Euphorbia cuttings/propagation

[beeman2]

I'm a new kid on the block, so hello to all.
I know Euphorbia's do'nt come under veg. gardening, but do any of you have any experience of taking cuttings?

[Chantal]

Hello and welcome Beeman

I've never needed to take cuttings as they self seed just about everywhere, including through cracks between brick paving.

[Carole B.]

They do seem to seed about fairly easily but I would avoid taking cuttings because the sap can be a nasty skin irritant.Some of the clumpy types could probably be divided in autumn.

[Johnboy]

Hi Carole,
You are certainly correct about the sap being an irritant and it can be even worse than that. A lad that was working for me taking cuttings and the sap burnt his hands very similarly to the person with those nasty burns from Parsnips and he was off work for more than a month. I am one of the lucky ones and the sap does not affect me at all. After that episode I carried out all cuttings of Euphorbias personally. Another employee was only brushed by the foliage as she was lining them out and she came up in wheals all over her hands and arms.
So Beeman you see that you really must be careful at all times when dealing with Euphorbias. I should use Vinyl gloves when dealing with them especially if the sap is involved.
As for the cuttings themselves. Tip cuttings can be taken in May and semi-mature wood cuttings are best taken July/August. You can take Basal cuttings in April/May.

[Allan]

The spurges,e.g.Crown of Thorns
I had euphorbias some time ago and did some cuttings. I seem to remember that the rule is to let the sap at the end dry up completely before putting in the compost. An interesting family.
It would be interesting to have a discussion on particular plant families that we have made favourites, obviously one can't grow everything.

[beeman2]

Magic! thanks to all of you for your replies.On reflection I think the safer option will be to sow the seed.Sounds daft, but i've only just noticed the seed on my plants. Must be an age thing i guess.