How to Start a Mandevilla Plant From Cuttings

Mandevilla flowers bloom all season long.

A vining tropical plant, mandevilla (Mandevilla spp.) grows up to 20 feet long under ideal conditions. It produces white, pink, red or yellow, fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers all summer long. Although frequently treated as an annual in temperate zones, mandevilla can be potted up and overwintered indoors at temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Things You'll Need

• Plant clippers
• Powdered rooting hormone
• 2-inch pots
• Peat moss
• Perlite
• Large plastic bag

Instructions

1. Take cuttings in late fall, before frost. Cut woody stems 4 to 6 inches long. Include a heel at the basal end of the cutting. A heel includes a trailing piece of bark that rips away from the mother plant when the cutting is taken.

2. Dip the basal end of the cutting, the end with the heel, into powdered rooting hormone. Blow off the excess.

3. Insert cuttings into the growing medium in 2-inch pots filled with equal parts peat moss and perlite.

4. Water thoroughly and allow excess water to drain out the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots.

5. Place pots into a large, clear plastic bag, but do not seal the opening. Set bagged cuttings in a warm place, above 70 degrees, in bright, indirect light. Roots will form in approximately six to 12 weeks.

References

• Clemson University Extension; The Grapevine, October/November 2009
• University of Florida Extension; Propagation of Woody Ornamentals by Cuttings; David F. Hamilton, et al.; 2003

Resources

• Clemson University Extension; Mandevilla; Marjan Kluepfel, et al.; 1999