Project Propagate: 1 Month

As some lovely readers have pointed out, this intensely hot "Spring" has not been the most ideal time to attempt to root cuttings. I feel that i've achieved a decent amount of success, however. Every tray is now showing substantial roots. They're still small, but they're catching on. Watering has been an issue. The edges of the flats dry out and the centers get too wet.... there have been casualties. All in all, my cement tray system has actually worked pretty well, and i'll try it again when i'm in less of an intensely hot environment.



My store bought starter kit is working alright as well, and i think i'll at least have a few plants to bring with me on my move north.

The salvias that were blooming all crashed. Further proof that it's best to work with cuttings that aren't blooming or even have too much foliage. You want the energy to be focused on rooting, not blooming or leafing out. One whole tray of rosemary appears to be cruising along with zero casualties... so that's a major success! The sage, not so happy - but there are a few living specimins so not a total loss.

All in all i think this project is coming along nicely. In another month these little guys should be ready to transplant to larger pots, but i'll be on my way to Oregon by then, so hopefully my "replacement" will keep you posted!
This post  was written for the rockin' local business/blog Yard Farm Austin. I hope you'll check them out!

Project Propagate: I See Some Roots!

It's the end of the first week of my propagation project for Yard Farm and things seem to be going smoothly, for the most part. We had some slight chances of rain earlier this week, so i moved the flats into my carport.



The flats now receive nothing much than diffused, ambient light with some direct sun in the late afternoon. I've continued to water from below and haven't needed to add much water lately as temps have been a bit cooler. I haven't needed to mist much either as the plastic seems to be keeping things moist.



Maybe too moist. The sage is showing some signs of yucky. I'm not sure what this is, but other than the moldy looking coloration, it's perky and happy. A few of the cuttings are looking a bit droopy: the butterfly bush and almond verbena, but things are mostly only drooping in my separate flat or slightly larger cups and cardboard surround instead of plastic tub. I'm loving these cement mixing tubs! Insulating and easily plasticked over. Highly recommend them, especially in climates where it's not 97 degrees in May.

I plucked out a rosemary to check on root progress. Nothin'



But eureka! The thyme is rooting! One week and already showing rooty nubs. Thyme quickly sends out roots on its own out in the garden as it is a creeping plant, so i bet that's why it's the first to show roots. It gives me hope that the rest will quickly follow suit, so check back next week for progress!



Are you starting any cuttings? I'd love to hear how your project is progressing.

Project Propagate: My Adventure in Rooting Cuttings

This post was written for Yard Farm Austin's lovely blog, where I am a frequent contributor. Please enjoy the post here, and visit Yard Farm's page for lots more great info.

This week I'll start a new series of posts covering a project i'm working on: propagating new plants from plant cuttings. It's amazing that you can cut off a branch from an existing plant, pot it up and have a brand new plant take root! I have high hopes of quickly propagating a whole fleet of sage plants and bay trees, but first things first. I've never rooted cuttings before, so this is a learning experience for me as well. I started by doing some research. I just love Chiot's Run, and the author of that blog posted some excellent articles on her technique for rooting cuttings. I'm doing a larger, more commercially oriented project: rooting enough cuttings to supply the demand of Yard Farm's growing clientèle and thus had to work around some tricky details: where to find pans big enough to hold 5 flats of 100 cell seedling trays!? I'm also working on some personal cuttings and will continue to try propagation with many more plants as the years go by.



In order to root plant cuttings you need a few supplies:

• Mother plants
• Soil (a mix of peat, sand, and vermiculite works well)
• Seedling trays, little pots, any container to put the plants in
• Tray to hold water
• Optional plastic done or plastic wrap
• Mister
• Rooting hormone
• Sharp scissors, knife or shears

The technique i used:

1. Fill seedling cell trays with soil mix. My goal was to start as many plants as possible, so i used this smaller cell trays. Once they've rooted i'll move them to larger 4" pots. If i was rooting fewer plants at a time, I'd probably start with 4" pots - as most gardeners usually have about a billion of those floating around. Moisten the soil. I used water with well diluted fish emulsion.
   

   

   Note: that's rooting hormone in the Grey Poupon jar.








2. Poke holes with a pencil, sharpy or your finger in all the pots. These holes will keep the rooting hormone from being knocked off when you place the cuttings into the soil.







3. Clip sections of new growth from the mother plants, 2-8 inches long, just below a branch or node. Avoid flowers or overly woody branches.







4. Strip off the leaves from the bottom 2 inches. Roots will grow from these leaf nodes







5. Dip The stripped end of the plant cutting into your rooting powder. Try to avoid inhaling the powder and wash your hands well afterwards. I of course licked some off my cup thinking it was sweet'n'low, so we'll see if i develop any tumors or extra ears anytime soon.







6. Carefully place the dusty end of the cutting into the hole and pack the soil closed around it.







7. Place the cell tray into a water tight tray.






8. Place a quarter of an inch or so of water in the tray. You may dilute fish emulsion or seaweed in this water as an extra nutrient boost.






9. Cover your cuttings with a plastic dome, place in a green house or sheltered sunny area in your home, or cover with plastic wrap. These cement mixing trays work great both as bottom up watering, and insulation/plastic wrap platform.







10. Mist several times daily. Misting is key! Water from the bottom, but keep the cuttings moist with a mister.

That's it! Now I wait and baby them, checking to see the rooting progress every so often. Won't you join me to see the progress next week? Spring is a great time to do cuttings as there is a ton of brand new growth on most the plants. Please leave me a comment if you're rooting cuttings too.
This post is also found at the Barn Hop!