Propagate Plants from Cuttings – 4 Minute Guide to Clones and Cloning

If you’re interested in how to Propagating and growing a kaffir lime tree from cuttings is actually simple and easy.

Nature is so cool! It’s so easy to grow one plant and from that plant’s seeds or stalks, to propagate an endless supply of more. Plant propagation can produce an endless supply of free plants cloned from parent plants.

Have you heard of the exotic Kaffir Lime tree? You can see it pictured in the cover image. Sometimes called a Thai Lime Tree, the Kaffir lime plant has thick bumpy-skinned limes that are often used in Thai curries. Interestingly, it’s the tangy citrus flavored leaves and tart skin of the kaffir lime that is used in Thai cooking.

Kaffir lime is a great choice for indoor container gardening.

Not Bergamot

Easy to grow in containers indoors, The Kaffir Lime, is sometimes called, Makrut Lime or Mauritius Papeda, and sometimes confused with Bergamot.^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime^[2]https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/lime/care-of-your-kaffir-lime-tree.htm

However, bergamot, is a different plant and seems harder to come by here in North America. Reported to have medicinal properties bergamot is worth looking into as well. ^[3]https://www.tradewindsfruit.com/content/bergamot.htm^[4]https://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-bergamot-orange.html^[5]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345801/

Easy to Grow

Anyway, back to Kaffir Lime, it’s very easy to grow and propagate from cuttings, which is a much faster process than trying to grow them from seeds. You can actually buy Kaffir lime plants on Amazon, and make many more or your own!

The exotic kaffir lime plant is easy to grow in pots from cuttings.

Growing Kaffir Lime Trees

With most plants, I usually have luck just placing cuttings in water, and once they’re rooting, planting them directly into a good potting soil medium. It’s super cool how cuttings are free and you can create an infinite number of new plants from your clippings… and then from those plants as they grow.

But if that’s not working for you, this video features Clonex, which looks like a more sure way to get your cuttings to root. They’re also using grow lights, which is an option if you don’t have a southern facing window. We use windows and sunlight whenever possible, but have a few grow lights for back up.

How to Clone a Kaffir Lime Tree

Cloning plants is actually very easy. This video produced by Just4Growers.com, is a great resource for everything to do with growing plants.^[6]https://www.just4growers.com/

Next up is pruning tips.

How to Prune Plants

Okay! Watch this two minute video for quick tips to get you quickly up to speed on best pruning tips. And… learn an interesting tidbit about the fastest growing commercially forested tree in North America.

Materials Needed for Pruning

• A visual gardening guide (or an image of the plant, tree or shrub’s optimum shape)
• Gardening Gloves
• Shears or Clippers
• Loppers
• Saw or Chainsaw

Pruning Steps

1. Prune to plant’s original shape.
2. Remove dead flowers to encourage continual flowering.
3. Prune away dead or damaged branches.
4. Cut at a 45-degree angle to prevent water from collecting in the cut making it vulnerable to fungus and disease
5. Find a main branch; then find the nearest side branch that grows upward. Cut the main branch just above the side branch.
6. Prune evergreen shrubs in fall or winter, and again in spring, once new growth has begun, to control height.
7. Prune evergreen shrubs with needles carefully in spring. Avoid pruning below new growth, or a branch may never grow back.
8. Prune landscape shrubs 8 to 12 inches away from the walls of your home.
   SOURCE: Howcast

Meyers Lemon Trees

Another option in growing citrus trees indoors and outdoors is Meyers Lemon trees. We’re in our second year of growing one and it’s doing so well we’ve added another. Currently, our smallest tree has around 14 lemons growing on it!

Let’s keep on growing!