Can You Grow Cedar Trees from Cuttings?

Yes, you can grow cedar trees from cuttings, and it is one of the most reliable ways to clone a specific cedar variety with known traits like disease resistance, growth habit, or color. While growing from seed is possible, cuttings give you a genetically identical copy of the parent tree in about half the time. This method works well for Eastern Red Cedar, Leyland Cypress (often called cedar), Deodar Cedar, and Blue Atlas Cedar with consistent results when you follow the right timing and technique.

Why Propagate Cedar from Cuttings Instead of Seed?

Cuttings produce trees that are genetically identical to the parent. Seeds collected from a cedar can produce offspring with wildly different characteristics because many cedar species cross-pollinate freely. With cuttings, you preserve features like blue foliage, compact growth, or cold hardiness exactly as they appear on the parent tree. Cuttings also root faster than seeds germinate — most cedar cuttings show roots in 6 to 12 weeks, whereas seeds often require cold stratification for 30 to 90 days before they even sprout.

What Is the Success Rate for Rooting Cedar Cuttings?

Success rates vary by species and technique. Leyland Cypress roots easily with 70 to 90 percent success under good conditions. Eastern Red Cedar usually runs 40 to 60 percent. Deodar Cedar and Blue Atlas Cedar fall somewhere in the middle at 50 to 70 percent. Home growers can expect around 50 percent if they follow the basic steps, while professional propagators push over 80 percent with precise humidity control and bottom heat. Do not get discouraged by early failures — even experienced growers lose cuttings to rot or drying.

When Should You Take Cedar Cuttings?

The best window is late fall through early winter, after the first hard frost but before the ground freezes solid. During this period, cedar trees enter semi-dormancy and their stems contain stored carbohydrates that support rooting without active top growth. Early morning is the ideal time to collect cuttings because stems are fully hydrated. Avoid taking cuttings during a drought, heat wave, or immediately after heavy rain — water-stressed wood roots poorly.

Take cuttings from the current season's growth. You want stems that matured in spring and summer but have not yet turned completely brown and woody. These are called semi-hardwood cuttings. They should bend slightly without snapping, and the bark should not be peeling or corky.

How to Choose and Prepare Cedar Cuttings

Select healthy parent trees that show no signs of disease, pest damage, or drought stress. Cuttings taken from weak trees produce weak roots. Use sharp, sterilized pruners to avoid crushing the stem tissue.

What to look for in a cutting:

Stem length: 4 to 6 inches
Stem diameter: about the thickness of a pencil
Needles: dark green and firm, not yellowing or brittle
Branch tip: intact and not damaged
Age: current season's growth, partially woody at the base

Step-by-Step Preparation

Collect cuttings and place them immediately in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel to prevent wilting.
Remove the lower needles from the bottom 2 inches of each cutting. Pull them off cleanly rather than cutting, which can damage the bark.
Wound the base of the cutting by making two shallow vertical cuts on opposite sides of the stem, about 1 inch long. This exposes the cambium layer where roots emerge.
Dip the wounded base into rooting hormone powder formulated for semi-hardwood evergreens. Tap off excess powder — too much can inhibit rooting rather than help it.
Prepare your rooting container by filling it with a sterile, well-draining mix.

What Potting Mix Works Best for Cedar Cuttings

Cedar cuttings rot easily in heavy soil. A mix that drains rapidly while holding enough moisture for root development is essential. Commercial seed starting mix blended with coarse perlite or horticultural sand works well. A 50-50 mix of peat moss and perlite provides the air porosity and moisture balance that cedar cuttings need.

Avoid garden soil, compost, or any mix containing fertilizer. High nutrient levels burn tender new roots. Do not use vermiculite alone — it holds too much water and encourages fungal diseases.

Step-by-Step Rooting Process for Cedar Cuttings

1. Fill and Water Your Containers

Use 4-inch pots or deep plug trays with drainage holes. Fill them with your perlite-peat mix and water thoroughly. Let the excess drain completely before inserting cuttings. The mix should be damp but not soggy.

2. Insert the Cuttings

Make a hole in the mix with a pencil or dibber, then insert the cutting so the bottom 2 inches are buried. Firm the mix around the stem gently. Space multiple cuttings so needles do not touch each other — touching needles trap humidity unevenly and invite mold.

3. Create a Humidity Dome

Cedar cuttings cannot absorb water through their stems until roots form, so they need high humidity to prevent drying out. Cover each pot with a clear plastic bag supported by small stakes, or place pots inside a propagation dome or a clear plastic storage bin with a lid. The goal is 90 to 100 percent humidity around the foliage.

4. Provide Bottom Heat

Rooting happens fastest when the soil temperature stays between 68 and 75°F. A seedling heat mat placed under the pots significantly speeds up rooting. Air temperature above the leaves can be cooler — 60 to 65°F is fine. This temperature difference encourages roots to grow before top growth.

5. Give Indirect Light

Place the setup in bright but indirect light. A north-facing windowsill, under a shaded tree, or under grow lights set 12 inches above the dome works well. Direct sunlight overheats the dome and kills cuttings within hours.

How to Care for Cedar Cuttings During Rooting

Check moisture levels every few days. The potting mix should stay evenly damp but never waterlogged. Condensation inside the dome should be present — if it disappears, mist the cuttings lightly and reseal.

Open the dome for 5 to 10 minutes once a week to exchange stale air. This prevents mold spores from building up. If you spot white fuzzy mold on the mix surface, increase ventilation and dab affected spots with diluted hydrogen peroxide (1 part 3% peroxide to 3 parts water).

Signs of progress:

New needle growth at the tip after 4 to 6 weeks
Cuttings feel firm when gently tugged (resistance means roots are forming)
No yellowing or browning of lower needles

Signs of trouble:

Needles turn brown and drop — humidity is too low or the cutting dried out
Stem base turns black and mushy — rot from overwatering or poor drainage
White mold spreading across the mix — too little air circulation

When and How to Transplant Rooted Cedar Cuttings

Do not rush transplanting. Wait until you see roots emerging from the drainage holes of the pot, or until a gentle tug meets firm resistance. This usually takes 8 to 16 weeks depending on the species and conditions.

Transplanting Steps

Water the cuttings well an hour before transplanting to reduce root disturbance.
Fill 1-gallon nursery pots with a mix of potting soil and composted pine bark (70-30 ratio).
Remove the cutting from its rooting pot carefully and plant it at the same depth it was growing.
Water thoroughly and place the pot in partial shade for the first week. Gradually move it to more sun over two weeks.
Keep the soil consistently moist for the first month after transplanting.

Common Mistakes That Kill Cedar Cuttings

Using dull or dirty pruners crushes stem tissue and introduces bacteria. Sterilize blades with rubbing alcohol between cuts, especially if you are taking cuttings from multiple trees.

Letting cuttings wilt before you get them into the rooting medium. Have your pots and mix ready before you go collect cuttings. If you cannot pot them immediately, store cuttings in the refrigerator wrapped in damp paper towels for up to 24 hours.

Removing too much foliage stresses the cutting. Only strip needles from the bottom 2 inches. Leave all upper needles intact because they provide energy for root development.

Skipping rooting hormone drops success rates dramatically for most cedar species. Rooting hormone does more than speed up rooting — it also contains fungicides that protect the cut end from rot. Use a product labeled for semi-hardwood or evergreen cuttings.

Can You Root Cedar Cuttings in Water?

No. Cedar cuttings do not root in water. The stems rot quickly in standing water because the tissues cannot handle constant saturation. Always use a well-draining solid medium like the perlite-peat mix described above.

How Hardiness and Species Affect the Process

Different cedar species have slightly different requirements. Leyland Cypress tolerates more moisture than Blue Atlas Cedar, which prefers a drier rooting mix. Eastern Red Cedar often takes longer — up to 16 weeks — and benefits from wounding the base more aggressively. Deodar Cedar roots faster when collected in early winter rather than late fall.

If you are unsure which species you have, treat it as a standard semi-hardwood cutting and adjust based on what you observe. The main variables to control are humidity, temperature, and drainage regardless of species.

Tools and Materials That Make the Job Easier

A few specialized items improve your odds significantly:

Rooting hormone powder for evergreens — choose a product with IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) at 0.3 to 0.8 percent concentration
Seedling heat mat — maintains consistent soil temperature for faster rooting
Clear propagation dome — holds humidity steady without daily misting
Sharp bypass pruners — make clean cuts without crushing stems

How to Increase Your Success Rate with Multiple Cuttings

Take 10 to 15 cuttings even if you only want one or two trees. Some will fail, and having extras lets you select the strongest rooted plants. Treat failures as learning data — note which species rooted best, what time of month you collected, and whether bottom heat helped. Keep records in a garden journal for next season.

After you have rooted your first batch successfully, try layering as a backup method. Ground layering involves bending a low cedar branch to the ground, wounding the underside, and burying that section in soil while still attached to the parent. This has nearly 100 percent success but produces fewer new plants than cuttings.

Using Cedar Cuttings for Long-Term Landscape Planning

Rooted cedar cuttings grow into transplant-ready saplings in one to two years. After the first year in a 1-gallon pot, move them into a 3-gallon pot or plant them directly in the ground in early spring. Cedars from cuttings often reach 3 to 4 feet tall in three years with proper care, compared to 1 to 2 feet for seedlings in the same period.

Choose planting sites with full sun and well-drained soil. Cedars do not tolerate wet feet and will develop root rot in heavy clay that stays soggy after rain. Space trees according to their mature spread — 10 to 15 feet for most species, closer for hedge plantings.

Maintaining Healthy Young Cedars from Cuttings

Water newly planted cedars deeply once a week during the first growing season. Apply 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch around the base, but keep it away from the trunk to prevent bark rot. Do not fertilize during the first year — the roots need to establish before they can handle nitrogen.

Watch for cedar-apple rust on Eastern Red Cedar and bagworms on Leyland Cypress. Both problems show up in the first few years and are easier to treat when trees are small. Prune out any rust galls in early spring and remove bagworm sacks by hand before they hatch.

Turning One Cedar Cutting into a Whole Hedge or Screen

Because cuttings produce identical clones, you can create a uniform hedge from a single parent tree. Root 20 to 30 cuttings from one exceptional specimen and plant them 3 to 4 feet apart. The result is a hedge with identical growth rates, color, and texture — something you cannot achieve with nursery stock of unknown origin.

Root more cuttings than you need each year and keep them in pots as replacements. If a tree in your hedge dies, you can plant an exact replacement that matches its neighbors.

The Complete Timeline from Cutting to Established Tree

Month 1-3: Cuttings root in the propagation setup
Month 4-6: Transplant rooted cuttings into 1-gallon pots
Year 1 full: Grow in pots with regular water and partial sun
Year 2 spring: Move to 3-gallon pots or plant in the ground
Year 3-4: Trees reach 3 to 5 feet tall and begin rapid growth
Year 5 and beyond: Cedars become low-maintenance landscape trees

Growing Cedar Trees from Cuttings Is Worth the Patience

Rooting cedar cuttings takes more attention than buying a nursery tree, but it gives you control over genetics, saves money on large quantities, and connects you to the full lifecycle of your landscape. Start with one or two species and a dozen cuttings this winter. By next fall you will have rooted plants ready for pots, and within a few seasons you will be producing your own stock of healthy, adapted cedar trees that came from stock you chose yourself.