Ok, so after a series of failures taking cuttings through poor control of conditions, over heating, low humidity etc... I finally had a batch that was really successful.
This evening I just potted up:
32 red currant bushes, from 33 cuttings taken. They were all stuck in one large pot, filled with ordinary garden soil and left out doors with minimal attention (an occasional
water in summer) from early winter to the summer. The cuttings were all taken from one dormant redcurrant bush.
3 roses from 6 cuttings - these are of an old variety from the garden. Same as above, dormant stuck in a pot an neglected.
10 buddleia from 12 - as above
4 forsythia from 6 - as above
And I still have to pot up about a dozen black currants.
We have far more plants than we want at present, so will be making gifts of some and planting up the best few for ourselves. Berry bushes cost £10 for 3 plants typically in garden centres here, so I'm really pleased with the outcome. By comparison my last batch of roses yielded 4 plants from about 80 cuttings in what was supposed to be a perfect mix of sand/potting mix and kept humid and monitored!
I would definitely encourage people to try their own propagation - but keep it simple, do it over winter during dormancy and leave them outdoors. This doesn't work for everything, but you will have
enough success for it to be worthwhile.
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