Category: Grow Your Own Food

Citrus tree cuttings are one of the easiest ways to clone a fruit tree. Just by taking a good size cutting and getting it to strike, you can have a cloned tree very quickly. Here’s one of the ways I duplicate citrus trees in my garden. 

In Australia I do it right after fruiting and the warmth of summer is perfect for striking the cuttings in a humid container.  

Gather your cuttings

Figure out which tree you’d like to duplicate and choose the right time to take some thicker cuttings from it. A good time is when it’s not fruiting or flowering. 

Cuttings that have a higher probability of survival are, 30cm / 12″ or longer and as thick as a pencil or thicker. The thicker and longer the better chance of it surviving. I get pretty much 100% strike rate with cuttings that are thumb thickness. 

Preserve or plant

Plant your cuttings immediately (to strike them) or you can put them away to keep them for later. To preserve them, put them in a zip lock bag and put them in the fridge. 

Plant in a container

To root your cuttings, plant them in a clear container with a removable lid. I’ve tested coco peat and soil and a mix seems to work well. But just soil will work fine. 

Plant your cuttings at 45 degrees. 

Keep them in the shade

Put the lid back on and keep the container in the shade. The soil needs to be slightly moist. Too wet and the cuttings will go mouldy and start to rot. 

Open the lid and air them out every few days. A slightly loose fitting lid helps with trapping the humidity in but also letting oxygen in. 

Wait till roots sprout

After a few weeks, new leaves will sprout from the cuttings. The roots won’t come until a month or two later. Once they have roots 10cm / 4″ long (you might be able to see from the side of the container), then they’re ready to plant out.

Plant your tree

Carefully remove the cuttings and plant your lil trees in pots. The roots are fragile so be careful. Keep them moist and in the shade for a couple of months. Then they should be ready to plant outside. 

You’ve done it! You made yourself a whole bunch of new citrus trees. Not long before you’ll be enjoying the fresh fruit!

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How I grow stone fruit trees from seed. There’s a huge variety of stone fruit and if you’re lucky to live in a climate where they grown, they’re so delicious and amazing trees to have in the garden. 

Grab your favourite stone fruit

In this case I chose peaches. I love the white peaches in particular. It’s a habit I picked up in Japan where the white peaches are so big, they’re a meal in one. Eat your fruit and save the pit. 

Give it a rinse to get the flesh off, it will be easier to handle.

Hammer time

Grab a hammer (or you can use something else solid – a brick) and hit the pit gently on the seam. It will eventually crack open. Hit it repeatedly but gently. If you hit it too hard you’ll likely smash the soft seed inside. It takes practice. 

Check the quality of your seed. 

Prepare your seed

If the seed looks pale yellow and dried up, it is likely a goner. Your seed needs to be round and firm. Put it into some water for a few hours to rehydrate. 

Plant your seed

last your seed into a pot, a sandy soil seems to be good. 2-3cm or 1″ deep is plenty. Keep the soil moist and put it in the shade. Full sun will likely kill the seed. 

You got peaches!

After a month or so, your seed will germinate and a small seedling will grow. Keep it in the shade and grow it to 40cm or 1ft. Bigger if you’d like. Then plant it in the ground in a sunny position, water it often and mulch the base. 

Put plenty of organic matter in the hold when you plant it. Fruit trees love that. It will take a few years, but eventually you will have grown a beautiful peach tree that bears lots of yummy peaches!

I’ve grown lots of stone fruit trees this way. I have several nectarines growing via this method at the moment. Good luck!

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I love basil, you might too. It’s fresh herby smell and taste in a salad or on pizza is one of the pleasures in life. Let’s face it, the basil from the supermarkets isn’t all that fresh and since it’s been cut, it’s on its way out. Unless you’re lucky enough to have access to potted basil in your supermarket. 

That’s what I always try to have some growing in the garden or near the kitchen window. It grows quickly and you can just take a cutting and start again with a new plant. Here’s an easy method to grow basil in an up cycled plastic bottle, you’ll need a basil seed or two.

Prepare your bottle

Wash your plastic bottle so it’s fairly clean. I remove the label so it’s easier to see the root progress. Then cut the top off with scissors.

Drill the lid

Drill the lid with a 6mm / 1/4″ hole to allow water to seep into your growing medium.

Flip your lid

Flip the lid and place it upside down into your bottle. Use a sharpie or similar marker to mark halfway up the lid as your watermark. 

Plant your basil

Fill your bottle to the water mark and lace some cotton wool or kitchen paper into the lid and plant your basil seed into it. 

Wait for germination

Put your bottle near a window and wait for the magic. Make sure to keep the water level constant and after a week or so, your basil should germinate. 

Plant it out

After a month, you should have a nice little seedling ready to be planted out into a pot. Add some compost tea to the water if you’d like to keep it in near the window. Enjoy!

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Here’s an easy way to keep mint alive so you always have some on hand, even through summer. Mint looooves water, and it’s best if it has access to it daily. It sends runners under the soil and is a hardy herb. 

Who doesn’t love a bit of mint in a spritz or a salad. It’s just the best. 

Grab some mint

Get your hands on some mint. It doesn’t have to be a full plant with roots, a small cutting will do to get started. A neighbour may have some in their garden, or visit your local nursery or supermarket. 

Put it in water

Put your cutting in a jar or glass of water and keep it near a window, not in direct sunlight. 2-3 weeks later it will have plenty of roots. 

Plant your mint

Plant your mint into a soil in a pot once it’s got plenty of roots. Give it a light mulch and plenty of water. Keep it in the shade and the soil moist. 

Harvest your mint

Cut off the top of your mint plant (2-3 nodes) a month or so later once it has some growth. Use it in your fave minty drink 🙂

Start again!

Repeat the process. Take a cutting, put it in water, wait till it roots and plant again. Your main plant will get larger, send out runners and those can be cut off and replanted (or put in water) too. 

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Mulberries are awesome trees because they have so many uses and are real easy to propagate. The cuttings will root if you leave them lying on the ground and they have enough water. 

Here’s a few tips on how to grow your own mulberry trees from a cutting using wax. 

Grab a mulberry cutting

Get yourself a cutting off a healthy tree. You might able to find a tree in a public space in your neighbourhood, a neighbour may have one or you could order online. 

A cutting that’s thicker than a pencil, 30-40 cm or 16 inches or longer is good. The thicker and longer, the better chance of survival. Anything thinner than a pencil may not survive and may need lots of attention. 

Prepare your cutting

Keep your cutting(s) in the shade. Close off the open parts where you cut (not the base) with some wax. I use baybybel cheese wax because we eat the cheese! Put the wax in a jar lid and melt it with a candle or other method. You can just use candle wax too. 

This closes off the open wounds on the cutting so that water doesn’t evaporate the and cutting dries out. 

Plant your cutting

Plant your mulberry cutting in a 10L or 2.5 gal pot. Water it in and mulch it. Any neutral soil that’s a little sandy and has lots of organic matter will suit.

Place your potted cutting in a shady spot to settle and root. 

Leaves will shoot

Wait for a month or so and your first leaves will start to shoot from the cuttings. The cuttings won’t be rooting yet, so keep watering and be patient. I water every couple of days or daily in summer. Keep your pot in the shade. 

You got mulberries!

A few months later your cuttings will be small trees, rooted and producing small berries. The first berries will be small and not really the yummo. Plant your tree in the ground in a place where it has access to water and sun and it will thrive. 

These trees (unless it’s a drwarf version) will grow up to 5m / 16 ft so give them some space. You can trim them aggressively and make more cuttings. 

Enjoy your berries!

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