How to Take Sweet Pea Cuttings

Sweet pea cuttings can be taken from young sweet pea seedlings. If you only have a few plants of a variety and want more but have run out of seed, then it is relatively easy to take cuttings and get them to root and grow.

You will need some young sweet pea seedlings, jar of water, sharp, clean scissors and some rooting hormone. I use Dip n' Grow liquid rooting hormone. I have tried rooting cuttings without the hormone, but found that the results aren't as good.

1: Choose Your Sweet Pea Seedlings

These sweet pea seedlings are about 2 months old and ready to be planted out. Before I do,I am going to take a 5 inch cutting from each plant which will easily regenerate and quickly grow more side shoots to replace the ones I remove.

2: Make Your Cuttings

Using a sharp pair of clean scissors, cut a 5 inch piece of stem just above a pair of leaves. Dip the cutting into the Dip n' Grow liquid rooting hormone solution for a few seconds.

3: Place Cuttings In Water

Place your sweet pea cuttings in a jar of clean water and then place them on a warm windowsill that receives indirect sunlight. I like to place them on my kitchen windowsill so I can keep an eye on them.

4: Wait Awhile!

Roots will start to develop in about 2 weeks. The roots in the photo only took 11 days to develop! Once you see roots like this, you can plant them into a good potting mix. I then place my rooted cuttings in an unheated greenhouse.

5: New Growth

After 6 weeks or so, the new growth is evident on the cuttings and these are almost ready to plant out.

Final Thoughts: The 'mother' plants from which I took the cuttings were started in the autumn (November). Cuttings were taken towards the end of January with roots developing at the beginning of February. New growth on the cuttings was enough to plant out towards the end of March.