How to propagate Gardenia

Use healthy, non-flowering current growth: softwood cuttings in late winter or early spring and semi-ripe or heel cuttings in summer. Vigorous new shoots also suit midsummer work.

At home, use softwood, greenwood or semi-hardwood cuttings. Heel cuttings are often especially successful. Layering, seed and grafting also work for the species, but they are not the same as a home cutting.

Root cuttings in a warm, bright filtered and humid environment using peat-free acidic plant mix that stays damp without becoming waterlogged. Grown-on gardenias need the same acidic mix indoors.

Select a healthy shoot, make a clean cut below a node, remove lower leaves and place the cutting in the rooting mix. For semi-ripe material, use a 10–15 cm (4⁠–⁠6 in) cutting and clean tools. Keep the leaf area from touching the mix.

Move a rooted cutting into its own pot of peat-free acidic plant mix. New stable growth is a useful establishment sign after potting.

Once rooted, move each cutting into its own acidic plant mix and keep it in warm, humid, bright filtered conditions while it settles. Do not treat a new cutting as a flowering adult plant.

Use healthy material and sharp, clean tools for the cutting work.