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INTRODUCTION 

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.

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Stem Cutting
Definition - What does Stem Cutting mean?
In horticulture, stem cutting refers to a process used during vegetative propagation
whereby a piece of the plant’s stem is rooted into a growth medium such as moist
soil. Consequently, the stem cutting will thrive and grow as a new plant, which is
entirely independent of the mother plant provided that the conditions are suitable.
Stem cuttings produce fresh roots, and once this happens, the stem cuttings are no
longer cuttings, but new, young plants. Because their genetics are the exact same as
the parent plant in which they are taken, plants grown from stem cuttings are also
called clones. The entire process is called cloning.

Cuttings: softwood
Softwood cuttings can be used to propagate a wide range of 
perennials and deciduous shrubs, as well as some trees, in 
spring and early summer. Material is taken from the soft and 
flexible young shoot tips, which root readily. 

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Cuttings: hardwood 
Hardwood cuttings provide an easy and reliable method of 
propagating a range of deciduous climbers, trees and shrubs, 
and as bonus, they are taken from mid-autumn until late winter 
when more time is usually available to the gardener. Some 
evergreen plants, hollies for example, can also be taken at the 
same time of year as other hardwood cuttings. 

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Root Cuttings​
-Roots of young stock plants (juvenile)
-Taken during winter and early spring
before new growth starts
carbohydrates stored in root essential
-Stick root cuttings with the proximal end upward

-Plants that can be propagated by root cuttings

coralberry (​Acantopanax​ ​pentaphyllus​)
trumpet vine (​Campsis​ ​ranicans​)
flowering quince (​Chaenomeles​ ​speciosa​)
bleeding heart (​Dicentra​ ​species​)
fig (​Ficus​ ​carica​)
apple (​Malus​ species)
phlox (​Phlox​ species)
white poplar ( ​Populus​ ​alba​)
sumac (​Rhus​ spp.)
black locust (​Robinia​ ​pseudoacacia​)
rose (​Rosa​ spp.)
sassafras (​Sassafras​ ​albidum)​
lilac (​Syringa​ ​vugaris​)

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Leaf Cuttings

-Adventitious roots and shoots formed at the base of leaf blade, leaf petiole
-The original leaf does not become part of the new plant
-Examples
​Sansevieria​ ---- new plant forms at the base
​S. trifasciata​ ​laurenti​ -varigated sansevieria
periclinal chimera- use a division method
​Begonia​ ​rex​ ---- leaf sections containing vein
​African violet​ ---leaf with petiole

​Kalanchoe​ ​pinnata​ (​Bryophyllum​ ​pinnata​) - offsets

C. Leaf-bud Cuttings

-Consists of a leaf blade, petiole, an axillary bud on a node

-Single-eye or double-eye nodal cuttings

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 -Examples
black raspberry (​Rubus​ ​occidentalis​), blackberry, bosenberry, lemon,
camellia, jojoba