Many plants such as Asters Campanulas Clematis and English Ivys can be propagated from cuttings. There are basically two types of plants in this category nodal rooters and inter-nodal rooters. The node of the plant is the point at witch the leaves are attached and usually contains dormant buds and totipotent cells capable of generating roots. Nodal rooters will root only at the nodes while plants like English Ivy will root anywhere along the stem. Just to be safe it s always best to have at least one node under the soil.
Most cuttings benefit from the addition of a rooting stimulant to hasten the process of rooting.
Thesehormonal chemicals mimic the natural hormones produced in a plant when it is injured and naturalprotective measures are called into play to perpetuate the species. We use a liquid hormone like Dip and Grow at a medium dilution for most herbaceous perennial plants. Powders such as Rootone are used when there is an alcohol sensitivity in a particular plant as the liquid hormones have alcohol and formaldehyde as carriers. As much excess leaf material should be removed as this will transpire moisture from the plant cells that cannot be replaced since there are no roots yet for water uptake. Most material needs to be misted a few times a day or covered with a dome that can be made from a one liter soda bottle and placed in the shade.