Rooting Cuttings: Which Plants Root Easily and Best Methods

A Mississippi gardener listed numerous plants (vinca, impatiens, sweet potato vine, red salvia, hibiscus, mum, rose, gladiolus, zinnia, carnation, lantana, basil, tickweed, blanket flower, purple coneflower, elephant ear, coleus, ivy) and asked which can be rooted from cuttings and the best method.

Rooting Guide

Tom provided a detailed breakdown: vinca and impatiens root from cuttings (impatiens rot easily); sweet potato vine roots easily in water; red salvia from seed; hibiscus from seed or cutting; rose from cutting; mum from seed or cutting; gladiolus from corms (not cuttings); zinnia from seed; carnation from seed; lantana from cutting or seed; basil from cutting or seed; tickweed from seed; blanket flower from seed; coneflower from seed (poor transplant due to taproot); coleus roots in water; ivy from cuttings.

Follow-Up: Gladiolus Corms vs. Rooting Powder

When asked about using water vs. rooting powder and how to propagate gladiolus, Tom clarified that water works for coleus and sweet potato, but rooting powder is generally better. Gladiolus cannot be rooted from cuttings; they produce cormels (small offsets) around the mother corm each autumn. After foliage dies back, lift corms, separate cormels, and replant. Larger corms may be spent.

Matching propagation method to plant type ensures success.