# Cutting

> A cutting is a piece of shoot, usually a tip with two or three nodes, removed from a plant so it can be rooted into a new, genetically identical plant.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cutting.html
- Also written: cuttings, clipping, slip, unrooted cutting, shoot cutting
- Glossary category: Cultivation and training · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

A cutting is a section of stem removed from a [donor plant](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mother-plant.md) for rooting. In cannabis it is almost always a softwood tip cutting: the [growing tip](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/apical-meristem.md) plus two or three nodes, 8-15 cm (3-6 in) long. Once rooted, it is a clone.

## In practice

Take cuttings from firm, vegetative, well-fed shoots, ideally from the lower and middle canopy at a consistent position on the plant. Cut at a 45° angle just below a node with a sterile blade, drop it straight into clean water or onto a damp surface so air does not enter the stem, then remove the lowest leaves and trim large [fan leaves](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/fan-leaf.md) by about half to cut water loss. Cuttings from flowering plants root slowly and often [re-veg](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/re-veg.md) with odd, single-blade leaves.

Unrooted cuttings carry pests and pathogens from the donor. Inspect and quarantine anything brought in.

## Don't confuse with

- **Clone**: a rooted cutting; growers use both words loosely.
- **Cut (slang)**: shorthand for a specific clonal line ("the original cut"), covered as slang.

## Related terms

[Cloning](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cloning.md), [Mother plant](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mother-plant.md), [Rooting hormone](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/rooting-hormone.md), [Cloning dome](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cloning-dome.md), [Node](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/node.md)

## Read more

- [Clone-only cuts and how to preserve them](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/clone-only-preservation.md)