# Cutting and starting elderberries - Sambucus spp. (nigra and canadensis)
LeoEC - 2022-02-27

Now is about the right time where I live to go outside and make cuttings of woody plants to propagate (clone) by rooting.  I have done this before, carefully, after reading up on the exact timing and process.  I was quite successful in the past.  However, this time I'm flying by the seat of my pants; leveraging my memory ;)

How do I know it is the right time?  Well, it is winter and it is near the end.  I want the outside temperatures to have been below freezing for several weeks before I make my cuttings to ensure the plant is dormant.  Then, I'd rather take the cuttings late in the winter while the outside temperatures are still below freezing.  By taking them later in the winter I don't have to provide indoor growing space for the plants as long.  Don't get me wrong -- I like plants and I enjoy giving them what they need.  However, even on my small scale I expect to have 500 plants in my care by the time the ground is warm enough to plant everything.  I don't need to add to that load.

The plants I'm making copies of now are:
 * Elderberry - Sambucus canadensis (p o s s i b l y naturalized Sambucus nigra).  That's way I say "Sambucus spp. because it is probably multiple species or even a hybrid but they are interchangeable in medicinal use.  The bush I made these cuttings from was itself grown from cuttings I found growing "wild" near my house a few years ago.  They have grown amazingly well in my field that last few years.
 * Grapes - For fun and extracting oil from their seeds
 * Blueberries - Blueberries are loaded with goodness

I am pretty confident that my method will work well for the elderberries.  I'm a little less confident on this approach being fully supportive of the grapes and blueberries.  The elderberries are the big deal for me anyway.  I just threw in the grapes and blueberries because, I like them and I could.

I'm starting a farm business growing medicinal herbs and the elderberries are a long term investment -- they will take a few years to produce any serious flowers and berries.  But they are the centerpiece of this work.  I got about 100 cuttings in dirt today.  about 70 of them I used rooting hormone on and the other 30ish I did not.  I think they'll both root pretty well but I always like to experiment and I'm depending on a high success rate for these elderberry bushes.

Next time I'll write a little about how I make the cuttings and prepare them for rooting.