If you are into propagating plant cuttings (starting new plants or “cloning”), you’ll be interested in an experiment I’m conducting in my garden. You’ve surely heard of starting cuttings using a raw potato. Except for holding the cutting upright in the pot while it grows roots, I really can’t find any scientific reason to sticking the end of a cutting into a potato. Is it a myth? The cutting should root in moist soil alone if prepared properly and placed in a shaded area for a period of time.
Along with a Cambria Garden Club friend of mine, I decided to do a propagation experiment using potatoes to see if it worked for us. I’ll publish her results along with mine when our experiment is complete. I took cuttings of this beautiful rose growing on our property. You can identify it as a “hybrid tea rose” by the way it grows but I’m not sure of the variety. If any of you recognize it, please tell me what it is. It is a survivor, with dark green leaves, and is highly fragrant.
I cut 12″ stems and removed the leaves. I cut off the top flowers and cut just below the last node at the bottom of the stem. I painted the bottom portion of the stem with Olivia’s Cloning Gel and let them dry for a few minutes.
I took an old potato from the pantry and, using a drill bit about the thickness of the stem, I twisted it into the potato, making a nice clean hole. I put the bottom end of the stem into the hole to the depth of about an inch.
I filled a 6-inch plant pot 1/4 of the way full with potting soil and placed the potato on top of the soil. Then I finished filling the pot with more potting soil.
I filled another 6-inch pot with potting soil and, using a pencil, made a hole and placed the second stem in the hole. I watered both pots thoroughly and placed them in a shady area of my yard where I have other cuttings taking root. You can cover the stem with a plastic bottle with the bottom cut out if your air is dry. No need for plastic bottles in our moist coastal climate.
Will both stems root equally? Will the potato affect the rooting? We will see, and I will publish the results. If neither of these stems root, I’ll try again with new stems in a couple of months. Remember, gardening is ALL an experiment! It’s lots of fun too!
To see a short video of “How to Grow Rose Cuttings in Potatoes” click below.
