I know what a clematis is but have never grown them, let alone tried to start them from cuttings. Daughter just came home from Portland, Or. with a handful of stems/cuttings she pulled off someones plant, with permission. I didn't realize the cuttings became woody so near the ends. I usually, immediately cut back to about a 6 or 8 inches of soft wood, at a leaf section, cut off the leaves and put them in water to root. I hear about "letting the cut ends" harden off before rooting. Should I use rootone and potting soil I have no idea how to do this. Any help would be gratly appreciated. If I blow this she will NOT be HAPPY with me. barb
Hey Barbara: Here's a really good article from Virginia Tech about different means of propagation. In my own experience, the woodier it is, the trickier it is to root. If it was me, I'd take the youngest, greenest stem you can find, and take the last or terminal end with at least a couple of nodes, remove all the leaves except at the tip, and stick the bottom two nodes into a very light, potting soil/vermiculite/perlite mix. the bottom part should be cut just below a node. Further down the stem I'd make a few more cuttings with at least one node below the soil and at least one above. (make sure you know which way is up and orient them properly). Then I'd stick all of your little cuttings in a pot, water well, drain, and then seal the whole thing in a big ziploc bag, and leave it for a while. After a couple weeks, I'd open it and look carefully to see if you have any roots. If not, then mist or water lightly and seal up again (once you open the bag, you lose your moisture). Then look again in 2 more weeks, etc. etc., until you have some roots. As long as the your little cuttings look healthy and turgid I'd leave them alone, because they're still alive. In my opinion it's difficult or impossible with this plant to root it with only a leaf. I hope this helps
Instead of taking cuttings from Clematis, try to propagate with air-layering method. I know that method gives good results.
