Sugarcane Cuttings

Recently we propagated sugarcane cuttings two ways at ECHO North America RIC.

Both sets of cuttings were cut to 5 nodes from mature cane and allowed to harden off on the table for several days.

The first set was then put in a 5 gallon bucket of water. The water levels covered the bottom 2-3 nodes on each cutting. The bucket was placed in a semi-shaded location in our Greenhouse. It started pushing buds and roots very quickly and we potted them up about 2 weeks later.

The second set was stuck in soil media with no additional treatment. Soil covered the bottom 2-3 nodes and they were placed in the same semi-shaded location in the Greenhouse as the first set. They also started to push buds quickly and were also potted up about 2 weeks later.

We observed less roots and shorter roots on the soil rooted cuttings.


So far all the plants are growing well.

I have also propagated in place by just laying a cane in a shallow trench and lightly nicking it in even intervals with a machete and not quite burying it. Check out this IFAS resource for more information about Florida commercial sugarcane production and pests PI-171/PI207: Florida Crop/Pest Profile: Sugarcane.

What has been your sugarcane propagation experience?

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@Keith_Mikkelson shared recently a technique that he developed to reduce the wastage of sugarcane stalk in the Phillipines.

The technique involved nicking out semi-circles of the stem around the nodes, which can then be propagated. This reported benefit is a reduction in the ‘wasted’ saleable stem of sugarcane used for propagation.

Keith, do you have any more points on pros and cons of this method?

See here an exmaple of a home made tool to take the ‘cuttings’ from the stem:

See here an example of the final cuttings, with some printer ink cartridges for scale:

Thanks @Shaun_Snoxell for sharing this technique. We will have to give it a try in our nursery. Are the micro cuttings placed in soil or a different substrate?

Download the SSI manual here…

In india Coco coir/dust but I have tested 4 other media…