Cutting (plant)

A magnolia stem cutting has been coaxed to form new roots, and is now a complete plant.
Cutting from Coleus scutellarioides – after 14 days the roots are 6 cm long.

A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.[1]

Propagating plants from cuttings is an ancient form of cloning.[2][3] There are several advantages of cuttings, mainly that the produced offspring are practically clones of their parent plants. If a plant has favorable traits, it can continue to pass down its advantageous genetic information to its offspring. This is especially economically advantageous as it allows commercial growers to clone a certain plant to ensure consistency throughout their crops.[4]

  1. ^ Propagation by Cuttings, Layering and Division Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture; and Elizabeth Ball, Program Support Technician; Virginia Tech
  2. ^ McKey, Doyle; Elias, Marianne; Pujol, Benoît; Duputié, Anne (April 2010). "The evolutionary ecology of clonally propagated domesticated plants". New Phytologist. 186 (2): 318–332. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03210.x. PMID 20202131. S2CID 11637652.
  3. ^ Reproduction and cloning BBC 2014
  4. ^ Hussey, G. (1978). "The application of tissue culture to the vegetative propagation of plants". Science Progress (1933- ). 65 (258): 185–208. JSTOR 43420451.