Thanks a lot!!!! I will certainly try that

What did you do to the cuttings? It's hard to say what went wrong if we don't know how and where you tried to root them.

I've rooted rosemary by simply sticking twigs into the ground outside. Mint and Lemon Balm should be easy to propagate by removing runners or offsets and planting those.

I tried the water method. Removing the bottom leaves then leaving the plant in water. Now I'm going to try doing it in soil

How much of the cutting is in soil/water? You would typically want at least one node in the growing medium, since that is where the roots come from for most plant cuttings. That's one thing I had to learn as I was doing cuttings, which most instructions did not make clear. They just say it's so easy, just stick it in the ground/pot/water/etc. What they often forget to say is that you stick it in the growing medium with at least one node in the medium.

So it's not just sticking a cutting in the ground. That node where you have removed the leaves, whether by cutting or pinching, should be in the ground.

Yes, you're right - I didn't make it clear that a node needs to be in the ground. But Rosemary nodes are so close together it would be quite hard to stick a piece into the soil without at least one node being covered.

That's true, I think that is why some plants are easier to root than others. They either survive more easily until they root, or they root from several places such as a split stem or even leaf, or you have inadvertently buried a node because there were so many nodes.

For those types of plants, without additional explanation, people would stick it in the ground, and most likely there would be a node in the ground. Or it would survive long enough to root.

But as we move to other plants and even more difficult plants, realizing that node in the ground was the important factor, should help with many other plants, as well as learning additional techniques on how to keep a cutting stable until it roots.

Some plants are very hard to root, even though they stay looking bright and healthy while sitting in their cutting mix in a squat pot on a warm bed.

Even when you have cut correctly at the node - not too close, nor too far away.

And even though they are misted every time their leaves have almost but not quite dried out from the previous misting.

And of course, even though you have used rooting hormone.

But I don't think that herbs are in this category.

I am thinking about Daphne, deciduous azaleas, Rhododendron. With those ones, you have to take the cuttings at the right time or they simply won't perform.

We still don't really know what you did because you have given us very little detail. However, I agree that digging up a rooted piece of lemon balm and planting that. It will then self seed. Rosemary should be very easy as has been said, so is mint.

My mother showed me a bunch of plant material that was half dead and told me that she was planing to make cuttings. I told her that cutting material had to be fresh and healthy. Preferably picked in the morning. Sprinkled with water and popped into a plastic bag and kept out of the sun and maybe even put into the fridge - OR, make the cuttings straight away. But always sprinkle the plant material with water.

She kicked me out the door. Don't blame her really. I think I take cuttings too seriously.