The growth should be soft and green, slightly hard but not woody – it needs to be this year’s growth, not woody old growth. Remove the lower leaves from your cutting. Dip the cut ends into rooting hormone or powder. Now you have a choice of how to root your cuttings: in compost or in water.
Cover the pot either with a clear plastic bag (make sure this doesn’t touch the cuttings – use plant sticks to support the bag away from the stem if necessary) or an inverted clear plastic bottle with the spout cut off to make a mini greenhouse. Keep the potted cutting moist and away from direct sun – it should root in about a month or two.
Put about 2 inches (5. 1 cm) of water into a glass or plastic container, put the cutting into its container and leave in a bright place out of direct sunlight. You should cover it with a clear plastic bag and mist the cutting daily with water from a spray can. Although it’s recommended that you take several cuttings to allow for failure, it’s important that you put each cutting into a separate container, otherwise bacteria tends to build up.
It’s best to use rainwater if possible. If you don’t gather rainwater in your garden, and don’t have access to a stream, you could try standing tap water in a pitcher for 24 hours. This will get rid of some of the chlorine in the tap water. This isn’t essential however, and your cuttings may be fine in tap water. After you see roots of about 1 or 2 inches (2. 5 or 5. 1 cm) length, plant them into moist compost. Again, keep them out of direct sun for a few months until the roots are a bit more established.
See if there are any seedlings waiting for you that you can dig up and replant elsewhere. This will save you the effort of growing the plant from scratch. When you do this, you might like to hoe or pull out the other seedlings so that your garden isn’t overrun with Rose of Sharon!
Some gardeners plant the seeds outdoors in the fall and let them get going over the winter. Other gardeners will start the seeds off indoors about a month before they expect the last frost.
To do this, remove any remnants of the previous year’s mulch layer. If it has been dry recently, water the area. Apply 3–4 inches (7. 6–10. 2 cm) of a mulch material such as well-rotted manure, compost or leaf mold. Place this under the leaf canopy (the entire area covered by the shrub’s foliage).
Cut each branch so it has only 3 buds on it – this encourages larger blooms. Pruning time is also good time to apply a balanced slow release (granular) or liquid fertilizer.
Your Rose of Sharon is susceptible to being over fertilized but is pretty resistant to being under fertilized so don’t worry too much about using chemical fertilizers – especially if you are mulching. Annual mulching will provide good soil improvement so you don’t need to worry too much about chemical fertilizers.
