The most important aspect to making new plants is to make sure you take cuttings prior to your Mother plant getting too woody. It is highly recommended that you start to make new plants for yourself (or for others) between Year One and Year Two. If you don't, you will eventually end up with a mature tree collard that you can no longer make cuttings from. Timing of cuttings depends on your Zone and your micro climate (full sun, partial shade, mostly shade). My three year old plants growing in full sun in Zone 9 are now too woody to make new cuttings. "Too woody" means that even when I cut the first 4 - 6 inches of a top branch, the woodiness has crept too close to the apical meristem (tip of the branch). I will publish more photos soon of cuttings that aren't woody.
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| Close-up of new branches forming on Woody trunk |
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| 6 month old cutting. Notice how it's stunted due to the cutting being taken from a woody branch. |
