Hebe cuttings
How do you tell when cuttings are rooted?
One of the trickiest parts of taking cuttings is knowing when the cuttings are rooted and ready to pot on. After you have prepared the cuttings, put them in the compost, watered them and watched them for several weeks on the windowsill or in a propagator patience gets a but scarce and it is tempting to give one a tug every now and then to see if they are now little plants rather than just cuttings. Making new plants from shoots is one of the most amazing aspects of gardening.
If possible, try not to keep pulling the cuttings out of the compost. If you do you can do a lot of damage and if there are roots developing you will snap them off as you pull the cutting out and push them back in. So wait until the cuttings actually tell you they are rooted.
With most cuttings this is relatively easy; at first they will wilt at every opportunity and they will look rather dull and miserable even if you treat them like kings. They will be bright and upright in the morning but as the day warms up they will wilt, hopefully only slightly, as they cannot draw up enough water from the compost to balance the water lost from the leaves. Then one day they will look more perky, they will not wilt during the day and you know that they have formed some decent roots. The real telltale sign that they are independent plants is when new growth appears and they start to get bigger. At this stage they can be potted on to into their first pots.
These cuttings were taken in September. Which ones are rooted well? We will look at the top two central cuttings
No new growth means that this small cutting has not rooted or has made very little root and is not ready for potting
This cutting had grown a fair amount, a sign that it is well rooted
Tip
Make sure the compost is moist when you take them out of their rooting pots or cells. If it is dry it, and the roots, can stick to the sides and the roots will be damaged when you try to remove them
The Biking Gardener 
Hi, thank you for advice on hebe cuttings. I had no data earlier and couldn’t wait any longer to attempt to do my cuttings. It seems I’ve done it all wrong. For a start, apart from 5 tiny cuttings that I’ve put altogether in one pot, the other four slightly bigger ones I’ve put each in separate pots, I’ve put clear bag over each pot, you haven’t said to do this. Should I take them all out and start again tomorrow? Or should I leave them be and see what happens? I would very much appreciate your advice. Thank you so much.
The main thing is that you have tried! There are ‘right’ ways to do things but often other ways work too. Whether to put cuttings together in a pot or in separate pots will not hugely affect rooting – it only has an effect later when it comes to potting them up and those that have to be separated suffer some root damage. ‘In the old days’ I used to use clay pots and cuttings around the edge – the theory was that water evaporating from the clay would ‘pull’ water past the base of the cuttings and aid rooting. No one worries about this now though I still think ot would help with some plants. Putting a bag over the cuttings will keep in humidity and prevent the cuttings drying out. I have a propagator with a lid so dont need to bag them. I would leave your cuttings as they are and I am sure some will root. There are so many variables; compost, health of plants and time and type of cutting.