Topic: Cuttings

[wivvles]

I have a few gooseberry bushes, a redcurrant and a blueberry, all inherited.  The gooseberries did okay, some redcurrants (though the birds got most) and very few bluberries. I know that I need to get another variety of blueberry and plant it close by, so that's on the "jobs to do fairly soon when I get some pocket money" list.

I want to take some cuttings, but have never done any before - I've googled and have found a variety of answers, so am confused.  So in those circumstances I throw myself over to your collected wisdom.  When is the best time to do them, and assuming they are successful, do they stay in the greenhouse over winter, or in a cold frame, or in the ground?

[Mrs Ava]

With my fruit bushes, I do not take specific cuttings, but prune the plants once the fruit has all been picked, and stick all the prunings in the ground.  I would say 8 out of 10 strike and I am always binning blackcurrant cuttings! 

Take a stem, about pencil thickness, trim it just below a bud, pull of the lower leaves to about half way up, plonk it in the ground, and forget about it until next spring!  I don't even bother to trim them.

[jennym]

With plants that have woody stems, wait until the leaves have dropped. Take a piece around 15cm long, and cut the bottom just underneath but close to a node. Try and pick cuttings with lots of nodes, more chance of rooting. You can also scrape away a small portion of the bark until you see a thin layer of white tissue, again more chance of rooting. If you do choose to use hormone rooting powder, only use the smallest amount on the cut end of the stem only as sometimes it may actually stop roots forming if it's plastered all over the cutting. Insert them halfway into a shrub pot (a pot 20 - 30 cm deep) filled with a mixture of JI No.3 and sharp grit. Keep moist, but not particularly sheltered, but don't let it freeze solid. Leave it alone, and come spring you may see leaves opening. Check carefully for roots.
Like EJ, I find that you can just stick blackcurrant, redcurrant, gooseberry straight into the ground and most root with no special attention. You could be organised, and make a slit with your spade, and put them in a particular place, or like me you might forget where you put them.