoration projects happening around Our Garden. Still. You can check out the rest of the damage at our: Hurricane Ian Photos

The Key Lime tree branch didn’t come off completely in the storm which was lucky. You’re odds go way down rooting a large branch if it’s completely snapped. Instead, I got to use My Grandmother’s tried and true method to grow roots on a branch while it’s still attached to the tree.  Talk about satisfying. 

If you’ve read anything on The Tropical Grower about our Key Lime tree, you know it’s our biggest producer.  When I did my storm damage walk-around in the back, I had to take a minute when I found it.  We’re losing probably a 5th of the crop. As a grower, I know I shouldn’t get attached to any plant, but as a person, I know it isn’t possible.  The tree itself was fine. You can check out our Fall & Winter Crop Update – Fruits & Herbs for more on our crop.

Because we had both examples, taking cuttings from trees and rooting split branches, I included both in the post this week. Making babies is one of the best parts about being a grower.

Taking Cuttings for New Plants

There is no magic in planting a cutting at least not on the growers part.  You are simply poking a stick into a pot of dirt. There are things you can do to raise your odds of getting a plant, but I’m not gonna lie, it’s up to the branch.  It will either decide to root or die.  You can only encourage it.

Recently, I took a cutting of the Sweet Orange tree.  Well, kind of, I needed to trim it, and I stuck one of the clippings into a pot instead of throwing it into the compost pile.  It’s a baby living in the Tree and Shrub Nursery now. I was actually surprised how easily it rooted, but I shouldn’t have been. Our trees are healthy and happy. The healthier the trees, the more likely the success. Sadly, there are trees you never think about taking a cutting from until they are sick.

Increase Your Odds

New Growth

New Growth is more likely to root than old growth.  If it was there last year, it’s not new growth.  Look for the green stems. You can see where the branch turns from the bark, to a brownish green, and finally the green ends of new growth. The cutting on the Sweet Orange tree was not new growth, but it rooted fine.  Keep in mind, these are odd increasers, not requirements.  The more you have the better your odds.

Where to Cut

Branches are more likely to root where leaves or smaller branches come off the main branch.  If you’re looking for where to cut, you want the bottom of the new plant to have a leaf or small branch, the more the better.  We cut or pull the leaves and small branches off the bottom of the main stem.  You don’t want to bury any leaves or small branches, and I prefer to clean the branch up at least halfway.

Trim It Up

You also want to remove any flowers, fruits, and some leaves.  Depending on what you are planting and what type of leaves it has, you need to think about where you want the plant to send its energy.  If it has lots of leaves, you probably don’t want it to try to keep all those alive instead of growing roots.  You want to trim back all but the newer leaves, don’t trim those.  The same is true with flowers and fruits.  Sure, you want those things, but if you have to choose flowers/fruits or a new plant?           

Root Booster

We are firm believers in root booster.  We use a powdered variety we simply sprinkle on the branch, root, or plant before sinking it in soil.  Root Booster is a hormone.  You should decide what type you’re comfortable using and buy some if you’re going to propagate from cuttings.  Again, these are recommendations, but root booster significantly increases your chance of roots, more so than any other recommendation.

Rich Garden Compost

We are firm believers in planting in soil most conducive to a plant’s natural growing environment with tweaks to our climate.  Wow, that’s a fancy way of saying we normally plant in sand because most of the plants here prefer it, and we add it to the others because of all the rain.  It’s important because although we grow in sand, I rarely root any new plants in it, usually only if I have to plant directly to the yard.  I root plants in straight garden compost.  It does contain some sand because it’s in everything here.  Think, stems pulled out of the ground with sandy compost attached, chunked into the compost pile.

Dappled Sun

All new cuttings and rooted trees and shrubs that come into Our Garden, including bought, must live in the Tree and Shrub Nursery for at least a year.  We rarely plant them before a full year and usually wait at least 2 years, up to 5 for some trees. I will admit to having a full-size lemon tree bonsaied in the Nursery. While it does aid in the Dappled Sun for the smaller plants, I really just never moved it from there when I brought it home from the office. It seems happy.

We like to ensure success which is why we keep them in the Nursery for so long.  Our Garden is hot, wet, and sun drenched.  The Nursery is just a place in Our Garden where everything receives dappled light, sheltered from the worst of the sun but not completely shaded.  It doesn’t get much wind and, like the light, the rain is sheltered.  Basically, it’s for babying the babies. They are going through an adjustment period. It also gives us a chance to play with light requirements without burning them up in the sun.

Keep them Watered

Water well at planting and keep them from drying out until they root.  I sprinkle all the plants in the nursery for 30 minutes everyday.  All the pots have holes for drainage, and I keep a close eye on them.  Since the Nursery is right off the patio, it keeps me vigilant.  

Plants will reach for water, and they use roots to do it.  You want roots on your cuttings.  So, you want the soil to stay moist, not soggy.  Soggy soil will rot your branch before it has a chance to root.  You want a new plant, not peat.  While rooting directly in water can be quite successful, it’s either water or soil, not both.

The Key Lime Tree Branch

What if you have a whole branch and not just a cutting?  It becomes much more involved than simply sinking a stick with root booster on it into a pot.  If you have a broken branch or your only option is to propagate from a larger branch, My Grandmother’s method for rooting branches is my go-to.  It’s the only way I’ve been successful with larger branches.

My Grandmother’s Method

Whether your branch is broken or freshly cut, you want to get something on it as quickly as possible.  Trees like most plants will immediately start to seal its wounds and try to heal.  Unfortunately, it took me an entire day before I got to the broken branch on the Key Lime tree.

First, I stabilize the tree branch.  Besides being in the middle of a walkway, I didn’t want it to snap off before it rooted.  Then, I sprinkled the split broken part with root booster, covered it with wet Sphagnum moss, and wrapped the whole thing in plastic wrap.  Then, I waited, until Feb, 4.5 months.  Grandma, aka Mom, would be proud.

Some Important Stuff to Remember

To Stabilize or Not

Whether you support the branch or not depends on the circumstances.  If you are afraid your branch is going to break off the tree, it is probably better to stabilize.  You want it to stay attached to the tree receiving water and nutrients until the roots form.  I used some cut branches, nothing fancy.

If you are doing the cutting and the branch is close to the ground, you can cut ⅔ of the branch straight down, leaving the rest attached to the tree, and let the outside leaves of the branch settle on the ground to stabilize it.

Rooting Medium

We already discussed root booster.  I just sprinkled this over the split area making sure it got in the cracks and packed the whole thing with wet Sphagnum Moss.  I used the moss because we had some.  My Mom uses it as a growing medium for some of her orchids, and she had just gotten a bale. 

You can really use anything that will hold moisture and not dry out, fine peat, compost, gels.  I chose the moss over compost because I was trying not to water it.  Compost would have needed watering.  I didn’t want to wash away the root booster.

I wet the wad of moss to soaking or soggy and squeezed a bit.  It was soggy and dripping a bit, but water was not running out of it. By the time I put it in the crack, it wasn’t dripping at all, and I would classify it as wet or very wet.

Cover in Plastic Wrap

Since I didn’t want it to dry-out, have the root booster wash away, or have the moss fall off, it needed to be covered.  I literally just wrapped the whole area in a few layers of plastic wrap.  If it were the rainy season, I would have probably left off the plastic and wired the moss to the branch, concerned it would get too wet, but we were at the end of rainy season.

I regularly checked the sides of the plastic wrap to make sure the moss was still wet.  It was.  I never added water to it.  Besides the initial wetting, the moss, sticking out the sides a little, wicked rain.  Because there hasn’t been a lot, dry season, it stayed moist, not sopping.  Perfect.

Regular Checks – Don’t Do Them

While it is okay to check for moistness on the outside, I only pulled back the plastic and carefully checked for roots twice, the 2nd time when it was ready.  It took 4.5 months to get decent sized roots.  Patience is key.  You don’t want to break new baby roots pulling the medium around looking for them.

If you’re wondering, yes, I Woo-Hooed at the sight of roots.  There might have been a little booty shake.  I was especially excited because the branch had to come off the tree, roots or no.  While I really wanted to save the branch, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice our crop for it.  Priorities.  There will be plenty of opportunities to make other trees.  In fact, I pulled another much smaller broken branch off it at the same time and planted it as a cutting.  We grow food, more trees are a bonus. The tree acting weird during blooming season needed to stop.

Trimming the Buds

After the 1st cold snap, the broken branch bloomed, totally and completely. Flowers covered the branch with one or two flowers on the rest of the tree. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Key Lime trees often produce little clusters of flowers, but they do not blanket a single tree branch leaving the rest of the tree bare. It was obvious something was very wrong even if I did get super excited about the flowers, they make fruit. Unfortunately, I knew these could not. I needed the energy going to roots, not flowers and fruit. Dang.

Sadly, I had to remove them, all of them. And the baby fruit. It took forever.

Where to Cut

The branch was cut next to the tree just before where the split started.  You don’t want to cut where the new roots are located.  Because of the size of the branch, I had to use the JawSaw.  I preferred taking a little more of the still good branch rather than worrying about accidentally messing with the new roots.  There is just too much room for error when cutting with a chainsaw near fragile new roots.

Planting the New Tree

While I would have preferred to leave most of the moss in place around the roots, I had to remove it because it was still holding so much water.  I wanted the roots to take hold in the soil, not rot.  Although I planned to remove just the outer portions, it all came off in one gentle pull.  I swear, I barely touched it.  No problem, the roots appeared intact.

I made a hole in my pot soil and stuck the Key Lime tree branch in it being super careful of the fragile roots, back-filling the hole.  Press, Press, Press, packing around the branch until it stood up on its own.  I thought about adding a stake, but the place it went in the Nursery had plenty of surrounding stabilization.

What Happened Next

Well, as expected, all the leaves on the new baby tree immediately died.  I have never taken a cutting from this tree that kept its leaves, including the one rooted and living in the Nursery when Hurricane Ian killed it.  

Now, all that’s left is the waiting.  I did mention this was a high-risk plant.  It will either start growing leaves in a month or so, or it won’t.  That’s growing.  I’ll do a update as soon as I know.

Go ahead, try a cutting. What do you have to lose? A little time . . .