How & Why to Take Cuttings of Perennials in Containers

Perennial plants grown in pots have a problem: sooner or later, their roots will run out of room. And you, the container gardener, have a related problem: limited space for large pots on your balcony or patio. But when your beloved perennials outgrow their pots, it doesn’t have to be the end. In this step-by-step guide, I’ll show you how I propagate perennials on my balcony from cuttings to create fresh, FREE plants every year.

Examples of popular perennials include salvia, pelargonium, mint, sage, and lavender. Most of these are considered herbaceous perennials, meaning that they die back every winter (not always here in the Bay Area but in colder climates) and regrow in the spring. When you propagate these plants from cuttings, you end up with a clone of the parent plant, ensuring you keep your favorite varieties year after year.

Now (August and September) is a good time to take cuttings of perennials. They are still putting forth fresh growth that makes good cutting material, they will have several weeks of sufficient light and warmth to establish roots, and then can be sheltered over winter. In early spring, you’ll have young plants ready to go, without having spent a penny!

Step 1: Gather your supplies

To prevent your cuttings from drying out, prepare all the supplies you will need in advance to minimize the amount of time between cutting and planting:

• Clean, sharp snips or scissors
• A plastic bag
• Free-draining planting medium (I use half cactus mix and half perlite)
• Small-ish containers (I always save and reuse plastic pots and trays from the nursery)
• Pencil, dowel, or toothpick for making holes
• Water

Step 2: Cut your cuttings

As the name suggests, you obtain cuttings by cutting them from the parent plant. But you want to be selective about it. The ideal cutting material is a healthy, green stem without a bud or flower on the end. Make your cut about 4-5” from the tip. It’s wise to take multiple cuttings of your favorite plants for insurance in case any of them don’t take.

This year, I’m taking cuttings from several of my favorite perennials who are all looking a bit tired of confinement: lemon-scented geranium, Salvia greggi (the one I stole from my neighbor’s plant!), Agastache “Apricot Sprite,” strawberry mint, and catnip. 

If, like me, you’re doing several all at once, pop them into the plastic bag so they don’t dry out as much as you’re prepping and planting each one.

Step 3: Prepare your cuttings

To up your chances of success, each cutting will need a trim before being potted. Leaves feed the plant via photosynthesis, but they also take energy from the plant to grow. To correct this balance, gently remove all leaves with your snips except the topmost two or three. This way, your cutting will have sufficient energy to put towards root growth.

At the other end, trim your cutting just below a node, which is the little knobby part of the stem from which leaves sprout. This is the most likely place for roots to develop.

Step 4: Plant your cuttings

When your cutting is ready, use your pencil or other narrow implement to create a 2-3” hole in its designated pot, and slip it in, gently packing the soil or perlite around it. You want enough of the cutting buried that it is stable; I place mine around the sides of the pot for extra stability.

To save space, feel free to plant multiple cuttings in one pot; the more you plant, the higher chances of success. You can fit 4-5 cuttings in one 4” nursery pot. For mine, I used a six-pack of generous proportions, and placed two in each compartment. Be sure to label them if you’re making a lot!

Step 5: Water your cuttings

Once your cuttings are all potted up, give them a nice drink. Avoid disturbing the soil too much, which will destabilize your cuttings and expose the stems. I watered mine from the bottom up, filling a large saucer beneath them. Once the perlite/cactus mix had absorbed the water, I tipped out the excess.

Step 6: Care for your cuttings until they form roots

Find a spot for your cuttings that is bright but doesn’t bake under direct sun. From now until they root, they are fragile little beings.

Keep them watered but not soaked. Some say to mist your cuttings or place a plastic bag over them to retain moisture. I personally haven’t tried this, but it probably depends on humidity levels in your environment. Outdoors in the Bay Area, they seem to do okay with watering alone.

If all goes well, after 2-3 weeks, you’ll start to see little roots poking out of the bottom of the pots. Keep an eye on them and when you see lots of roots and new growth at the top, it’s time to give them more space.

Step 7: Pot up your cuttings

If you’ve combined multiple cuttings into single containers, potting up each one individually will allow them to grow stronger root systems and, in turn, strong little plants. 

Mine aren’t yet at this stage, but when they get there, I’ll turn them out of their containers, divvy them up carefully (being extra gentle with the roots), and place them into their own 4-6” pots. For nutrients, I’ll use a slightly richer medium of regular potting and cactus mixes.

If you took your cuttings in August or September, bring them indoors when it starts to get cold and dark. Even in the Bay Area, I brought in my salvia cuttings last November. Make sure they get enough water, natural light, and air circulation throughout the winter. Due to shorter days, they won’t grow very fast during this period. 

You can also take cuttings in early spring; the new plants will grow much faster with the longer days and will be ready to plant out in late spring or early summer. I’ve found that cuttings from my lemon-scented geranium root quickly and grow vigorously in the springtime.

Infinite free plants!

Theoretically, you could propagate perennials this way into infinite and beyond. But, you probably don’t have space for all those plants. In fact, if you’ve taken extra cuttings for insurance purposes, you may end up with a surplus, plus the parent plant that’s desperate to go in the ground. These make great gifts and are always welcome on groups like Buy Nothing and plant exchanges.

I’ll report back on how my cuttings do. Even if only half make it, it’ll be too many, but it’s always better to have too many plants than too few!