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You can grow a brand new elderberry bush for free from a single dormant cutting, and it’s one of the easiest woody plants to propagate this way. Yes, you can buy rooted, potted plants, but they’re expensive. And yes, you can forage elderflowers and elderberries each year, and if you already have elders growing near you, I highly recommend it. But foraging means competing with other foragers, asking permission if the trees are on someone else’s land, and traveling out to the site every time you want more.
So the easiest way to build your own steady supply, without buying plants or relying on foraging trips, is to propagate elderberry cuttings yourself.
This guide covers the classic method, hardwood cuttings rooted in soil with a natural rooting hormone, along with two alternatives that work just as well. You can root cuttings in a jar of water instead of soil, or take softwood cuttings during the growing season rather than waiting for winter dormancy. For the classic method, all you need is a few hardwood cuttings taken while the plant is fully dormant, a natural rooting compound, and some quality growing medium.
How and Where to Get Elderberry Cuttings
A hardwood cutting is a dormant, leafless section of mature stem, cut from a plant that’s already dropped its leaves for the winter. It roots slower than a softwood cutting, but it’s tougher and needs less fussing over, which is why it’s the method most home growers start with.
You’ve got two options for getting elderberry cuttings. You can buy them, or cut your own.
If you buy cuttings, which is much cheaper than buying rooted plants, order from a reputable supplier and make sure you’re getting either European elder (Sambucus nigra) or American elder (Sambucus canadensis).
If you’re taking your own cuttings, get permission from the landowner if the tree isn’t yours, and don’t strip too many cuttings from any one tree. A handful per elder is plenty. Each tree feeds birds and other wildlife, provides nesting space, and helps hold soil in place, so don’t take so much in one year that you weaken it.
Timing matters more than the calendar does. Elderberry cuttings root best when they’re taken in late winter, well before the buds begin to swell, rather than right after the first hard frost in fall. I wait until the tree looks completely asleep, no leaves, no green growth, no swelling buds, and the coldest stretch of winter has passed. Cuttings taken too early in the fall haven’t fully hardened off yet, and I’d rather wait a few extra weeks than lose one to rot in storage.
Once you’ve found dormant wood, take healthy cuttings free of scars, pests, or disease. Look for a branch about as thick as a pencil, and cut sections roughly 8 inches long with at least four buds each. Use a sharp, clean knife to make a slanted cut at the bottom, or “root” end, so you always know which way is up, and trim the top with a straight cut.
TIP: If you have a long, healthy branch, you can usually get two or three cuttings out of it.
How to Start Elderberry Cuttings
Start elderberry cuttings by rehydrating them before anything else. Put them into about 2 inches of water for 24 hours, root end down. Soaking them in fresh water lets the cuttings take up plenty of moisture to fuel the next stage of growth.
If you’re using willow water as a DIY rooting hormone, soak the cuttings in the willow water instead.
How to Root Elderberry Cuttings
Rooting elderberry cuttings comes down to one extra step after they’ve soaked. Coat the cut end in a rooting hormone before you plant it. You don’t strictly need to do this, but your cuttings will root faster, more vigorously, and with a higher success rate if you do.
I’m an organic permaculture specialist, and I skip commercial rooting hormone products entirely. I don’t like putting synthetic hormones into soil I’m going to grow food in, especially not when there’s a free, natural alternative that works just as well.
That free version is willow water. If you don’t have any made up, I’d recommend using willow bark powder instead for this method.
RELATED POST: How to Make Willow Water
Yes, that’s right, white willow bark powder, the same natural pain reliever. We use while willow bark supplement capsules and use the powder inside them as needed.
To root your cuttings, prepare a tray of large cells or small pots filled with a high-quality potting medium, such as rich potting soil or coco coir, and moisten it slightly. Take the wet root end of each cutting and dip it into the willow bark powder, coating it about an inch up the stem. If you’re using willow water instead, soak the root ends in it for around eight hours, or soak the whole cutting in willow water for 24 hours in place of the plain water soak. Use your finger, not the cutting itself, to make a hole in the potting medium first, since pushing the cutting straight through wipes the rooting powder off. Then place the prepared cutting into the hole, root end down, and gently tamp the soil around it.
Why Use Willow for Rooting Elderberry?
Willow bark and fresh willow stems are naturally loaded with auxins, the plant hormones responsible for triggering root growth at a wound site. Every plant produces a small amount of its own auxin, but willow produces enough of it that soaking cuttings in willow water, or dusting them with dried willow bark powder, gives elderberry cuttings a real head start on rooting without adding anything synthetic to your soil.
How to Care for Elderberry Cuttings
Elderberry cuttings root best kept cool, not cold, somewhere between 40°F and 55°F (4°C to 13°C), out of direct sun. If they get too cold, they’ll go dormant or die. Too warm, or in direct sunlight, and the cuttings put their energy into top growth instead, leaving them with shallow, weak roots.
If you have mild winters with no strong winds and only the odd light frost, you can probably keep your cuttings in a sheltered spot outdoors. This year I’m keeping mine in a lightweight outdoor grow house. A moist, semi-dark, cool basement works just as well.
Water and Wait
Growing elderberries from cuttings takes patience. Keep the soil moist but don’t drench it. Over-watered cuttings rot before they root.
It’ll take 8 to 10 weeks for elderberry cuttings to develop roots and start to produce a little top growth from their buds. Once you see roots forming, or new leaves pushing out from the buds, whichever happens first, pot the cutting up into a slightly roomier individual container and keep it cool and moist until spring. The extra room lets the root system fill out before it has to cope with life outdoors.
RELATED POST: Super-Charged Elderberry Syrup for Colds, Flu, and Boosting Immunity
How to Plant Elderberry Cuttings
Elderberry cuttings are ready to go in the ground once spring has arrived and the danger of hard frost has passed, but don’t rush straight from a sheltered pot into open ground. Harden them off first. Set the pots outside in a sheltered, shaded spot for an hour on day one, then add an hour or two each day over the next week or two until they can handle a full day outdoors. Skipping this step is the fastest way to lose a cutting you’ve spent two months getting this far with.
Choose a planting spot with full sun to light shade and soil that isn’t waterlogged. Elderberries aren’t fussy about soil type, but they do best in fertile, well-drained ground with a pH somewhere between 5.5 and 7.0. If you’re planting more than one, space them at least 4 feet apart in every direction, since elderberries send up new canes and fill out fast.
Here’s the detail most propagation guides skip entirely. Every cutting you take from one parent plant is a genetic clone of it, not a new, distinct individual. Elderberries are only partially self-fruitful, so if you plant several cuttings from the same tree together, expect a healthy-looking stand with a disappointing crop. For a good fruit set, growing a second, genetically distinct cultivar within about 60 feet measurably improves how much fruit you get. That second plant doesn’t need its own dedicated bed. Tucking it in anywhere within that range of your first planting does the job.
If you’re worried about an extra cold snap or wind damage, protect the young plants with fleece or a windbreak of some kind until they’re more established.
Can You Root Elderberry Cuttings in Water Instead of Soil?
Yes, you can root elderberry cuttings in a jar of water instead of potting them in soil straightaway, and it’s a good option if you want to watch the roots develop before committing to a container. Take your prepared cuttings, soaked and ready as described above, and stand them root end down in a jar with 2 to 3 inches of clean water, submerging the bottom third of each cutting. Set the jar somewhere bright but out of direct sun, and change the water every few days to keep it from turning stagnant or growing algae.
Roots typically start to show within 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes longer. Once you’ve got a decent tangle of roots an inch or two long, pot the cutting up into soil and treat it exactly as you would a soil-rooted cutting from here, hardening it off before it goes outside. Cuttings rooted in water tend to develop slightly weaker root systems than ones rooted directly in soil, so handle the transplant gently and keep a closer eye on watering for the first few weeks after potting up.
Can You Take Softwood Cuttings Instead of Hardwood?
Yes, and softwood cuttings are actually your best option if you want to propagate elderberry during the growing season instead of waiting for winter dormancy. Softwood cuttings come from this year’s new growth, taken while it’s still green and flexible but before the plant sets fruit, generally sometime between late spring and mid-summer depending on your climate.
Look for a stem about the same pencil width you’d use for a hardwood cutting, and take a section 6 to 8 inches long with at least two or three nodes. Strip the leaves from the bottom two-thirds of the cutting, leaving just one set of leaves at the top, and dip the cut end in rooting hormone the same way you would with a hardwood cutting.
Softwood cuttings root faster than hardwood ones, often in a matter of weeks rather than months, but they’re also more prone to wilting and drying out before they root, since they’re still actively growing and losing moisture through their leaves. Keep the potting medium consistently moist, and if you can, cover the pot with a clear plastic bag or dome to hold humidity around the cutting while it establishes roots. Keep it out of direct sun during this stage. Heat combined with moisture loss is what kills most softwood cuttings before they get the chance to root.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, there’s more than one way to grow elderberries from cuttings, and all of them are easier than most people expect. Your own seasonal supply of elderflowers and elderberries matters if you want to move toward self-reliance and have access to your own herbal remedies.
Elderberries are packed full of beneficial compounds and have been used for thousands of years in a variety of remedies. If you want to know how to use your elderberries, check out my super-charged elderberry syrup recipe.
FAQ
How long do elderberry cuttings take to root?
In my experience, it usually takes 8 to 10 weeks for elderberry cuttings to root, whether they’re started in soil or water. It can take longer depending on the temperature and conditions you keep them in, and the rooting hormone you use can also affect the timeline.
When will elderberry cuttings fruit?
Around two years, in my experience. Elderberries grow vigorously once they’re off to a good start. In the first year, your young elder saplings will produce lots of elderflowers, but don’t let them turn into berries. Harvest the flowers instead, and make syrup, elderflower cordial, or elderflower lemonade with them. Preventing berry growth in the first year lets the elders put all their energy into root growth, so they develop strong, extensive root systems.
Do you need more than one elderberry plant to get fruit?
In most cases, yes. Cuttings taken from a single parent tree are genetically identical clones of each other, not separate individuals, and elderberries are only partially self-fruitful. Plant at least one different, compatible cultivar within roughly 60 feet of your first planting for a reliable fruit set.
Can you propagate elderberry from softwood cuttings instead of hardwood?
Yes. Softwood cuttings are taken from green, flexible new growth in late spring or early summer, rather than from dormant wood in winter. They root faster than hardwood cuttings but need more consistent moisture and humidity while they establish.
Can you root elderberry cuttings in water instead of soil?
Yes. Stand prepared cuttings root end down in a few inches of water, changing it every few days, and pot them up into soil once you see an inch or two of root growth. Water-rooted cuttings tend to have slightly weaker root systems than soil-rooted ones, so handle the transplant with extra care.
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