On Sep 19, 5:02*pm, "vsop" wrote:
In last nights GW show a "leading expert" on cuttings gave a demonstration
on the way she took cuttings.
What surprised me was that she said to always cut through the leaf node.
Yet all previous advice I have ever seen and read on this matter has always
advised to cut just under the node ?
She had very high success rates whereas my propagation results have always
been quite hit-and-miss over the years,
What do others think of her technique ? Did I hear her incorrectly ?

It's a bit simplistic recommending just one method of preparing
cuttings for all plants, because root formation can be initiated in
many ways depending upon the plant. Most soft cuttings will root
successfully if the cutting is taken with the node cut through so in a
way, she is correct. However, many plants will root as easily or even
faster from internodal cuttings and others require stem wounding to
nodal cuttings or even split nodal cuttings. It all depends upon the
plant you are propagating, the type of material being used (soft, semi-
ripe or hardwood) and the time of year the cutting is being taken.

Personally, when I'm taking nodal cuttings I always 'nick' the side of
the node, which is a variation of cutting right through the node.
When taking hardwood, internodal cuttings I wound the internode.
Depending upon the plant, I may use a combination of the above two
when taking semi-mature cuttings. It all depends upon what I'm
propping and when . I rarely get many failures, but then I've been
propagating plants for a very long time and have developed techniques
that work best for me and the composts that I use.

The advice given was not incorrect, but the technique demonstrated is
not necessarily the best for all plants at all times. HTH