Science | Science Experiment of the Week 8 | 283 - Getting to the Root

Using cuttings to produce new plants.

This Week's Experiment - #283 Getting to the Root

These experiments are from Robert Krampf - The Happy Scientist

This week's experiment is from my wife, Lisa. She truly has a green thumb and has flowers growing on almost every square inch of our yard, the deck, the kitchen table, the kitchen counter,.....well, you get the idea. While we do make regular trips to buy plants, many of them she produces herself by rooting cuttings. To learn some about how this works, you will need:

scissors
a few plants
a clear glass of water

IMPORTANT WARNING! Do not cut any plant until you get permission from the owner. Cutting your mom's favorite flowers can get you in quite a bit of trouble.

First, we have to pick some plants to root. This method does not work with all kinds of plants, so we will try more than one, to have a better chance of success. Many common houseplants root quite easily. Begonias, Coleus, and Moss Roses (Portulaca) are some that Lisa recommends, but she says that most "juicy" plants root easily. You can even try rooting wild plants (often called weeds.)

Once you select two or three plants, we want to choose a cutting from each. Look for a healthy stem or branch. You want one that is growing well with no disease. It is best to choose a stem with no flowers. If your cutting has flowers on it, the plant will use its energy for the flower, instead of for producing roots. If you must use a stem which has flowers, remove the flowers and any buds. You want to cut a section of the plant that is about 4 to 6 inches long. Remove the leaves from the bottom 2/3 of the stem, leaving 3 or 4 leaves at the top. Do the same for cuttings from a couple of different plants.

Normally, you root plants in a special soil mixture designed for cuttings and seedlings, but for this experiment, we want to watch as the roots develop. Fill a clear glass with about 3 inches of water. Place the cuttings into the glass. You want to do this as soon as they are cut to avoid air bubbles in the stem of the plant. A bubble trapped in the stem can kill the plant. Set the glass in a sunny spot where it will not be disturbed. Look carefully at the cuttings each day, watching for tiny, white roots to grow. Depending on the plant, it may happen as quickly as a few days, or it may take a week or more. Some plants will not grow this way, so if you do not have roots within a week, you should probably try a different plant.

If the water level gets low, add more to keep the water about 3 inches deep. Let the roots grow until they are at least 1/4 of an inch long. Then you can transplant your cuttings into a pot filled with good potting soil. Keep them watered and give them plenty of sunlight and soon you will have a new plant. Or is it? Really, it is a part of the original plant. You have produced a clone!

Now, wait a minute. Everyone in the news is always talking about cloning. If it is this easy, why is it such a big deal? The difference is in what you are cloning. Cloning plants is easy. You just did it. People have been cloning plants for thousands of years. Cloning animals is much different. You can't cut off your finger and place it in a glass of water to grow another you. I would not do it, even if we could. Lisa says one of me is all the world can stand.

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