We’ve been pushing hard to try and get all the cuttings stuck that we can before it gets too late in the season. In this week’s episode of “Mondays With Mike” I’ll show you how we plan to overwinter our cuttings.
By adjusting the layout of my mist beds, I’m now confident the cuttings will stay moist and keep from drying out over the winter.
Watch the video below to see what adjustment I made…
Hi Mike,
In my time watching you, i have seen different ways you do same things. In overwintering cuttings, i always seem to remember the one you showed when useing the rounded cement mesh i think it is called.(heavy duty). and then put White plastic over it , held down with sand or potting soil. And putting outside mouse bait in the pvc parts inside mini greenhouse protecter. The Video i just watched is fairly new, and you are saying you leave your new cuttings out in the elements, no mention of mouse bait or covering. So is the mini greenhouse type of overwintering out the door then? Is one way better or worse? It can get confusing some times to me at least.. Thank You for All Your Videos Especially! I learn so much better by watching than reading…
I have three 8ft tall and round rhododendron bushes that I would like to cut down massively, and take hundreds of cuttings off them….. What would be the best way to do this??? What’s the best way to make them root?? Any advice?? I’m in Ohio also(if that matters)
Mike–Just stumbled onto your site–thanks for great info! I’m in Illinois (zone 5) and want to try cuttings from a (tropical) Hibiscus acetosella (Mahogany Splendor). I don’t have a greenhouse, heated garage, cold frame or much indoor space. Could I leave cuttings outside in a South corner with a storm window surround?
Loretta,
If your hibiscus is tropical, the cuttings will not do well outside over the winter. But the large, dinner plate hibiscus are much like tropical hibiscus but hardy in cold zones. We just potted up about 400 of them a few weeks ago.
Spring you featured a beautiful smaller flowering tree that knocked my socks off . You displayed pictures of it and it had an odd name. Do you remember it? It was so awesome. Thank you, karen
Katen, this? http://www.freeplants.com/lavender-twist.htm
Mike,
Thank you for all the advice you give everyone. More then most helpful.
You offer us a download of 7 different gifts and they are most appreciated but
I already get your newsletters.I enjoy them very much. The point is I don’t want
to sign up again for them and 6 of your gifts I already have, but would like the
utube connection. Is there a way without getting double newsletters?
Thanks again.
donna
Mike, I want to start my own nursery and was wondering if it is to late to take cuttings from some of the plants in our landscape. I know we have weigelia, burning bush, and some japanese maples(do japanese maples need shade?). Since I’m only 13 I don’t have much money but I want to buy your system as soon as I can.
Thanks
Thomas
Thomas, it’s really never too late to take cuttings. About the only time of the year that I don’t recommend taking cuttings would be spring during the really active growing season, but right after that, June in zones 5 and 6, is the ideal time. But there really is no harm taking cuttings all year. In the colder months they take longer to root and not all will do well, but you don’t have a lot to lose by trying. http://www.freeplants.com/homemade-plant-propagation.htm
Hello Mike,
Thanks for all you do!
I am just getting started…can you recommend 10-15 starter plants for me to buy now for spring cuttings?
I am interested in a few unique and interesting j maples and flowering shrubs and or plants.
I just want a few select unique products to start with and build from there.
I live in mn so I am zone 4?
Thank you and thanks again for all the hard work you do:)
Thanks for what you do mike you where my inspiration to start my own nursery you have thaught me how to cuttings and alot more so i hope that i can sell alot of plants.
Thanks,
Owen
Just reading about your hoop houses I use a 1by2 as long as the area I need to cover
Wrap the 2wraps afound 1by2and stapel every foot .leave about 2 feet longef then your beds (the plastic) r oll up when you need air.at night use old fashioned wood close plns to close the ends at night.helps retain heat
I am only 11 years old but i own my own nursery now i am lerning how to winter my cuttings also do burning bushes sell good to make$?
Owen,
That is awesome! Don’t give up, this could be a life changing thing for you! Stay in touch, I want to know what you have going on. -Mike McGroarty
Hi Mike,
I’m glad you posted this. Last year I screwed up. I filled a black dishpan with sand and many cuttings from the shrubs around my condo: burning bush, hydrangea, and some lilac cuttings I got from my daughter. I didn’t know if I could leave them outside all winter, so brought them inside, kept them on the floor near the back door, and watered occasionally. I probably forgot to water them more often than not. They all died! So disappointing!
Guess I will try again this year. Now I have a proper propagating thingamajig that my son-in-law made. I hope this year I will have success.
Thanks for all you do, for all of your videos and emails full of great information, and for showing people how they can make money right from their own driveway, even in a lousy economy.
AND… I think your miniature donkeys are really cute!
Sincerely, Cheryl in Maine
Hi, Mike I love your wesite thanks for all the hard work you do showing us and all the great tips. About five years I got seeds under three old katsura trees and took home and about 2 weeks later I had 25 baby trees I gave away to family and friends they all love them a have 6 in my yard but one of the big ones has a slit about 2 in. a the bottom what should I do to help it before winter. Thanks, Kristin exton,pa. ps. next time a find the seeds mabe I will make some$$$.
Mike,
This was a really good Monday video. I liked hearing the list of some of the plants you chose to make cuttings from. The info on over-wintering cuttings was really good. I also like what I saw of your cutting bed. It looks like a great design. Could you do a video just on just the basics of how your bed was built focusing in on the white pipes, the wooden slats used for shade and how you set up your watering? I think that would be great information for us to have. Thanks.
Leond,
In my Backyard Growing System, http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm, one of the videos is all about building those cuttings beds. In detail. I’ll have more on this in the future, but to be perfectly honest with you, if you want to grow and sell plants for profit and you don’t buy my system, you are hurting yourself a great deal. My system is packed with all of the information you need, much of what I never share online.
I have many burning bush cuttings many different evergreens and flowering bushes.i just started it but hope to sell many next year.i get all my cuttings from different bushes in are landscape. I dont have many bushes but hope to buy more.since i am only 11 i dont have that much money so been on a buget.so some help of how to start would be nice.
Thanks Mike
Hi Owen, one of the ways we got some free cuttings starting out is to ask our neighbors if we can trim their plants. Also, if you look at craiglist, you can sometimes find plant pots real cheap to get started with. Look up a place on line, that makes pine bark mulch that is close to you, and go buy fine (dime sized pieces) pine bark mulch by the bag from them. We buy it for >50 cents for a two cubic foot bag. Also go find a place you can dig up good black/rich dirt and mix your pots half pine bark, half dirt. What ever you do, dont take anything without asking, most people will be glad to help you if you ask first. To make some extra money, maybe try to do yard work etc for your neighbors. What ever you do, dont give up, it sounds like you have a good thing started!
I highly recommend that anybody interested in doing this for profit get my system. There are so many things that if you know them before you start, you’ll save yourself a great deal of energy and wasted time. Trust me, it’s easy to get started in the wrong direction.
Mike, I plan to leave my cuttings in the propagation boxes over the winter and just give them some water from time to time. Do you think they will be ok that way? What I have done is took clear plastic totes with sand and put them inside a wood frame and used old windows as the top for the boxes. The cuttings I took this spring are looking great, I just don’t have room in the growing beds to move them out of the propagation boxes, so plan to leave them there for the winter. Thanks Natalie
Mike,
Just wondering what are you sticking these into? Just Sand? Is there anything else in it?
Thanks
Stephanie, just sand, nothing at all added to it.
Love this! Thank you for what you do!
We have clay soil with poor dranige do you think we should stay with the above ground style cutting bed so it can get more dranige?
Lorraine, absolutely stay above the clay. You can make the bed 6 or 8 inched deep and your cuttings should be fine. If you want to add additional winter protection for the raised beds you can put a mini hoop house over them for the winter. you must use white plastic, not clear. More about that here; http://www.freeplants.com/how-to-build-a-hoop-house.htm
OH YES! Every day above the clay is a good day!
Mike, I read the article about how to build the hoop houses ,,, just 1 question; how do you provide the needed moisture during the winter months?
Thanks
Mike
With a low structure like a mini hoop house, http://www.freeplants.com/how-to-build-a-hoop-house.htm, just make sure the plants are plenty moist to wet before you cover them and they should be fine. Since the structure is low there is a lot less air and it’s easier to keep the humidity up.
They’re messing up your site design Mike. The current color scheme and design makes it look more like a lady’s handbag site than a site about gardening.
Steve,
I appreciate you comments and we are working on site design and testing different color schemes etc.
O decided to try something different! I cut the bottom out of 2, 5-gal plastic buckets, dug 2 holes about 3″ deep and sunk them in the ground to keep them stable. These were placed in the shade of some pine trees. I then filled them about 1/2 way with play sand. I then stuck many cuttings of variegated elderberry (Sambucus) on July 5th. All but about 4 rooted and put on new top growth and are looking great. Now the question is how to overwinter them??? Not sure at this point, but I’ll dream up something and see how the experiment works out next spring 🙂
Keep up the good work, Mike…..
Here in the Low Country, we’re being told this is going to be a rather severe winter–thank goodness!
I have to store most of my potted plants in the garage and still lose a few. How do I protect them best here near Charleston, SC?
I don’t like the idea of storing plants in a building it’s too dry yet still cold. They would be much happier outside, placed in a protected area, packed in tightly and maybe some mulch around the pots and mouse bait. The mice will eat your plants if you make it too cozy for them and they nest among the plants.
Mike,
Have had some cuttings (lilac & Chinese Wisteria) in sand , in a plastic pan set inside a white garbage for aprox. 1 1/2 months. I recently checked them and they are doing nicely, still green and vibrant, but how do I know if they have taken root? Should I just pull one up? Has this been enough time to root? I have several other pans filled with cuttings also and they seem to be doing fine.
Thanks Mike!
Dave, I am not Mike, but if you tug on them and they resist, then they probably have a good root system on them. Hope this is helpful.
Mike,
Can I propagate Redbud, Bald Cyprus and Dawn Redwood trees by cutting and sticking them like all the other plants.
Thanks Mike
Hi Mike,
I just discovered your site today. Don’t know much about you, and saw your Mondays with Mike from 9/4/13.
I don’t think Wintering my cuttings here in Minnesota, would not survive? Any suggestions?
Thank you, John
John,
In your zone if you keep them as close to the ground as possible then cover with white, not clear plastic, they should be fine.