The way I understand it, any cut at the top should be sloping to shed rain and avoid rot.
The bottom is cut horizontally, I think, to make sure that the cambium (the layer of unspecialised cells that will form the roots) is exposed close to the node (where the bud is) cos they're more likely to root from there. I think.
Cutting the bottom horizontally also distinguishes it from the top so the cutting gets planted the right way up! (Although on blackcurrants it's pretty obvious anyway).
Anyway, ask Hosta. He knows all about damaging bottoms.
That's true, if you turn one pruning into more than one cutting.
Normally I'd make the pruning cut on the slant as usual, and just above a node. Then on any prunings I was going to propagate I'd make a second, horizontal, cut just below the bottom node remaining - or higher up if the stem was damaged or bent - and discard the short internode.
But blackcurrants root so easily that it probably doesn't matter!
Well, I've done them now, so fingers crossed that the cuttings root and grow.
My next task is hydrangeas. We live in a very mild climate so can I take cuttings of these now and if so do I follow the same rules as for blackcurrants? Incidentally I am putting all my potted cuttings in a cold frame which I open for daylight hours but will probably keep closed during the colder months.
I know nothing about hydrangeas - they're not edible!
Absolutely no need to put blackcurrant cuttings in a cold frame. Let them freeze - it will do them no harm. Mine just go at the end of a bed and stay there for a year till they're ready to move to the fruit cage or wherever.
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I always believed that cuttings should be taken at an angle not straight across or is just for pruning that they should be done at an angle?
The way I understand it, any cut at the top should be sloping to shed rain and avoid rot.
The bottom is cut horizontally, I think, to make sure that the cambium (the layer of unspecialised cells that will form the roots) is exposed close to the node (where the bud is) cos they're more likely to root from there. I think.
Cutting the bottom horizontally also distinguishes it from the top so the cutting gets planted the right way up! (Although on blackcurrants it's pretty obvious anyway).
Anyway, ask Hosta. He knows all about damaging bottoms.
That's true, if you turn one pruning into more than one cutting.
Normally I'd make the pruning cut on the slant as usual, and just above a node. Then on any prunings I was going to propagate I'd make a second, horizontal, cut just below the bottom node remaining - or higher up if the stem was damaged or bent - and discard the short internode.
But blackcurrants root so easily that it probably doesn't matter!
Well, I've done them now, so fingers crossed that the cuttings root and grow.
My next task is hydrangeas. We live in a very mild climate so can I take cuttings of these now and if so do I follow the same rules as for blackcurrants? Incidentally I am putting all my potted cuttings in a cold frame which I open for daylight hours but will probably keep closed during the colder months.
I know nothing about hydrangeas - they're not edible!
Absolutely no need to put blackcurrant cuttings in a cold frame. Let them freeze - it will do them no harm. Mine just go at the end of a bed and stay there for a year till they're ready to move to the fruit cage or wherever.