Anyone know how to root clematis cuttings?

What do you do to start clematis from cuttings?
What part do I cut?
When I get to feeling better;
I'm thinking of going on a clematis roundup.
I know a few people that have clematis plants,
my sister being one,of course I'll ask first.lol.
I really need some clematis to grow up through my roses that,
I'm trying to root.lol.Thanks,Jody

I started some of my clematis last year, I just took the pieces I had cut off in a trim & stripped all the leaves but the top ones, and stuck in damp vermiculite with a plastic bag over the top. I put them on the porch with northern exposure & forgot about them. It took a while but I had about 25% survive. Probably not good odds, but considering I did not expect ANY to survive, I was pleased.
Oh, I should add that I made my cuts under a leaf node & I made sure 1 to 2 leaf nodes were buried.

Hope that helps.
Donna

Donna thanks,did you just cut the tips off to root or will other parts farther down the stems root.Thanks,Jody

I do not recall doing just tips. I was just pruning back stray vines & cut them into sections that would fit into a container with a bag over it.

Stiff green growth is best, not floppy or woody.
-T

Jody, since you may be able to start with your sister, here's a guaranteed way to have clematis of your own by the end of July. The technique is called layering and I do it in pots rather than in-ground.

Catch her before she cuts them back and detach one of the vines from the trellis. Or once she has new growth, let one vine trail.
Get some 1gal pots and rocks about as big as your fist or half/bricks.

If it's last years vine that you take down, put a pot of potting soil under every other node. You'll bury the node under about 1" of potting soil then put the rock or brick on top. The rock keeps them buried and also reduces evaporation and keeps the new roots cool and moist. You'll want to water the pots just like other container plants. The nodes between pots that are not buried will be vining and blooming. When you discover roots at the drainage holes, you can cut the pots loose. You'll cut the vine close to the rock on the side closest to the mother plant. Then each pot will have a vine started and growing in the right direction.

I had layered many things in ground before but you have to wait a year so the roots are established. Last year I started with a wayward Jack Manii on the corner of the garage and as the vine lengthened, just kept adding another pot. I had 7 of them following the vine around. Around the 1st week of Jul I was going to move one and it was STUCK. It already had roots out the bottom and into the ground. Others were at the drainage holes. In 2005 I'm starting a TON of clematis. They are simply too easy to root like this and boy, did they give me trading power at the summer and fall plant swaps. No one had ever brought clematis to the swaps. Besides the one up front, I did a Nelly Moser out back and had a total of 15 last summer.

Good luck!
blaine

Blain,
Thanks for all the great information on layering.I'll give it a go.That's if sister who's place has to look perfect want's pots under her clematis.She'd probably say No.They are neat freaks.heehee
Jody

Just make those pots look formal.
Grow petunias out the front half and "root" "Clementines" out the backside.
I ask a good gardner from east NC if she grew Clemantis. She said no. When I saw her yard, she had 3 or 4. She said they were Clemantys or Clementines, LOL

To funny.lol.

LOL - A Clematis By Any Other Name ....would be just as gorgeous!

Great info-- thanks!!!

Youre welcome and it's not too late to start some pots except I'd protect them this winter. I just cut loose my first 2 and started 2 more. Messed up 3 though - 1 I forgot about on a side that got all covered and never got watered. The other 2 - stupid ants moved in like a condo. The potting soil was piled up about 4" above the rim of the pot. But I figured it was better for them to nest in those pots than excavating one of the permanent plants. They did it to a sedge and a clump of asiatic lilies last year.

Here's something that Pirl posted on a clematis trading thread when I asked for tips on rooting them:

"There are many sites for rooting Clematis. Kaleem (gumlla, Pakistan) has sent me at least five sites for it. This is what it seems to boil down to:

You don't want to try to grow the soft growing end or a hard shoot.

Take a cutting about a foot long and remove the top 7 to 8".

You want to be left with a piece that begins just below a node, then goes up and has a leaf on the left and the right. Cut one leaf off. Now you have a stem with a node and one leaf. This goes in the damp potting mix and you can use hormone powder. It should have bottom heat and a clothes hanger covered with plastic to encase the entire thing.

I'd still lift it daily or put a few pin holes in the plastic or plastic wrap - I'd be fearful of it going moldy.

They say it can take months to root and the only way to test is to tug on it but once again, you could rip off tender tiny hair roots. I'd wait a few months and gently lift it with a spoon to check.

You can take several cutting BUT THE LEAVES CANNOT TOUCH EACH OTHER.

Kaleem gave me the instruction hyperlinks but without copying his entire email I can't seem to reproduce the links. I can email Kaleem's email to anyone who wants all these sites. Kaleem would like me to root one of every clematis I have but I still cannot do it because of sciatica and the pain of standing still, in one spot, for a while, to take cuttings.

The first 2 pots I've cut loose.
They were set the end of May I think but had been covered by a bunch of other stuff and didnt' get as much water as I normally put on them and were shaded pretty heavily as well.

roots on the red pot before repotting in that big pot behind it.

roots on the green pot.
These first two I have potted into bigger pots and will winter over in them, sunk into the ground this fall and saved for next springs plant swap. (good swapping power ;) )
(whoops, forgot to attach pic)

This message was edited Jul 3, 2005 6:41 AM

#2

Layering them seems easy, just takes awhile. Maybe I'll get one and try that too. Thanks, Suzi :)