I used to be frightened of taking cuttings and worry that my knife wasn’t razor sharp and then get confused about how many leaf joints I was supposed to bury beneath the soil and how many should appear above it. The result was that I didn’t do any cuttings at all. Now I am more carefree about it. Even if only one works, I’m up on previous years.
I use a sharp knife, yes, and cut a convenient stem (preferably one without any flowers) a little way—maybe 1-2cm or so—beneath a leaf joint. I trim off most of the leaves (and any flowers) so that the energy of the cutting will go down into forming roots rather than growing leaves or flowers (that comes later). Than I stick that cut off stem into a pot of root powder and bung it in a pot of compost mixed with perlite or grit. You don’t want the compost to stay soggy and rot your delicately forming little roots, so anything that helps drain the compost is good to use. I water just a little bit every now and then. I keep them in the greenhouse, but put them anywhere where they can get as much light as possible and where the temperature is consistent and they’ll be fine.They can take the cold, but not a frost.
