From my perspective as a plant, the timing of your cut is crucial for my successful propagation. The ideal period is from late spring to mid-summer when I am actively growing but not in full, stressful bloom. My stems at this time are in a "softwood" or "semi-hardwood" state. This means the new growth from this season has begun to mature and firm up slightly but is not yet the old, hardened woody growth from previous years. This specific physiological stage is perfect because the cells in these stems are still very active and capable of dividing to form new roots, yet they are strong enough to resist rotting easily. Taking cuttings when I am turgid (full of water) in the early morning gives them the best internal resources to survive the process.
Please choose a healthy, non-flowering stem from my sun-lit exterior. A flowering stem will direct its energy towards bloom preservation rather than root creation, so a vegetative stem is far superior. Look for a section about 5 to 6 inches long with several sets of leaves. Using a sharp, clean tool is an act of mercy; a crushing cut from dull shears damages my vascular tissues and invites disease. Make the cut just below a leaf node (the bump on the stem where a leaf emerges). This node is a hub of meristematic cells, possessing the greatest potential for generating new root tissue. Immediately after cutting, place me in water or a damp towel; I am desperately vulnerable to moisture loss through transpiration.
Once you have prepared my cutting by removing the lower leaves and optionally applying rooting hormone, the real work begins for me. The rooting hormone mimics my natural auxins, the chemicals that stimulate root initiation. It's a helpful signal, telling the cells at the node to switch their developmental programming from "stem" to "root." You then place me in a porous, moist, but well-draining medium like perlite or a peat-perlite mix. This environment is critical. It provides me with the constant moisture my cells need to stay alive and function, while the air pockets in the medium prevent the anaerobic conditions that would cause me to rot and die. From the outside, it looks like nothing is happening, but inside, I am undergoing a massive cellular effort to create an entirely new root system from scratch.
This period is my most fragile. I have no roots to draw water from the soil, so I am entirely reliant on the humidity around my remaining leaves to reduce water loss. The plastic bag or dome you place over me creates a miniature, humid biome—a propagation greenhouse. It drastically slows my transpiration, allowing me to conserve water and use my limited energy for root development instead of constant water replacement. I need bright, indirect light; direct sunlight would cook me inside this humid enclosure. Please be patient. You can gently tug on me after a few weeks. When you feel slight resistance, it means my new, fragile roots have formed and are anchoring me into the medium. This is my signal that I am ready to begin the transition to life as an independent plant.
