Careful Preparation
The key to successful propagation (as with most horticultural techniques) is careful preparation — which starts even before you take your first cutting. First, you need to ensure you’ve selected a healthy mother plant to take your cuttings from. Check that it’s disease and pest-free, and give it a generous watering the day before you plan to take cuttings to ensure it’s well hydrated.
Once you’re ready to take cuttings, make sure you have a sterile working environment — clean your hands, tools, containers, and work surfaces thoroughly to lower the risk of introducing diseases or pests. Don’t handle other plants while you’re taking your cuttings, as there’s always the risk of cross-contamination.
Speed is also key. Don’t rush the process, but equally, don’t take a cutting and then leave it sitting around unnecessarily while you get the propagator ready — this can quickly lead to the cuttings drying out and is a common cause of transplant shock. Make sure you have all your equipment prepped and ready to use before you start taking cuttings from the mother plant.
Taking Cuttings
When you take the cuttings, use a sharp knife or shears — using a blunt instrument will crush the stem rather than cutting it cleanly.
Cut at a 45-degree angle rather than straight across — this creates more surface area for the new plant to absorb water, oxygen and nutrients, getting it off to the best possible start.
Time To Propagate
Once you have collected all the cuttings you need, you can transfer them to your propagator. Using an aeroponic propagator like the X-Stream Aero will give you the best results, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, its unique misting chamber gives your cuttings uninterrupted access to both water and oxygen. The misting action creates tiny water particles and the movement means that oxygen is able to circulate more freely around the roots.
This leads to the fastest root development possible — which allows you to transfer your cuttings to media and start the final stage of the grow sooner.
This early development also reduces the risk of transplant shock — the cuttings will have stronger, thicker roots and the lack of growing media in the propagator means less risk of pests and disease. You’ll also have much better control over temperature and humidity levels. Propagation water should be maintained between 22°C-26°C — and the best way to ensure the temperature remains consistent is with the X-Stream Aeroponic’s optional water heater.
On a practical level, it’s easy to check on the progress of your cuttings without disturbing the plants — which can be quite fragile at this stage — and you have convenient access to the pump and nutrient solution. Using the X-Stream Aeroponic, you should see roots appear within the first few days, and your cuttings will be ready to transplant into growing media within as little as 10 days.
For the best possible results, check out the following tips from our expert team of horticulturists.
Growers’ Tips:
Ensure all your tools are sterile before taking cuttings and clean the system down in between uses. A quick wipe down with a clean cloth will help, or use Silver Bullet Mist to be on the safe side.
Any problems in the mother plant will be inherited by the cuttings, so inspect your plant for any signs of disease or deficiency, and only take cuttings from the healthiest plants.
When your cuttings go into the system, fill the tank with water and leave the pump on 24/7.
As roots begin to show open the vents slightly, increase the opening every day, and then remove the lid completely to harden off for a couple of days before transplanting the new plants.
Using a foliar spray like Evolution 2.0 can help to give your cuttings a head-start, by boosting the available nutrients.
Transfer cuttings into your chosen media when roots begin to poke through the mesh pot. Move them to a secondary propagator for hardening off before moving to a grow system. Our X-Stream Heat or Vitapod are ideal options at this stage.
